


Oi Life

by IWillGoDownWithMyShips, ladyroxanne21



Series: Oi Potter [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Chapter 71 contains a reference to past sexual abuse of a minor, Deaf Character, Disabled Character, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Genderfluid Character, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Married Life, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Postpartum Depression, Slice of Life, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-07-11 18:13:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 247
Words: 540,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15977735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWillGoDownWithMyShips/pseuds/IWillGoDownWithMyShips, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyroxanne21/pseuds/ladyroxanne21
Summary: The continuing adventures of Harry and Draco and their large brood of children.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Shtara, without her, this fic would not exist.

Saturday June 27th 2009  
Darling Husband of mine,

Are we being silly, still emailing each other after all these years?

After nearly a decade of improving the lives of children all over the world, we are FINALLY able to do something we've more or less had to stop doing over the years - travel for fun! We moved back to Malfoy Manor just in time for Elena to graduate from Hogwarts. Granted, she'd been given a special Portkey from Kingsley so that she could come home to us every weekend no matter where in the world we were, but still, seeing her walk the lawn during her graduation ceremony and come back to us for the final time was enough to make even me cry.

I thought for sure that seeing his big sister graduate would have changed River's mind, but nope, he is still adamant that he prefers to be tutored by Saoirse - who, admittedly, has done an excellent job with him, Viona, Eri, Ori, and Haz. I know that Viona and our almost triplets aren't technically old enough to go to Hogwarts yet, but they most certainly love learning things from Saoirse. We are SO lucky that she and her husband Rhys have had nothing better to do than follow us around opening orphanages on practically every continent on Earth for the last 8 years!

Our other kids still have a few more years to decide, but I'm sort of hoping that they decide to go to Hogwarts after all. I think by then, BOTH of us will be eager for a break, hahaha! Either way, that gives us a full year before Viona would go to Hogwarts - if she decides to go. I'm almost certain she will, and so, we can take this year to simply be together and travel as a family before Elena moves on with her life and Viona goes to school.

Viona is definitely still such a Princess that she'll probably sort into Slytherin and hold court. And you know, if Viona goes, our Diva Hazel is almost certainly going to follow her. Speaking of Haz, wasn't she just gorgeous in that couture dress during Elena's ceremony yesterday? Who would have ever thought that such a unique and beautiful soul could be created because two criminals decided to shag while Polyjuiced as you? I love her so much and am positively mortified that I slipped up and called her Harrison last night during bath time. I really hope she forgives me sometime before she goes to Hogwarts!

So it's currently after midnight but I am still awake because our youngest daughter has decided that waking up for a feeding means that she and I should have a little party. You realize that we are absolute nutters; certifiably *insane* to adopt a deaf baby simply because she's so damn cute that neither of us could put her down or stop fighting over who got to hold her, right? But at only 4 day old when she was first placed in my arms, I couldn't stop myself from wanting to keep her and protect her from all the bad in the world.

For an example of bad things I want to shield her from, we founded a branch of Unity House on the Iranian border specifically to help children - both magical and muggle - who were orphaned (such as she was) in the Iraq War. I am SOOOOO glad that we both decided to take a break or straight up stop after that one because my heart just can't take meeting any more angry and traumatized little kids who are just barely surviving a war. Yes, we probably made an enormous difference in their lives, but I now feel like I'm 2000 years old and so weary of life rather than just barely 29 and a husband/father with at least 70 good years ahead of me.

Besides, I think we've probably run out of places to create new orphanages!

Anyway, back to what I was saying, our gorgeous new baby - at only four months old - is such a joy and clearly so very happy to be alive that she doesn't want to sleep and waste a moment, haha. Every night when I wake up to feed her (and the weird thing as that she doesn't cry, so I have NO IDEA how I know to wake up), she spends a good two hours just staring at me, even after she's drank her bottle. She holds my finger in her tiny hand and blows bubbles and 'sings' in her own infant way. I feel blessed just to hold her!

Which is not to say that she's my favorite. I love them all, and as you so often say, they're ALL my favorites. But let's just say that Viona has a reason to be jealous of this one, heh heh.

As I type this (holding Jasmine while I feed her), Draco Junior has woken up to chat with (or rather at, haha) me while I feed her. Is it as strange to you as it is to me that we only have one child in our bed most nights and that our four year old only comes in when he wants to fall asleep snuggling with us?

Yes, they all had to grow up and want their own beds at some point, but when YOUR son Sirius James insisted that he wanted his own bed at just two, I was literally heartbroken. He's only five but NEVER comes in to snuggle with us or if there's a storm or if he has a nightmare. I'd swear that boy has been blessed with sleep like the dead because once he's in bed, he's out until the crack of dawn so that he can wake you up and urge you to go for your usual morning run. I have *no idea* where he gets that from!

But seriously, we have NINE kids (ten if you count Miles, which I occasionally do), and only Jasmine sleeps in bed with us every night. Would you call me a monster if I abducted Sirius and Draco from their beds at night and forced them to sleep with us on occasion???

Although, the upside to having so much space in our bed is that we can shag without leaving the room - once the baby's asleep, hahahahaha!

And I clearly must be tired because I feel like I'm rambling. I was simply trying to say how proud of Elena I am, and then I started gushing about all our kids.

Ooo! It seems like Draco being a chatterbox lulled Jasmine to sleep. Hooray, that means an extra hour for me! I'd molest you, but our son is watching me, heh heh…

I will love you until my dying day, and even then because I don't thing there's a power in the universe that could stop me,  
Draco

P.S. Now that we're home and have the luxury of time on our hands, I'm going to hire a person to come in and teach us ALL sign language so that we can communicate with Jasmine when she's old enough to learn it herself.

 

Saturday June 27th  
My Love,

Of course we're being silly by still communicating this way. But when have we ever let that stop us?

It's so weird to be home for good after so long. I know we've come for too many visits to count. A weekend here or there, a week or two during holidays or special occasions, and the longest stays of a few months each when I had Siri and you had our little Drake. But knowing we're back and for good? It's been a bit hard to wrap my head around.

I'm really glad we decided to take this year to travel. I think it will be a good way to train my brain into accepting the new normal and not go stir crazy. Not to mention how much fun we're going to have showing the world to our kids. I know they've all seen more of the world than most kids their ages, hell they've seen more of the world than most adults have, but traveling for pleasure is going to be a bit different. They're used to quickly turning into locals, it will be fun to watch them be little tourists.

I have to change my own mindset a bit. I'm used to having a location to research and looking at it in terms of available space, what languages are spoken so we can hire an interpreter, helping Greg alter his building plans based on the types of materials traditionally used in that area. Being forced to look at the areas like a developer. It's been so odd narrowing down our destinations by seeing which ones have good restaurants, hotels, and child friendly sight-seeing.

As long as you're in agreement, I think I've decided on our first destination. I want to go back to Greece. In all of our travels, both for the orphanages and when we used to travel regularly for fun, we never went to Greece together. It was the first holiday I ever went on. It's close enough so we don't have to put our kids on a super long plane ride when they only just got used to being home. What do you think?

Oh Draco, our Lainie's graduation was perfect. She was so mature and poised. Her Head Girl speech brought me to tears. And was there ever any doubt that she would end up Head Girl? When she was going back and forth between going to Uni straight out of Hogwarts or taking this year off between, I tried so hard to remain impartial. I tried to be her sounding board so she would make the decision that was right for her. But I am so relieved and thankful that her decision ended up being the one I wanted. She has a lifetime to be an adult. She has a brilliant future ahead of her. A world full of things she wants to study so she can make all the changes to the world that she's dreamt of for years. I just want her to be able to be a kid for a little longer. My little girl for one more year.

Ugh, not so little anymore though. It's not by a whole lot, but just enough for her to tease me over it. She's taller than me! My oldest child, my little Lainie-Girl, is a full inch taller than I am. I think I'll start wearing heels from now on!

So if you claim Miles as one of ours, does that mean you're Sammy's Grandpa? You became a Grandfather at twenty-one years old! Don't worry, I'm only teasing, I claim Miles as one of ours as well. And you know I am going to force Finn and Beatrix to let me be their baby's Grandpa! I still can't believe he proposed to her the day after she graduated Hogwarts! I didn't even know they were dating before that.

Building Unity House was emotionally rewarding and emotionally draining. But my favorite part has been watching our Unity Royalty make their way in the world. I know I'm not either of their parents, but I felt like a proud papa watching Bea and Finn get married. Ethan standing in as best man, Gilly supporting her brother and new sister as maid of honor. I mean, a wedding between a Squib and a Witch, witnessed by a Pureblood and a Muggle. Who needs labels? All you need is love!

I absolutely love the idea of hiring someone to teach us sign language! I've done a bit of research, and I think somehow since we told the family we were bringing Jasmine home Hermione has taught herself sign language, but I really only know a few words. Somehow I didn't think we'd need it yet, but if Jasmine were able to hear, we'd be talking to her and she'd be soaking in the language. Why wouldn't we start immediately with communicating with her so she can soak in the language? You think of everything, I knew I married you for a reason.

You know, I've been thinking about how much you get up with Jasmine. And you're right, somehow you just seem to know when she's awake even though she's not making any noise. You're just so in tune with her. I wonder if there's some sort of accidental magic happening. Like her magic knows she's not really capable of telling you what she needs, so it pokes you until you wake up. But I feel like I've stepped back in time and have to remind you that you can wake me and I'd love to help you care for Viona in the middle of the night … I mean Jasmine!

Don't worry about Viona being jealous of Jaz. A little jealousy between siblings is normal, we have enough kids to know that! But she has Viona wrapped so thoroughly around those tiny fingers it's not even funny. She honestly reminds me of Lainie at that age, Jasmine is her baby and nothing we could say would make her think differently. It's probably a good thing we made the choice to adopt her or Viona would have just smuggled her home in one of her trunks.

And as much as Viona has so many qualities of her big sister that she adores, little Drake is so much like his big brother River. I'm honestly not surprised that River isn't particularly interested in going to Hogwarts. He wants to be surrounded by his family, and he wants the freedom to do what he wants during the day, and learn his lessons at his speed and with one on one teaching. He was the oldest child in our bed for the longest time, and he certainly wasn't the first one out! That was Viona who just decided one day she wanted her own room and her own space and "Daddy give it to me." But River and Drake want to be with us, spend time with their family, and talk everyone's ear off. I think you want to blame Pippa's influence on his incessant talking, but you and I both know he comes by it quite naturally.

You'd think with how different Siri and Drake are that they wouldn't be as close. But their differences make them the perfect balance for each other. Sirius' quiet nature means he's a perfect listener for Draco's stories. Sirius' go go go mindset means Draco has to get out of the house if he wants to be with him, and Draco's homebody personality forces Sirius to calm down and join the family occasionally.

And I know, I know, I know, I shouldn't care what they look like. And we could have the ugliest children on the planet and I'd think they were gorgeous, but I am so glad we got one more blondie! It's just funny that the one we named after Sirius/myself/my dad is the blonde and Draco Jr looks a lot more like a Harry Jr! I just love seeing the contrast in looks and coloring when I see their little heads together …. usually planning some mischief.

Don't worry, Haz is not mad at you. I'm sure she's already forgiven you. It's not like you deadnamed her on purpose. She knows how supportive you've been and how much you love and adore her no matter how she identifies. It's not really much different than when I accidentally call her Eris, it was a parental slip of the tongue. It's so funny, for all that we've called them the almost triplets, Eri and Haz look like they might as well be twins and Ori with his height and coloring looks like he's barely related and at least a year older.

And I think you're right about the rest of our "older" set of kids and where they're going to choose for their education. Viona will go to Hogwarts, she will be sorted Slytherin, and she will rule that house from day one. Orion is as passionate about his education as Lainie ever was. He will go to Hogwarts, sort Ravenclaw, and be top of his class. Haz will follow Viona wherever she goes, and Eri will follow Haz. We'll end up with three Slytherins and a Ravenclaw. Seriously, how did this happen? At least I know I have a chance for a Gryffindor with Siri or Drake. Yes, Draco Lucius Malfoy II could legitimately end up a Gryffindor. Grampy Lulu will probably cry!

Well I need to run, we've got so much to do before the circle gets here tonight! I know we've all made an effort to stay connected and visit constantly over the years we've been gone. But I'm so excited for our first "traditional" circle dinner, back at the Manor, in our home, surrounded by our loved ones.

Hurry up and wake up already! We've got so much to do!

Always,  
Harry

 

AS REQUESTED! Bonus art work ^_^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry guys, I feel like we conned you or something by building up this trip to Africa and then completely skipping it, but when I decided that it was time to skip forward in time like a lot, I asked Chrissie how we should do it, and she said we needed to come up with a happy ending that would give Harry a definite excuse to officially hand over the reins to Tabitha, and starting up a new Unity was what we came up with :-)
> 
> 1 - If we HAD gone to Africa, this would have been titled Oi Africa, so you're not wrong, hence the copious laughing on my part, lol.
> 
> 2- More copious laughing ensued when the nail was hit on the head: "If word of this gets out, they might end up creating a lot of Unities all over the world." Er.... WELL... lol ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is quite displeased with Harry.

Sunday June 28th  
Oi Mutt!

How many times do I have to tell you that you may not call him Drake?! Blech! I shudder in horror when I hear you say that. I mean yes, you may call him whatever nickname you want when it's just the two of you and you're being all secretive and co-conspirator-y, but ugh! You take a regal name like Draco and strip it of all beauty, blech!

I just... I have to get my mind off that before I hunt you down, tie you to the ceiling in our play room, and torture you until you agree to forget that travesty of a name ever existed. Previous experience tells me that it'll just make you more likely to call him that on purpose whenever you want a good punishment.

Circle dinner! I'm SO looking forward to our welcome back party! I'm probably going to sign off now and disappear into my closet until I'm looking my absolute best - oh wait...

Kisa just arrived! Salazar I've missed her. I don't think we have spent any real time with her since we started up Unity St. Petersburg and she was just a floo trip away. Naturally, she and Elena are squealing like banshees and jumping up and down in elation and glee. Where are you? Did you go for a run? Oh! I bet you're in the Kitchen, NOT that I know where that is...

-

Oh, it looks like I got so caught up in greeting Kisa and getting ready for our circle dinner that I forgot to send this email. That's alright, it just means that I can purge my thoughts on what happened while I feed Jaz.

First of all, yes, I think you are probably right in that Jaz is probably using accidental magic to make sure I know exactly what she needs. And I KNOW you're more than willing to take turns with the night feedings, but so far, I'm being woken up by her anyway, so what would be the point in waking you too? Just enjoy the sleep while you can. You know there will come a time in a few months from now when I'm so exhausted from sleep deprivation that I hand her over to you and you get to handle all feedings from then on.

But onto our circle dinner.

Shortly after *purposely* dressing up to look a bit like a sexy pirate, I emerged from my closet to go check on everyone else. To no surprise, all the kids were outside playing except for Elena and Kisa. I wasn't trying to sneak up on them, but I suppose I must not have made any noise either - those lingering stealth and lurking skills taking over when I least expect it, hahaha.

Anyway, I overheard this rather disturbing conversation between them:

Kisa: "Did you and that boy you like *really* go all the way?"

Elena: "Hush! I can't confirm that here! There are probably ears in the walls... And besides, don't act so shocked, you Insta-owl me all the time details of new conquests."

Kisa: "Of course, I was raised to always get what I want and NO ONE has the nerve to say no to me!"

Elena: "I'm a bit nervous. Antonio is going to be here tonight and it's the first time I've seen him in ages. I was thinking that I might ask him to stay the night, but shh! My dads can't find out about it! They'll murder us both!"

Kisa: "I can make things easier on you. We both know that Antonio turns to mush when he sees me, I'll invite him to stay with ME, and you can join us."

Elena: "Ooo… that could work..."

Fuck Harry! I have no idea how to respond to that information!!! On the one hand, Elena is 18, but on the other, she's still just my little girl! I immediately came up with a plan to create a minor emergency to occupy Antonio. I just wasn't sure if I was going to make his mother mildly ill so that he had to go home and nurse her back to health, or if I should hex him into an overnight stay at St. Mungo's.

As it turns out, I got rather distracted and completely forgot that plan, so... now that I remember it, I'm torn between popping into Elena's room after Jaz is sleeping again, and just pretending that Elena is not interested in boys and nothing has ever or will ever happen.

Sigh...

But as I was saying, I got distracted. I'm almost certain that you got distracted too as the event was rather shocking. There we were, standing in the corner of the dinning room as our circle was gathering, watching our loved ones mingle and chatting with them, when suddenly, Ron, Hermione, and Blaise arrived. They had their brood with them too, and so the very first second was taken up by squealing as they reunited with our kids.

Suddenly, I heard Kisa stop in mid shout: "Oi! Stop being so loud, you bloody hooligans, before I have to - !" Then next thing anybody knew, and I think we had all instinctively looked over at her to see why she'd stopped shouting, she was slack-jawed and dreamy eyed. Without another word, and more than likely without thinking a single thing, she dropped her glass of champagne punch and ran over to Blaise where she launched herself into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and kissed him in a way that made me want to ground her to her room for a month!

The entire room was silent in shock. None of us could believe our eyes when Blaise sprouted wings, growled possessively, and then disappeared into thin air with her.

So... it seems that I was right after all. He is a Veela and Kisa is his soul mate. I now have to wonder what would have happened if they'd seen each other two or three years ago. She's currently 19 and has admitted to being a bit ruthless in her conquests. Part of me thinks that she should have bonded with him her very first time and then the other part of me wonders if I'd feel the same way if she was a boy.

Once again, I am very glad that I'm not her parent and do not have to figure out how to feel about her and Blaise being together. I mean, I suppose I do have to figure it out, but I'm... ugh, I don't even know!

At least the rest of dinner went smoothly enough. Even so, I feel like we should go out and get drunk. Say, next weekend with our best mates? Then we can go to Greece for a week. I think that you will definitely have no problems stripping off on Skiathos' Little Banana Beach, hahaha.

Can't wait!

Love me like you do, l-l-love me like you do, touch me like you do, t-t-touch me like you do,  
Draco

P.S. Should we come up with a strategy for Elena, or just... let her be?

 

Wednesday July 1st  
Draco,

I believe I warned you. When we were discussing names, and I said "I don't think we should have a junior, Ori's middle name is already Draco, I think it will just get confusing when two people in the house have the same name." And then you cried and I gave in because I am a sucker for giving you anything you want when you're pregnant. So, it's your fault I had to come up with a nickname so I could differentiate between the two of you. I could try a different nickname if you'd like; Dray, Coco, Draky-Lu. There are a lot of options I suppose.

I had such a blast during our circle dinner. As usual my heart and emotions were full seeing all of my favorite people surrounding us. I can't get over the changes, well not so much changes as additions, since we last lived here full time and hosted these dinners regularly. I am so used to the chaos that I didn't really notice how loud it had gotten, but for Kisa who grew up as essentially an only child, I can see how the noise would have been a bit overwhelming. I didn't even mind when she started to try screeching at them to bring the volume down. Although as we veterans know, adding volume to the situation rarely diffuses anything.

And, uh, speaking of Kisa …. it's been three or four days, has anyone heard from her or Blaise? I know they're safe, and I know what they're doing so I certainly don't want details, but how long do you think they're going to be missing? I'd like to see them and talk to them and tease Blaise incessantly for finally succumbing to the Veela thing.

You were of course the sexiest of pirates. I still can't get enough of you. I kept wanting to drag you to the nearest cupboard and have my wicked way with you. Or to the dining table and spread you out like a feast just for me. And I'm really glad you admitted your outfit was pirate-esque and I didn't have to deal with you being angry with me, transforming into your marmoset, and biting me.

I am very proud of you for not confronting Elena in the middle of the night or the following morning. And I'm pretty sure it would have been a very bad idea for you to go charging into her personal space in the middle of the night acting like a crazed man trying to save his daughter's virtue. I think you know Lainie well enough that it would have ended quite poorly for you. And how you ask, do I know you didn't confront her? Because she's still speaking to you.

But in all seriousness, yes we leave her be. We raised a strong and clever woman with a good head on her shoulders. We've taught her how to be safe, she's always had a healthy view of human sexuality, and she's an adult. We can revisit our safe sex talk and just remind her that if she ever wants to talk or if she needs us to revisit anything we've talked about at length while she was growing up that our door is always open. Except when it's closed, no one needs her walking in on us licking jam off of each other. Once was enough for one lifetime.

She's eighteen my love. You know, two years older than you were when you got Rosalie pregnant with River, the age we were when we slept together for the first time, the age we were when we got married. We have to trust that she'll make the choices that are best for her life. I know, she's our little girl and she always will be, it's hard to imagine her as an adult with a libido and the ability to do something about it. We have to trust her.

I spoke with 'Mione and they're definitely down for a night of drinking and reminiscing. Maybe we should all act like the teenagers we didn't get to be and play a game of Never Have I Ever or Truth or Dare. Ha! Yeah right, we might as well all just slam our own bottle of booze if that was the case. There's almost nothing we haven't all done at least once. I think it probably just makes the most sense to go out drinking and reminiscing and probably end the night by me touching you inappropriately in a semi-public setting.

I know I was welcome to come along, but I decided to stay back and let your parents have a nice dinner with just them and their five children. I've always known how much Gavin looks like you. I mean, I wondered if he was yours when he first came to Unity. But there is something so weird about seeing him as an eleven year old, the age you were when we met. He's you if you hadn't been constantly sneering at me and he doesn't slick his hair back with a bucket of hair gel. It's similar to how Sebastian looks exactly like Severus if Severus had smiled at people and had someone to care enough about him as a child to make special potions to keep his hair from collecting so much oil.

So the big kids are off having lessons. Siri and Draco Lucius Malfoy II are out playing on the Manor Park. And I am snuggled in tight with my teeniest little love. She loves when I make goofy faces at her, at least someone thinks I'm funny! And she can't hear but I tried a bit of an experiment with her. I turned on some music with a heavy bass and laid Jaz down in just her nappy on the ground. Her eyes got really wide and she looked around a bit like she was trying to figure out where the vibrations were coming from. It was a really great experience to share my love for music with my daughter who happens to be deaf. I think when she's big enough to dance with us we'll have to take her to the ballroom barefoot and see if we can teach her to dance with the vibrations to help.

I hope you're having a blast with your family. Maybe if Jaz is still awake when you get home I can pull the music back out and you can see her reactions for yourself.

Loving you always,  
Harry

P.S. Oh no! You'll do what if I keep using that nickname for little Draco? Whatever would I do if you strung me up from the ceiling and tortured me?!?

P.P.S. Drake! Drake! Drake! Drake! Drake! Drake! Drake! Drake! Drake! Ha!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was waiting for freakin' ever for the Blaise and Kisa thing, lol ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco makes himself see red for no reason, and Harry thinks he's adorably silly.

Thursday July 2nd  
-_-

I will not give in and punish you because it'll just make you do it all the more.

Can't you call him something else, such as Sport or Squirt or Stinger? How about Love - like that actress Jennifer Love Hewitt goes by Love. Speaking of, I love how we watched a movie all snuggled up as a family today before I went off to dinner with my parents and sibs. The Tuxedo starring Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt. I positively LOVE the idea of a brilliant super-powered piece of Haute Couture. I'm going to have to tinker around a bit and see if I can replicate it.

And am I crazy, or did that one bloke look a bit like my father? Like younger and without our family legacy of white hair...

Anyway, as you know, Eliza is 13 and Sebastian is 12 - which means they've already started going to Hogwarts - but now that Della and Gavin are both 11, they're going to be going too. Which means that my parents are feeling a bit weepy. It was different when I was their age. My parents were in the thick of power hungry plots, and needed the free time to scheme. But now that they've mellowed in their old age (and lost a war), they're a bit traumatized by the prospect of having an empty house again.

Probably a good thing we've come home for good with our brood for them to dote on, haha!

I feel a bit bad for Hermione and Ron. They've been in a long term relationship with Blaise for nearly a decade - had kids with him - and suddenly he abandons them for days on end because his soul mate finally appeared and didn't slap him like a creeper. I KNOW it's some inherent part of his biology that he can't help, but still... I think about how I would feel if YOU suddenly had a soul mate and ran off on me and...

Must calm down! I'm seeing red and have an urge to murder somebody...

Okay, I took my laptop into the crystal room with me for a bit and now I'm feeling better.

Oh nice! I just got an Insta-owl from Pansy. She's coming into town tomorrow and is delighted to go out drinking with us this weekend. I bet our kids will be beside themselves to see Pearl again. We should plan out something fun. It's summer... should we take all the kids we know to Unity Park or Potter Park? I suppose we could always do both on consecutive days... Potter Park first.

I have something to confess...

So...

Erm...

Well... you see... what happened was...

Erm...

When we were setting up Unity Australia about two years ago, well, we didn't have the difficulty of a language barrier, and by that point, the process had been rather streamlined so that you basically did it all and told me to have fun setting up a business or two.

While I was researching businesses to invest in, I stumbled across something... rather brilliant. But sort of dangerous. I knew you'd be so mad at me if I told you, so I just sort of... didn't...

And now I feel SO terrible about it because I actually thought you'd figure it out and shout at me about it a long time ago, but you didn't! So either you honestly never knew, or I was wrong about you being upset.

At this point, my own sense of self preservation wants to save my neck and never breath a word of it, but that part is coming into direct conflict with REALLY wanting to do it again, so, I suppose I have to come clean and beg for forgiveness...

Heh. I just reread that and realized I've avoided saying it after all.

Erm, well, so, what happened was that while we were in Australia, I came across this organization called Choose Your Own Adventure. It's a sort of indoors adventure park. A Wizarding one, which means that they were able to have things like a replica of Mount Everest to climb. One room had a Savannah with a pride of Lions to avoid being eaten by. And another, erm, well... Three of the rooms were replicas of the three Tri-Wizard Tournament tasks.

Just so you know, I'm a fucking God on a broom too!

Since there're no time limits other than what you pay for - such as an hour or the entire day - I was able to cast a Bubblehead Charm on myself and really get into a sort of underwater battle in the Second Task Room. I had a lot of fun, if I'm honest, and that maze! I finally understand why you were such a bloody hero all those years ago. It's actually surprisingly fun to fly circles around a dragon and hex merpeople underwater, hahaha.

But as I was saying, I'm finally confessing to the dangerous deeds because I've been presented with a business opportunity any sane investor would murder his own grandmother for. NOT my grandmother! Fuck! I'd not only lose that battle, but then I'd die in the most excruciating way possible!

Anyway, the opportunity is this: Build an Adventure Park right here. Well, not here, in London. The blokes that own the original want to expand around the world and knew that I'd be interested in helping them. I am positively giddy just thinking about it!

And not right away, but in a few years when he's older, I picture bringing River on adventures there with me. I can just see him LOVING climbing Mount Everest or Parasailing over a cove of sharks.

So, erm, I'm going to send this, finish feeding Jaz and rocking her back to sleep, and then go hide in the back of my closet until you have time to wake up and read this email and hopefully go run off your righteous anger before you decide to murder me for taking such (well managed) risks...

Love you!  
Contritely yours,  
Draco

P.S. Kisa just stumbled out of the floo and crawled her way to the nearest sofa to pass out on. She must have hit that point where she's so shagged out that she just can't take anymore, hahahahaha!

 

Thursday July 2nd  
Oh you Silly, Silly man,

You'd think after ten years of marriage you would stop hiding in your closet in fear from my wrath. Not only is it going to be the first or second place I look, but all it does is make me have to carry you back to bed when you've fallen asleep under a stack of trousers. It's like you don't even know me. What's going to make me angrier? Hearing you admit something I've known about for two years (seriously, no idea how you sorted Slytherin, you are garbage at hiding things) or having to wake up ALONE?

It did give me an excuse to carry you around like a big strong man, and you did look adorable all bundled up, and I suppose I do really enjoy tucking you into bed and "accidentally" groping you all over. Wait a minute, did you just play me? Not cool Draco.

Also, for future reference, when trying to keep a secret don't send Blaise an insta-owl message about it. And definitely don't actually send it to your husband on accident. Rules of scheming 101. Greg wouldn't even make that mistake … again.

I actually looked into it when we were still in Australia. I was trying to figure out just how mad I should be. Turns out, not that mad. I just thought it was funny that you kept it from me. It makes me wonder how much you actually researched it yourself before you went. Do you know how many safety precautions they placed into their experiences? Between their lawyers and the company that they purchase insurance through, it would probably be safer to do one of these adventures than to have a quiet tea with Grandmama.

Of course you're a bloody god on a broom. Looking back on our childhood, now that we're enough years out that I can look at things a bit more objectively, do you know why I always beat you at quidditch? Because you always had your eyes on me. You were utterly brilliant anytime you played against Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. I honestly thought I was just much better than you. We're pretty damn evenly matched. We've had enough competitions in OUR decade of marriage for me to know that you beat me just about as often as I beat you. Although seeing as afterwards we're always sweaty and high on competition and adrenaline, and then I get a brilliant shag out of the deal, I am pretty sure I ALWAYS come out the winner!

I don't know how I felt about The Tuxedo. It was kind of weird. Not really my kind of movie. Give me a big show-stopping musical any day, but this was … well whatever it was I had a lovely time snuggled up with my favorite people. But now that you said something, yeah that bloke totally looks like a brunette Lucius. Which is now horrifying me because I spent the whole movie treating him like a bit of eye candy and even thought to myself at one point, "mmm I bet he'd look bloody fit as a blonde."

Oh Grampy Lulu. Your poor parents the soon to be empty nesters. I was actually a bit worried about the timing of us coming back. I know that we are always welcome. They have made no secret of the fact that they insist we still consider the Manor our home no matter how much time we spend away from it. But I thought they were really looking forward to a bit of time alone. Remember how much I loved those days when the grandparents would take the kids on holiday and I would have you or make you have me on every square inch of the place? I thought it was going to be like that and our small army was going to put a crimp in their style. It sounds like it's just going to be a nice distraction for them to have their grandchildren to dote on while they get used to missing their babies.

I'm currently having a bit of alone time myself right now. It's so blissfully quiet in our room. All I hear is the soft breathing of Jaz. Pansy just got here a little while ago, and I adore seeing her obviously, but it was so loud. When my sweet baby started yawning and rubbing her eyes it seemed the perfect excuse for me to rest my ears while she rested her eyes. I love how close our kids are with Pearl. I know you try to keep your emotions in check but I see how much you love that your children are so close with Pansy's. I am eternally grateful that we had an opportunity to create a Unity so close to Pansy's home. It gave Haz and Pearl the opportunity to become forever best friends.

I remember the day we were visiting and despite the fact that you and Pansy kept insisting that Pearl was stubborn and feisty, I had never seen her any other way than sweet, kind, and a bit quiet. Then she blew me out of the water. I honestly don't even remember what the other kids were doing, but I know that Haz had followed Pearl into her playroom and they were playing quietly together for about an hour before we heard the shouting.

"No, you can't tell my Daddies. You can't tell anyone. They'll think something's wrong with me!" I could hear Haz shouting? Haz? My happy-go-lucky, smiles for everyone, little guy was terrified. And that's when it hit me, I always called Haz our smiliest, happiest, calmest. But it had been a while since that smile of his really reached his eyes.

"Nuh-uh! I'm gonna tell them. They have to know. You can't just keep secrets, that's like lying! Mama says lying is only a good idea when it helps you, and this lying is NOT helping you!" I can't imagine what secret Pearl had managed to pull out of Haz, but she was adamant that she was fully prepared to tattle.

I could hear our sweet Haz sniffling and just saying "Please no, please no, pleeease" over and over again. That's when I realized you had heard the commotion and you were right behind me.

Pearl may be being raised to think she might as well be royalty, but she's got nothing on a Malfoy raised by Lucius, "Excuse me, but what do you think is going on here? What secrets are being kept and why do you think they're your business to share?" I know you love Pearl, you are quite the pushover usually to your little goddaughter, but you were really putting on the Malfoy mask for her.

And then that little girl straightened her shoulders, stuck her nose in the air, and with all the haughtiness in the world explained just exactly what was happening, "Uncle Draco and Uncle Harry, as Uncle Dimitri would say, you guys need to pull your heads out of your arses."

I thought you were going to explode. Your eyes bulged out. Your face turned red. "Excuse me little miss?"

"I thought you were good Daddies. But you didn't even notice that Haz isn't a boy, she's a girl. She says she's a girl but that you wouldn't want her to be a girl. So she has to pretend to be a boy all the time. Pretending is like lying and lying is 'zausting. So you need to stop being so silly, stop calling her that silly boy's name, and .. and .. be nice!" Every word she said was a little louder and a little angrier and she ended her little speech with a huff and a glare.

It took Pearl less than an hour to figure out something we hadn't realized in four years. And as soon as she finished her rant, I didn't even have to look at Haz to realize she was absolutely right. How on Earth had we not noticed? And how long was our sweet daughter going to pretend for our sakes that she was a son?

Whew, anyway, I'm not going to go into the roller coaster of emotions the following months were. But Pearl cemented herself quite well into mine and Hazel's heart that day. I don't have favorites of my nieces and nephews, but if I did she'd certainly be a contender for the gold.

Those memories just came rushing back to me when they arrived and I saw Haz and Pearl squealing and screaming and jumping up and down hugging. Like Lainie and Kisa, they were like instant best friend soul mates and every time they meet they need to reconnect with some crazy ritual with flailing and loud noises.

Soul mates. Oh darling, you never have to worry that I would or could find someone who became my soul mate. You have always been the other half of me. We revolved around each other like planets in connecting orbits. Once my eyes were opened to the idea of not having to hate you to compete with you? You were it for me. I love you with everything I am. I would hope you'd know that by now and not have to destroy crystal thinking about a nonissue.

Oh Kisa, she looked rough this morning! I've been having breakfast with Lainie … and Antonio … the last few mornings. Kisa joined us this morning and there was a lot of winking and nudging from Lainie and a lot of glares and shushes from Kisa. And a whole lot of Antonio keeping himself completely out of the situation because he's quite afraid of these women. In case you were hoping I had been able to snoop out some answers, nope I got nothing.

I'm curious to find out what's going to happen with Blaise and Ron and 'Mione. I suppose we'll probably hear all about it this weekend. Yeah, I keep forgetting that the three of them have been together almost as long as you and I have. I used to think you were right about he and Kisa, but as the years went on and he fell more and more for those two I thought it was a done deal. And then when he actually settled down enough to have Veronica with them? I figured he knew he was tying himself to them forever and was cool with it. But this is nature. Something primal and fated. I hope they're able to come together with some sort of plan that doesn't leave everyone devastated.

I should probably go join you guys, maybe you're already having this conversation with Pansy. Maybe she has all the dirt. Why did I walk away from the queen of gossip?

Be right there!

I love you,  
Harry

P.S. I adore Antonio and so does Elena and I think we should bring him with to Greece!

P.P.S. Love you byeeeee!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry suggested they bring Antonio to Greece with them, and Draco is not happy about it at all.

Friday July 3rd  
OVER MY DEAD BODY!!!

I will not! I refuse! There is absolutely no need to make it even easier on them!

ARGH!!!

I'm going to have to be the bigger person here aren't I? Fine... Antonio can come with us to Greece, and if he just so happens to need to share a room with Elena, I will bite my tongue and not say anything.

Oi! He's bloody lucky that I consider him an extra one of ours because I think I might have transfigured any other boy into a frog and fed him to Melissande by now.

I honestly have no idea how my parents could stand having us in the same house as newlyweds. Salazar, we were so young! Why do I feel like such an old man??? I mean even when we were at Finnegan and Beatrix' wedding, I felt like they were still so young and shouldn't be getting married until they were at least 20, but since I'm not either of their dad, I didn't have to be upset.

But now I'm picturing Elena and Antonio getting married (not that I'm saying that they think they're ready for that yet), and I can't help but wonder why she doesn't want to grow up a bit more and go to Uni before she has a boyfriend and risks making us grandparents.

And THEN I think about how Miles got pregnant at 16 and I very hypocritically didn't have a problem with that. Granted, he got pregnant before I met him and I didn't start considering him one of ours until just before he gave birth to Sammy - in the tub of our gorgeous house in Cape Town, South Africa. But still, I just wanted to help him be the best person he could be and that included helping him learn how to be a father.

Oh, speaking of, he sent us an owl earlier telling us all about his current job in New York - specifically how it's coming to an end soon because he's been wooed by a theater company in London to be their official Drag Queen. So he's coming home in a month as well. He also reports that while he and Colm have done a beautiful job sharing Sammy across two continents as best they can so far, Colm has indicated that he might be ready for them to get back together, and Miles is hopeful that it might work out this time.

Anyway, I suppose it's not too much to ask to be tolerant of the fact that Elena is 18 and a fully mature woman now. But are you SURE I can't just put her in a biological time turner and have her go back to 13 or 14 again? Think about it, she'd be in that age where she's still our little girl, but she'd still have graduated Hogwarts and be able to just go traveling around the world with us for a few years.

Huh! You know, I just spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out why this is bothering me so much, and I think I might *shockingly* be having baby fever or something. That would explain why I want Elena to go back to being more of a baby. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we didn't ever get to see her as a baby. Plus she's our oldest, so this is the first time I'm having to deal with one of our children reaching adulthood.

DAMNIT! I'm going to have to go talk to Yesenia about this, aren't I?

Sigh...

Moving on. You not only KNEW but you didn't have any problems with it??? Then why didn't you just say so?!?! Yes, I will own that it was MY responsibility to tell you, but I just couldn't stand the thought of you heckling me mercilessly for wanting to have a few dangerous adventures. And yes, I do know that they have a lot of security measures in place, but even so, they are real dragons and sharks and lions, etc. No matter how much they are trained or managed, things could go wrong. Believe me, I read the contract each adventurer is required to sign, and it does state quite clearly that while the company will cover certain damages via their insurance company, the risk of death is large enough that a waiver needed to be signed absolving the company of legal consequences should an adventurer be killed while taunting the sharks - for example.

Still, I loved the place and am eager to help them open one here. I'm going to take the fact that you didn't object as permission to get it started. And yes, I would have asked your permission in this one instance no matter what, simply because I would abhor doing it in secret, accidentally dying when the dragons are brought in and I decide it would be *brilliant* to fly around trying to poke them in the nose, and you find out about it because I was burnt to a crisp.

Onto something that I find rather amusing. I received an Insta-owl from Blaise just a few minutes ago since he knows that I'm almost always up at midnight these days. He was begging me not to murder him for absconding with my aunt and doing unspeakable things to her for days on end. Well, even though he called them unspeakable, he described a few of them. Then he seemed to realize that bragging about this particular bed partner probably wasn't the best idea because he started begging for forgiveness again.

Well, since we merged the Insta-owls with the Crystal Mobiles at some point, I think I'll just call him and talk about it. Hang on a few minutes and I'll tell you what I learn.

Okay, so, it seems that Blaise is rather torn up by this whole situation. He's genuinely in love with Ron and Hermione, and adores the fact that they have kids together. He admits that even though it took him a few years, he fully settled down and committed to them. Mostly. He IS Blaise after all and still has to play on occasion.

That said, the moment Kisa kissed him and awakened the Veela in him, he felt a bliss and sense of belonging that he's never felt before in his life. He's already irrevocably in love with her and wants to marry her and have a hundred babies. Also, because he always wondered deep down if he might actually be a Veela - despite denying it every chance he got - he's read up on their physiology and knows that until his new bond with Kisa settles down a bit, he literally CANNOT be unfaithful to her. It will cause severe magical pain all over his body if he even tries. He has no idea how he can maintain his relationship with his lovers if he can't physically have a relationship with them.

I assured him that what he has with them is real and it will survive this, but he's afraid and I didn't know what to say because I can't imagine being in his place. I was lucky enough to find and marry my soulmate almost the first moment I could.

Oh, here's irony for you, as much as it bothers me how young Elena is even though she's a grown woman, I think that I almost certainly would have married you at age 11 - the day after we first met - had I not inadvertently been a complete arsehole to you and a cocky bastard. I don't think it was sexual or anything at that age, but I do remember that after we met in Madam Malkin's, I went home and imagined us becoming the best of friends and never being apart. Had someone told me then that we would grow up to get married, and then asked why we had to waste time - why not just get married right then and there and not have to go through years of conflict and bullying/stalking - I think I probably would have agreed and threw an unholy strop until my parents gave in and let us get married.

Meaning that I think some part of me knew from the moment we met that you were it for me and I had to suppress and deny that part - aside from trying everything I could to get you to notice me - until we had both grown up enough to set aside all that shite we'd been told and fall in love for real.

And now I'm babbling.

Oh good, Jasmine looks sleepy. I bet if I lay down with her, she'll fall back asleep.

Oh never mind, she's wide awake and ready to party again. And huh, it seems that Eris, Hazel, and Pearl have decided to have midnight snacks and hot chocolate. In the library. I'm going to bring Jasmine to join their little party and see if there're any of those biscuits you baked yesterday left.

I'm gonna fight 'em off, a seven nation army couldn't hold me back,  
Draco  
P.S. Pippa reports that she has everything all booked and ready to go. We're leaving Tuesday afternoon, and coming back on Sunday or Monday, depending on when we run out of things to do and want to come home.

P.P.S. Oh! I completely forgot! It seems that after seven years as an official couple and having two kids together, Greg FINALLY asked Millie to marry him, so... Guess who gets to be a best man?

 

Friday July 3rd  
My Dragon,

Good lord man, how long can it possibly take you to get ready for a night of drinking? You've known these people for a minimum two thirds of your life, they've all seen you naked. How can it possibly matter what you're wearing when in a matter of hours you are going to be smashed, flushed, and most likely end up taking off a lot of your clothes?

I knew what I was getting into when I married such a pretty snob. I guess I will have to make do and just wait patiently, I'll kill time writing to you. We both know I can talk your ear off so maybe you'll even surprise me and be ready before I've finished my email.

I just dropped the three littles off with Molly and Arthur. I guess the big kids and their aunts and uncles are planning on having a junk food, big kid movies, and loud party games pajama party. I keep forgetting how big they're all getting. You'd think having a daughter who's already an adult would make me realize the others are growing as well, but I keep thinking of The Princess and The Almost Triplets as our teeny babies … what do you mean they don't need a babysitter? Oh, right, because they can feed themselves, wipe their own bums, and sleep in their own beds.

Anyway, I did the thing where I totally annoyed Molly. I had really gotten out of the habit of trying to tell Molly how to care for the babies. I know she knows what she's doing. She may have had less kids than we do - and did you ever think you'd end up with more kids than the Weasley family? - but she most certainly knows her way around child care! But our Jasmine is special ya know? What if Molly is so distracted keeping Siri and Sir Draco Lucius Malfoy II out of mischief and she thinks Jaz is fine because she's not crying and Jaz ends up not getting something she needs because she isn't communicating? What if she's starving and Molly doesn't feed her …. okay, I hear it now, I sound like a lunatic. Yeah, I'm being a tit. Like there's a chance Molly will even put Jaz down let alone let her go hungry.

Oh! Speaking of babies. You have baby fever? But we have a baby. Like a teeny baby. Yeah, you definitely should talk this over with Yesenia. I think you're right that you're probably projecting because we didn't get to raise our Lainie from babyhood, but you said baby fever. I guess I shouldn't be judgey about baby fever when we have a baby already. I'm the one who had baby fever when we had three babies under a year! I can't believe I was able to contain it for almost three years before I got pregnant again.

I know we had talked about it off and on over those three years, so I knew you were on board, but we kept having very good reasons to wait. We were on another continent building Unity South Africa, we had six kids already, we were busy chasing after three rambunctious toddlers, let's wait until we're back home in the UK to have this discussion. And then we didn't go home. When we were wrapping up in South Africa we got the request to create Unity Canada. And then it was, ok we're doing this, let's wait until we go home after this one. They were all legitimately good reasons.

Then on a weekend we were visiting the Cullens, their Minnesota home is quite close to where Unity Canada is located in Ontario, I walked into the room and saw you holding one of Donna's little nieces. You were holding that newborn so gently, the softest, sweetest smile on your face. I knew I couldn't keep waiting for the time to be right. So I went into our bags, slammed the fertility potion I had started keeping on hand because of the intense baby fever, and when I walked back to you I just said, "Oi, Malfoy, baby time!" Luckily the Cullens were used to our shenanigans by then and didn't think anything of one of us randomly removing the other from the group for shag time.

I'm really excited for this next excitement coming up in our lives, this choose your own adventure business you're doing. I think I might even try a room or two once it's up and running. I have to say though, I wasn't mad because I was under the impression it was mostly safe. But I forgot to factor into account that my weirdo husband thinks about taunting sharks and booping dragons! Honestly, what am I going to do with you? It sounds dangerous to you because you might go about poking dragons in the nose?!? Have you thought about trying the adventure without taunting dangerous creatures? Yeah, I thought not.

I am so excited for Greg and Millie! I look at our friends and wonder why it takes them so long to get married. Seven years just seems like a crazy amount of time to not know whether or not you should marry them. But then I realize that I might be a weirdo because we talked about getting married before we even dated, and we decided to get married almost immediately after we started dating. So I might not be the best judge of when the right time to get married is.

The other thing I am now crazy excited for? Greece! Eeek, I cannot wait. I mean I can, we have other things planned, we have trips to the Parks, we have family to catch up with, and if you ever finish getting ready we have a fun night of drinking and hanging out with our friends. But I really really want to be there now! The ocean is calling my name! I laughed so hard when I read "coming back on Sunday or Monday, depending on when we run out of things to do and want to come home" yeah, we're going to run out of things to do. Weirdo. We'll be going home Monday.

And the rooming situation? I am open minded, I am trying to be mature and respectful of her choices as an adult. But but but … rooming together? Ugh, this parenting thing is so hard! My brain is saying "that just makes sense, we already know they're sleeping together, why make them sneak around" but my heart is saying "don't touch my baby!!!" Remember when parenting was just buying her a lot of musical instruments and dance lessons?

Ok, it's been almost an hour. I should probably come make sure you haven't drowned in there.

Love,  
Harry

P.S. I am so thrilled Miles and Sammy are coming home! I can't wait to see them!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The relationship between Blaise and Kisa, well, it's complicated.
> 
> So are Elena and Antonio.
> 
> And Draco's still having trouble with it, though he's trying his best to get over it.

Saturday July 4th  
My other half,

Oh good, it's not just me! Here I was beginning to think that I was being a bratty child for feeling weird about this, but reading that you're also feeling weird about Elena sharing her room with a boy makes me feel so much better.

Okay so, I know we probably should have done this together, but I didn't want her to feel like we were ganging up on her. When we were at Potter Park earlier today (good call splitting the trips up so that Potter Park was today and Unity Park will be on Monday. Trying to squeeze it in on Thursday after Pansy arrived probably would have been too much in not enough time), I pulled Elena aside, bit my lip over the fact that she was wearing such a scandalous little red bikini (I'd have seriously had less issues if she was just straight up naked), and basically asked if she was remembering to use all the protection spells so that she didn't get pregnant before heading off to Uni. Then I asked if that was still her plan - going to Uni in a year - and she basically rolled her eyes at me, shook her head, and reminded me that she was raised by two men who were definitely married before having any children, and that our example has taught her that there is a real benefit to getting our lives in some semblance of order and getting married before taking on the challenges of parenthood.

So yes, she's using the protection spells. And still plans to go to Uni. Although, ironically, considering that she wants to run one of the Unity Houses - hopefully this one - and has already learned everything there is to know about running them over the years at your side, she doesn't actually NEED to go to muggle university. She simply wants to so that she can get a degree in psychology like Yesenia. And apparently, there's a way for her to start her classes online, so she's going to take one or two while she's home with us.

Feeling relieved, I was actually a bit dismayed when she added this tidbit: "And I'm not actually dating Antonio. He's just spending his nights with me. We both decided that it wasn't a good time to get serious because I DO plan to go to Uni next year, and he's rather heartbroken about Kisa going from something he could work towards to forever off the market in about a second flat."

I couldn't help but growl a bit at that. "So you're sleeping with him when you know it means nothing?!"

She gave me a *look* and stared me down. "DAD... you had all sorts of meaningless sex when you were in Hogwarts - Rosalie for example. You have no right to tell me that I should be different! Besides, I had an actual boyfriend in Hogwarts - a couple of them - so I've already proven that I know my way around an anti-pregnancy charm."

Damn it! How is she always able to make me feel like a prat???

"Fine," I ground out. "I'll keep my nose out of it! But damn it! Do you have to grow up so bloody fast?!"

That made her laugh. She kissed me on the cheek before running off to tease a group of young men by doing a dive into the pool right in front of them. I spotted Antonio on a bench, looking every bit as heart broken as Elena had said. I sat next to him. He seemed to be trying his best not to stare at Kisa, who was ALSO wearing something scandalous and teasing the fuck out of a group of boys.

"Alright?" I asked in concern.

He shrugged. "Just fine."

"Uh-huh. Oleg tells me that you're getting ready to start up your own martial arts studio. Do you want any help with that?"

He seemed slightly more cheerful at that. "I was actually wondering if you'd let me rent a space right off Diagon Alley. I think the majority of my students will probably be muggles, and that area is in a somewhat rundown neighborhood that's probably FULL of kids that will need me."

"Of course. Since I went gallivanting around the world for so many years, my plans to develop that street to its fullest have had to wait. Thus, there's still plenty of space on that street. And actually, I'm going to be building an adventure park there too, so maybe that will attract a lot of attention to your studio" I informed him.

"Thanks Draco!" He exclaimed, definitely feeling better now. He gave me a tight hug, and wow! He's really gotten strong over the years! Nearly crushed my ribs!

We chatted for a bit longer before he decided to go join Elena and Kisa in the pool and start a water fight.

Then when it was time to go home, I naturally had to take a long shower and ensure that every iota of chlorine was off my skin and hair. Plus, I had to properly moisturize and be certain that my skin was not going to suffer from the harsh chemicals. Once I was done with all of that, I had a real dilemma on what to wear. I wanted it to be sexy enough to wear while out drinking at a club, and yet, no great loss if I happened to lose everything at some point. Considering that we were going to Blaise's club, the possibility was more like a certainty.

Eventually, despite you thoroughly distracting me with a blowjob in an attempt to make me hurry up, I managed to find something appropriate. I still find it amusing just how very attracted you are to me when I deign to wear denims and a sleek and nearly sheer polo shirt.

Then it was time to go to the club. When we arrived, Pansy and Ivan were already at a table with Blaise, Hermione, and Ron. We were just in time to hear Pansy practically shout: "Stop being such a child, Blaise! Ron and Hermione are perfectly capable of understanding the fact that you cannot help who your soul mate is! They will be patient as your bond relaxes and things return to normal."

"But I'm afraid! What if I get so lost in my bond with Kisa that I lose everything else?! I don't want to abandon my children!"

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Kisa is undoubtedly a selfish person. It's how she was raised and it's a large part of who she needs to be to fulfill her duties. BUT she also loves children. She's always been a joy to have around whenever she stayed with us and helped out at whichever Unity we were at. I have faith that she will make every effort to be certain that you do not lose or break your relationship with your kids."

Blaise sighed in relief and Hermione sat in his lap. "Besides, even if our relationship has to change from lovers to partners, we will still always love one another. Our kids will always know that they have one mother and two fathers. That's never going to change."

With the matter seemingly settled for the moment, we all ordered our drinks. Neville and Charlie arrived - both looking positively giddy to have a night off. Considering that their baby is only 6 months old, it's entirely possibly that they HAVEN'T had a night off yet. Just as our drinks were being served. Ginny and her husband Krum arrived. He sat next to you to catch up as I gather that you two had bonded just a little bit during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Tabitha and her newest lover - who I honestly cannot figure out if this person is a man or a woman or trans or what. He or she looks like a slightly feminine man or a slightly butch woman. I'm utterly baffled and shamelessly (as I got drunker and drunker) made plans to shag him or her just so I could find out for certain.

Luna arrived a bit later with her posse - her husband Rolf, their girlfriend Hayley, their boyfriend Hector, and their girlfriend Janna (pronounced Yanna, from Sweden). Almost immediately, Pippa (who I hadn't realized was there until that point, but it makes sense since she's practically my shadow, following me everywhere I go), defected to their side of the table and started flirting with all of them. I'm not sure how I feel about MY assistant (ours, whatever) joining Luna's posse.

I promptly downed a couple more drinks, and then insisted that you join me on the dance floor. We had a blast laughing and giggling and stumbling around more than actually dancing. I'm sure I was hanging off of you every bit as much as you were hanging off me. My shirt disappeared fairly quickly, and others were boldly groping the both of us as we kissed and kissed and kissed.

I wondered at some point if Blaise was exuding his lust hormones yet and looked over to see how he was faring. It seems that he was in between Ron and Hermione, kissing them both in turns, but otherwise not exuding lust. I smirked at him, absently trying to figure out if kissing was allowed by his bond, or if the pain he was experiencing was mild enough for him to ignore it.

Suddenly, he sat up straight and looked to the opposite side of the club. I looked over out of curiosity and saw Kisa Apparate in. She took a step forward and was promptly blocked by an eager would-be lover, whom she punched when he didn't immediately move right back out of her way. A few steps later, she pushed her way through an entire group of handsy people - who naturally took this as an invitation to grope her. She pushed, kicked, punched, and otherwise discouraged them all as she kept pushing her way through them. After that, the rest of the club seemed smart enough to get out of her way.

She marched over to Blaise and glared at him rather fiercely.

"What???" He asked in a guilty tone with a nervous gulp.

"I TOLD you that I wanted to you to bring me on a date tonight!" She roared angrily.

"And I told you that I had plans with my mates!" He protested, gesturing around at his lovers and us specifically.

She grabbed him by the hair and yanked harshly. "What is more important to you? Your mates, or living to see tomorrow?"

"Erm, right. So... Where do you want to go?" Blaise prudently asked.

"The Aqua Shard," Kisa stated firmly, gesturing to indicate the fact that she had gotten dressed up rather nicely for him. "NOW!"

Blaise leapt to his feet. "Right! Sorry mates! I like living, ta ever so!"

Hermione was snickering so hard that I'm quite sure she gave herself a bloody nose, and Ron was heckling Blaise about being whipped. And even though Kisa SAID she wanted to go to the Aqua Shard, she demanded a kiss from him that was so heated I'm almost certain they Apparated straight to a bed and forgot all about their date. I'm now seriously wondering if she'll manage to return home before we all leave for Greece.

I downed a few more drinks, in an excellent mood. I was also looking around with an eye on who would look good up against you. I was thinking that it was the perfect time to spread you out on a table and order anyone who caught my eye to lick you all over. But then I got the strangest sensation running up and down my spine. Before I could even think about it in the slightest, I Apparated away, only to find myself - baffled - in front of Molly.

She looked up in surprise and frowned in concern. "Is something wrong?"

"I dunno, isss there?" I slurred a bit.

Jasmine threw her arms out and grunted insistently, trying her best to grab me.

"This one sure is quite," Molly murmured, kissing her on the cheek. "Never fusses and eats well. This is the first time she's made even the slightest noise.

I took Jaz from Molly and looked her over curiously. She seized my thumb in her tiny fist and refused to let go of it. At that point, you were calling me on the Insta-owl/mobile.

"Where did you go?" You wondered in clear confusion.

"Apparently Jaz needed me. Not literally as she's fine, but emotional-lul-ly," I informed you, not entirely sure I was sober enough to be holding a baby.

"Oh?" You asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah, I'm prolly gonna take her home and rock her to sleep. You stay and have fun. Tell Luna to take over for me and force you to please every man in the club, or whatever strikes your fancy."

Laughing, you bade me: "Have fun snuggling with our aboradle baby." Clearly, you weren't entirely sober either.

After hanging up, I called for Muffy to Apparate my drunk arse home with Jaz, where I am now playing with her as I type this. Her smiles seem to light up the entire room. How did we get so blessed?

When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you,  
Draco

P.S. Yesenia promised to pop in at some point tomorrow, so if I happen to still be sleeping at that point, please wake me up quickly and gently so that I can have my session with her before she has to run off to her next plans. Thanks! Love you!

 

Monday July 6th  
Good morning!

Well, it seems like Blaise and Kisa's limit continues to be three days. I had just finished getting myself ready for our day at Unity Park and Kisa floo'ed in looking quite wrecked again. Before she could crash on the couch I sent her to the bath. I told her I was going to send Muffy in with that amazing bath relaxant potion you make with the peppermint oils to soothe her muscles, as well as a nice cup of tea.

Kisa gave me a bit of the side-eye, "Harry, are you actually worried about my recovery from a marathon bout of shagging?"

I laughed so hard. "Kisa, I have known you since you were a little girl, never have I worried about saying something to you that you would find inappropriate. If anything, I was always a bit worried you were going to say something to shock MY sensibilities and I am a deviant." And maybe it's easier because even though I love Kisa, she isn't my daughter, and I kept going with, "I think you've been around Draco and me for long enough to know that if anyone knows what's going to relax you after a marathon shag session, it's me."

With a sleepy giggle she admitted that I certainly wasn't wrong. And stumbled her way to her suite. After I sent Muffy to her with the promised after-care items, I figured I might as well kill time waiting for you. I'd go for a run but I'm already ready for the day and I don't want to have to shower again and pick out a whole new set of clothes.

I not only got myself ready, but I got Siri and His Royal Highness the Earl of Wiltshire Draco Lucius II ready as well. I would have gotten Jasmine ready as well but she's having a bit of a lie in with you. After years of trying to get Viona ready, getting those two troublemakers ready is so easy. I miss Viona being a baby, but I do not miss the morning battles. It's so much easier now that she has her own room, her own closet, her own bath, and the ability to get completely ready on her own. The only thing I take any part in is taking her shopping for the wardrobe in said closet.

The best part of shopping with The Princess as she got older was the fact that she started realizing that I have some amazing fashion sense. Not for myself obviously, but despite having no idea what to put on myself, I rock a feminine wardrobe! All year I look forward to our annual trip to Paris to update her wardrobe, filling in what she's outgrown. And I love that as the years have gone on we've still managed to make it a special weekend with just Viona and her Daddies.

Just like after discovering his love of baseball when we were in North America, we make sure to take River to at least one American MLB game every year. He loves it and the three of us have such a good time. I could live without the baseball itself, but hey, fit men in tight pants? I will soldier on for my son.

We've seen each other quite a bit since our drunken revelry Friday night, but we've been surrounded by people for most of it so I haven't had a chance to really ask, but how did your session with Yesenia go? Still have a bit of fever? Or have you come up with a separate thing that you're trying to fill with baby fever? You know I normally wouldn't pry, but as I am the person you would need to have said baby with, if it is legitimate and you're ready for another one I should probably be semi included in that decision.

It's not like we have any shortage of people willing to love and support us through any of those decisions. Like Molly, she was really confused about what happened Friday when you apparated to Jaz. When I went to pick up the boys Saturday morning she pulled me to the side and asked if she had done something wrong or if there was something wrong that she hadn't picked up. I assured her that the both of you were fine, our baby's just not used to being away from you for so long. She just missed her Daddy. Which of course led to a whole discussion on her ability to send off a Bat-Signal for you. I wonder if her magic has attempted to compensate for her lack of hearing. In the muggle world, when someone is missing a sense such as sight or hearing, their bodies will make up the deficit by advancing a different sense. I wonder if her accidental magic is more powerful than other babies her age because her magic knows she needs the extra push.

Hmm, maybe something to talk with Healer Rowe about.

I know we've been able to come back throughout the years when we had something big that we really wanted her expertise on, but for most of our healthcare we've just seen a Healer local to wherever we were located at the time. You know, while we were gallivanting. Seriously? Gallivanting? Yeah, our worldwide pleasure cruise we spent the last eight years on. Anyway, I can't begin to tell you how ecstatic I am to have our real Healer close by for whenever we may need her. Stop me if I start becoming a hypochondriac in an attempt to see Rowe alright?

I have to confess something. You know how much I love all of your businesses. And I had a good time at Potter Park the other day. I know I will have a good time at Unity Park. But I am so anxious to get headed out on our first fun travels in years that I just want today to be over already so we can get going tomorrow! I know, I'm being silly. I'm really looking forward to Eri and Haz getting to enjoy the rides. The last time we were able to make it there Ori was tall enough to go on all of the rides, being so tall for his age, but the girls had to stick with the kiddie rides. I've caught Haz and Eri measuring themselves at least once per day this entire week to make sure they were still tall enough to meet the height requirements.

I may cast some muffling charms on my ears, because I definitely want to go with them while they experience all the new rides, but I am a bit worried about how much shrieking they're going to do.

Oh! I'm sure Pippa will remind me, and if she doesn't I know Tabitha will, but seeing as this is the first time since we left for South Africa that we will be back for the build up to the annual gala I am going to take an active hand in the planning process. I've already spoken with Lainie, and she is super excited to help as well. So when we get back from Greece I am going to take a few days to work at Unity House, get my sea-legs back if you will, and start planning! You are of course welcome to join us, but it sounds like you have your own project you're eager to start planning.

See you soon,  
Harry

P.S. I know Neville and Charlie don't leave Frankie very often, but with Molly as his Grandma do you really think they haven't had a single night out in the six months since he's been here?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco talks about his therapy session, and Harry is excited about evening swimming in Greece.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting now, it'll probably seem really obvious why this is tagged PTSD.

Monday July 6th  
Beloved,

Oh... my session with Yesenia...

So, she helped me to figure out that the reason I'm having a hard time with Elena growing up, and the fact that I'm suddenly having baby fever are actually symptoms of the same underlying cause. I'm actually burnt out - to use a muggle term. We've spent so many years trying to make the world a better place for every kid in it that I've become hyperfocused on kids.

Especially since this last one was extremely rough compared to all the others, having a near endless stream of orphans coming in on a daily basis. There was a literal war - worse even than the one we went through - that made life seem extremely precarious, even for us, despite the fact that we were across the border in a relatively 'safe' area.

Well, of course we were safe, we had that place warded to the teeth! Not even a nuclear bomb could have hurt us there! But even so, we had to deal with the realities of kids coming in missing limbs and having bits of their skin burnt off or being blind or deaf because of shrapnel.

It made my fierce dragon protectiveness go into overdrive. I didn't just want to keep those kids safe, I wanted to keep them little kids who didn't have to think or worry about the real world. Think about it, I was the one who asked Greg and Millie to build a Park to rival the splendor of anything in the world. I wanted those kids to enter a world so different from what they were used to, that it seemed like they'd just gone to heaven, but you know, without dying first.

So, when we came home from that and my first experience was seeing Elena graduate and take her first real steps into the world of adulthood, I suddenly wanted her to go back to being much younger so that I could tuck her in my pocket and add her to that fantasy world I tried so hard to create. And the more that I realized that I couldn't do that, the more I got the urge to have yet ANOTHER baby that I *could* control (relatively speaking).

Yesenia thinks that as I recover from the trauma of helping and yet being helpless to truly help those kids, my urge to have another baby will fade. In the meantime, yes, I do have to accept that Elena and Kisa are adults now. She's certain that once I come to terms with that, I'll relax and not feel quite so weird about them having sex lives.

After our session had concluded, Yesenia joked that if I didn't get over my baby fever, I could always redirect that urge by donating to her cause. Yes, she's adopted a couple Unity Kids over the years, but she's always wanted to feel a child grow inside her - and oh! That reminds me, that came up too. Part of my baby fever is the certain knowledge that the child inside me is protected from all harm. That I'll be able to feel him or her grow and be able to rub my belly and know that the baby is safe and loved and nowhere near a war zone. She pointed out that even when I was carrying Draco Junior (but not Eris because we all know how hard that pregnancy was), I was able to sit in a rocking chair and just sort of commune with him as he swam around inside me.

Basically, the reason that baby fever is a symptom of being burnt out is that I associate pregnancy with peace and love, and not the horrors of, well, you remember. After talking with Yesenia, I actually do feel much better. Calmer. Less like I need to fix the entire world.

That said, now that she mentioned it, I'm sort of curious about it. How would that work? I'm probably not going to be able to stop thinking about it, well, at least not until we get to Greece and I'm thoroughly distracted by something else.

Unity Park was as fun as always. I suppose. That burnt out thing Yesenia diagnosed me with - that makes me feel so old in comparison to all the kids around us - sort of kicked in for a bit. As I watched our brood mob the Park and have a blast, I couldn't help but feel I was too old for such things. Just goes to show that just because I think something is a brilliant business idea, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm eager to participate in joys it has to offer. It'll be different for the Adventure Park though - as that's catering to a more adult crowd to begin with.

And now I feel like I'm babbling again.

I'm going to sign off now and work off a bit of nervous - for lack of a better word - energy. I'm going to strap Jaz to me and go dance naked in the ballroom. If you still have energy after tucking all the kids aside from Elena in, come find me and prove to me that you're still ready and able to go dancing at the Gala once you've finished planning it all out.

Love you!

'Cuz I want you bad, yeah I want you baby. I've been thinking 'bout it all day, and I hope you feel the same way, yeah, 'cuz I want you bad, yeah I want you baby,  
Draco

P.S. It occurred to me just now that I have NO IDEA how things will work out if Blaise is serious about marrying Kisa. I mean, she has a whole life in Russia that she's not going to give up for anyone, and he has a whole life here that he really *shouldn't* give up, not even for her. Salazar! Theirs is going to be a complicated relationship!

P.P.S. Do you find it as inappropriately amusing as I do that Blaise is suddenly bound by a magical mandate that he cannot have sex with anyone but his soul mate for the foreseeable future? hahahahaha...

 

Tuesday July 7th  
Greetings from sunny beautiful Greece!

We just got here and apparently despite our children being well-seasoned travelers, everyone has a bit of jetlag and I am the only one not needing a quick nap before we go out for an evening swim.

Eek! An evening swim. I am so ready for this. Swimming under the stars might be my favorite non-sexual activity that exists. And when it comes to sexual activities, I think the top might be shagging in the water under the stars. With the group we brought and how excited everyone else is for starlight swim time, we may have to save the night shags for later on the trip when everyone else is sleeping.

I can prove to you that I'm still a jockey at the top of his riding game, just like I proved to you that I can keep up with dancing with you the other night in the ballroom. And how when we had Muffy take Jaz to rock her in our room for a bit, I proved to you that I can still make you scream the ballroom walls down.

I think maybe there's something in the air or the water here, because from the moment we stepped off the plane, no matter how I try to take my mind off of it, I can think of nothing but how much I need you. I think maybe I'm feeling a bit territorial by that little hint in your last email. You fathering someone else's baby. Yeah, it's probably not the water, I'm guessing it's my intense need to make sure you're thoroughly mine.

I am going to tell you right now, if you are seriously considering this, I will not stop you. I get it. But. I think it's something we need to talk about extensively on a number of levels. What would it mean for you as far as who you would be to the baby? Would you just donate and then not have any closer of a relationship than you have with Yesenia's other children? Would you want to be involved on a parental level? Would she want you to be involved on a parental level? If you donated, would we be doing the: you in a room by yourself donating your specimen, and then the act becomes Yesenia and her Healer alone in the room finishing the job? Or would you want to … donate directly at the source?

And I know this is completely silly. But many years ago, when we were carrying Eri and Ori, you were trying to reassure me after I was kissed against my will by that man while we were shopping that I had something special. You told me that I had something no one else had or would ever have, that I was carrying your child inside of me. And obviously we know now that that wasn't true anyway, as Rosalie also had carried your child inside of her, but it's the principle of the thing! I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but as much as it has to be your decision, you're not the only one it would effect.

And then what would it mean for the Malfoy line? Does that mean Yesenia's child would have all the magical and ancestral rights and access to Malfoy estates? Not that I don't trust Yesenia, but I can see it opening up a whole new argument if or when your father found out.

It's just a lot to discuss. Wouldn't it just be easier for me to take a quick fertility potion and get rid of your baby fever that way?

I kid. I kid.

I completely understand how your fear at being helpless has manifested in baby fever or in wanting to shelter our children. Why do you think I was so adamant about creating the original Unity House and Traditions? I was feeling helpless after the war. I was feeling powerless from having a childhood of being played like a chess piece by both sides of that war. I couldn't go back in time and change my fate. I couldn't go back and save the people who were lost to us. So I powered forward and was damn sure no one else was going to end up an unwanted orphan.

You've spent the last year or so in a war zone. Watching children come in damaged. Seen more pain and fear than anyone should have to see in a hundred lifetimes. You want to make damn sure there are at least a few children who will never have to see terror like that. Even if you have to make them yourself. But I have to disagree with something you said. Your words were, "being helpless to truly help those kids." Do you really think what you did there didn't make a true difference? Even if you only helped one child, even if all you did was give those that were safe at Unity a beautiful Park to escape to when they were scared, even if all you did was sit up singing to calm the children who were terrified to wake up blind, even if all you did was cast numbing spells on the children who were in pain from burns, even if all you did was read stories to scared Kids until your eyes turned red, even if all you did was …. do you see what I mean? You weren't able to take away what had already happened. You weren't able to singlehandedly stop the war that was ravaging the area. But YOU, not just Unity House, but YOU changed more lives than I think you'd be able to count.

And now you have to come home and heal yourself. You have to refill and bandage the holes that place left in you. When you're not strong enough to hold yourself up, I will hold you up. You saved me ten years ago. You gave me the strength to make the changes I had wanted to make. You gave me something to hope for and something to live for. I can't count the amount of times I woke from a nightmare to you running your hands through my hair. And even more than that, the number of mornings I woke up confused because your arms kept the nightmares away.

At eighteen and nineteen I felt so much older than my years. I feel younger now than I did a decade ago. You'll get there, it will just take time. And I assume, a lot of shagging. As your personal Healer, I am going to diagnose you as necessitating more shagging, and I will personally write you a prescription. For cock. Or arse. Patient's choice.

Annnnnnnnd, now I'm going to make an awkward joke to segue out of this dark topic. You know whose prescription includes stopping all cock and arse? Blaise. Bwahahaha. Yeah, it's hilarious, and not even inappropriately so, that the epic player, the slag to end all slagginess, is confined to one woman for the foreseeable future. Bwahahaha.

Oh, my little guys are awake. To heck with the rest of you sleepyheads, we're going to go swim! When you get up, send me a patronus or a Muffy if you need me to come back and help you wrangle the rest of the crew. But until then, Siri, His Royal Highness The Earl of Wiltshire Draco Lucius Malfoy the second of his name, and I will be testing out the beach.

Love you my Dragon,  
Harry


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greece is amazing. Even so, the older kids have a group nightmare.

Tuesday July 7th  
My life,

Shagging you under the stars is brilliant no matter where in the world we are. I am delighted by the fact that my personal Healer has prescribed me a lot more shagging, and plan to take advantage of that prescription as much as possible.

Unfortunately, just as we were really getting into it, the nightmares struck. Hazel started screaming so shrilly that I thought for sure that she was being murdered. We both ran to defend our Diva from any attackers, only to find that she was simply in bed sobbing: "Those poor kids, those poor kids!" Over and over.

This either triggered Eris to have a nightmare as well, or perhaps she was already having one, but she started crying: "Why? Why do they have to do that?!"

Our incredibly brave and compassionate girls are better at coping with it than we are, I think, but they are also a bit traumatized by our time at Unity Iran. If I had known back when we were asked - begged really - to go to Iran and help out in our own special way, that THIS was going to happen, I really think I would have put my foot down.

Even Orion rubbed his eyes and sat up to watch us each comfort one of his sisters. "It's no use... None of us are going to be able to get back to sleep again until we're all snuggled up in a pile."

I looked around the room they were staying in and realized that even though all four of them had their own beds, they all seemed to sleep facing each other. I wonder if they need to see each other if they wake up from nightmares. And also, despite the fact that Viona had demanded her own room long before the other three were ready to leave our bed, she's been sleeping in their room at home ever since we returned. I HAD assumed that it was just because they got used to sharing in Iran, but now I have to wonder...

"We booked this place because it had enough rooms and beds for everyone, but I suppose we didn't give any thought at all to what you actually wanted or needed," I said. "Would you prefer it if we cast a spell to merge all the beds into one so that you can all sleep together?"

"I would," Viona stated, sounding much calmer than she looked.

"Me too," Haz agreed.

"Actually, I'd prefer it if you only merged two of the beds and vanished the others. That would give us plenty of room to sleep, and also a bit more space in here," Eris suggested.

"We can do that," you assured them. It only took a minute or so, but then we had their room rearranged the way they wanted it. They all climbed into their newly merged bed and snuggled up with each other. Of course, we didn't just abandon them then, staying to stroke their hair and rub their backs until they all felt better - or at least I assume they felt better because they fell back asleep.

At that point, our mood completely ruined, we decided to join our baby in bed to get as much sleep as possible before tomorrow's fun.

Prior to tonight, I had assumed that you had somehow escaped Iran without any trauma at all. I mean sure, you cried whenever you saw a new child come in, but since you ALWAYS cry, I thought that it helped you cope and not be quite so effected by those poor kids. But after seeing the look in your eyes when we comforted our kids, I realized that you were just as traumatized as the rest of us. Maybe that's why you were so insistent that we go on vacation as soon as possible.

At this moment, I agree wholeheartedly.

I love you and am finally calm enough to go to sleep. Good night.

Oh wait, Jaz is now awake and wanting her bottle. I guess I'm going to try feeding her while I lay down. Hopefully, she'll get the point that daddy needs to go to sleep and it's NOT a good time to party.

Every beat of my heart,  
Draco

P.S. Remind me to give Pippa a raise for finding a place where Elena has her own room on the opposite side so we can't hear anything iffy!

P.P.S. Is it my imagination, or did Kisa disappear with someone for about 15 minutes? I... suppose that I will have to deny all knowledge since I am NOT getting involved in any part of that potential argument. Poor Blaise, having to suddenly stop all slagginess, but Kisa can still channel her inner Blaise as she likes. I might actually find that inappropriately amusing too, haha.

 

Wednesday July 8th  
Sigh,

Do I start with recapping our super fun day sightseeing? Or do I start dark and really discuss the trauma shaped elephant in the room? You know what? I want to end on a positive note because we are here in a little slice of paradise, having an amazing time, and healing together.

Of course I'm damaged and traumatized by everything we went through creating Unity Iran. When I go to sleep at night I see the small hurt bodies, I see big beautiful eyes haunted and scared. When things get too quiet, my ears remember the sounds. And every so often I smell disinfectant or some other smell that reminds me of the Healers wing, and I break down. And I know these memories will never really go away. You and I have both lived through war before this, the nightmares fade, the healing happens, but it will never completely go away.

We pick ourselves up, we dust ourselves off, we allow our love and time to refill our souls, and we live to help another day.

I think all of our travels prior to Iran were beautiful life experiences for our children to learn. They may be spoiled rich kids, but they are spoiled rich kids with enormous hearts who want to use every ounce of their privilege to make things better for those with less. I know, I've spent the last decade extolling the brilliance of our children. They're the cutest, and the smartest, and the funniest, and the most talented, blah blah blah. But in all seriousness, I don't know any children better than ours. They are just good, right down to their souls.

Elena is studying psychology. Even though her dream to run Unity House is something she's probably over-qualified for at this point, she wants to work even harder so she can change the lives of the children that will be under her care.

River had a seemingly never ending wealth of energy that he used to play with the Iranian Kids for hours at their Park. And when one of them wanted to go down a slide but weren't physically able to get there? He carried them.

Viona taught herself enough of the Persian language so she could give the kids comfort in their native speech. That's a hard language to learn!

Orion spent hours hunched over books. He insta-owled his Aunt Hermione constantly to ask for more research material. He was researching activities to do with differently abled children.

Hazel, our diva, thought nothing of letting some of the little girls try on her clothes so they could play dress-up and feel beautiful. Not so much as a flinch when they would occasionally have an accident or spit up or sometimes even bleed on her favorite pieces.

Eris would sit for hours with some of the Kids that had lost their sight and describe everything she could see. She'd weave beautiful stories to tell them.

Our littlest mischief makers couldn't do much with their ages, but they would play with any Kid, and didn't bat an eye at some of their limitations. To them a Kid is a Kid and they're just interested in having fun with them.

And Jasmine. Our sweet little bundle of chocolate eyed perfection. Those eyes. I swear, I hope she never learns what a sucker I am because I would conquer kingdoms to make those eyes sparkle at me.

I know why you say if you knew then what you know now, that you would have put your foot down. And I don't blame you. But I would still have gone. I would take this trauma and be grateful. Because even though we weren't able to ultimately fix what's happening there. But we helped so many. I wouldn't have brought our family there. I feel such tremendous guilt that our sweet babies are suffering for my choices. They wake up in fear, crying, and it's my fault. I have no idea how I will ever make this up to them. I swore I would keep my children from experiencing a childhood of wartime manipulations, and then I imprisoned them in a war zone.

I can never make it up to them, but I will die trying! I will fill their lives with joy. I will plan so many fun things that joy will ooze out of their pores! I hate seeing them wake up in fear, but seeing them cling to each other, support each other, take strength in each other? I love their close relationship. I hope they stay close throughout their entire lives.

But. I would do all of it again, every ounce of it, I would store every horror in my mind, wake up with nightmares every night for the rest of my life, to save our Jaz. Or for her to save me. Because I was feeling hopeless and defeated. It seemed like no matter how many lives we helped, the damage kept coming. And then she came in, brand new and perfect. I knew I couldn't give up. I had to keep going for her. It might as well have been her magic calling to mine.

Hmm, maybe it was her magic. We've seen her do some pretty advanced accidental magic. It's usually aimed at you. She has a messaging system that is just tuned to your signature. But when I locked eyes with her in that Healer's wing, it was like I felt something lock into place. Just very, "Oh, you're who we've been waiting for."

So now, I take my children I damaged, and the child who saved me, and the husband I've loved for what feels like my whole life, and I'm going to drag you around the world so we can all remember the world is full of beauty.

Ok, I lied. I know, I'm disappointed in myself too. I find I don't have the energy to recap our beautiful day after that emotional purge. But it really was a wonderful day. Roaming the market for little treasures. Eating way too much local fare. And now I am going to climb into bed, and hopefully we get all the way through at least one shag before we're woken up.

I love you so much.

I'm sorry,  
Harry


	8. Chapter 8

Thursday July 9th  
Love of my life,

After reading your email, I spent a few minutes checking in with how I felt, and once again, you are so right. Despite all the bad and the trauma, I WOULD do it all over again. Salazar, it was hard, SO hard, but when I think about everything you pointed out; how I read to kids and sang to them and hugged them when they were scared and helped numb their pain when they were waiting for their healing treatments, well...

I can't... my heart actually aches when I think about all of those kids NOT having that. As hard as it was, without us, they would have been... I don't even know. If they were lucky, they might have ended up somewhere. Probably not anywhere near as nice as Unity Iran ended up being for them, but somewhere, erm, that existed. More than likely, they would have ended up on the streets, hurt and hungry and unable to do anything about either.

That said, I am infinitely glad that we managed to get the place settled so that it could run well without us. I will commit to as many fund raising events as it needs to keep on helping those poor kids, but I will not go back into that House unless I absolutely have to.

And you! As usual, you know just what we all need. Fun and happy times! Shopping and sunshine! Shagging and more shagging!

Speaking of, we were definitely blessed tonight. Our entire brood went to bed - well, aside from Elena, Antonio, and Kisa, who apparently decided to go out to a club and haven't returned yet. I'm not too worried since if there's any group of young adults on the planet that can defend themselves, it's those three. But as I was saying, the rest of our brood went to bed and apparently didn't have any sort of nightmares.

Which is probably because we managed to do so many wonderful things today that we plumb wore them out, ahahahaha!

Beautifully, this left us plenty of time to take a bath in the outdoor tub for two, frot, kiss, spank you, shag, kiss some more, and then make slow and leisurely love for at least an hour. The world IS a beautiful place, even more so because you're in it.

Tomorrow, we're going to soak up the beauty and sunshine of Little Banana Beach. It's nudist, and so right up my alley, but also a beach, so you and all the kids will have fun swimming when the sun gets to be too much for you. And actually, I'm rather looking forward to strapping Jaz to me and casting a Bubblehead Charm on both of us so that we can go 'snorkeling.' But lest you think that I plan to saddle you with the other seven, I'll be perfectly happy to use those invisible leashes on Siri and Draco junior so that you only have to wrangle the older ones.

But miracle of miracles! Jaz is sleeping again and so I'm about to dive back into bed (gently so I don't wake her), and molest you by frotting.

Oh, this has gotta be a good life, this has gotta be a good life, this could really be a good life, good life, I say oh, this feeling that you can't fight, like this city is on fire tonight, this could really be a good life, a good good life,  
Draco

P.S. Jaz really seems to have noticed the dragons on my arms tonight. She was enthralled, and they seemed to be flirting with her. I'm really glad that when Viona and the almost triplets were old enough to have definite color and dragon preferences, I had the sense to make them a bit smaller than Elena and River's dragons, otherwise I wouldn't have fit Sirius and Draco on there too, haha. That said, I might have to spread to my chest when Jaz is older, because my arms are rather maxed out at this point, ha! Or... maybe since I have Elena, Viona, Eris, and Hazel on my left arm and River, Orion, Sirius, and Draco on my right, I could put Jazmine on the back of my left hand. In which case, we could only have one more before I am officially out of space, hahahahaha!

P.P.S. you made some really good points about the downsides of donating to Yesenia's cause. Thus, don't worry, I have decided against it. That said, I am mildly disappointed that I won't have the opportunity to deposit it directly, hahaha.

 

Friday July 10th  
My Dragon,

Bahaha! I know where Kisa has been sneaking off to!

Yesterday at Little Banana beach, you were off in the water with Jaz, Siri, and "Zwei." Lainie and Antonio were drawing a crowd because they were practicing some advanced Krav Maga in the surf, while River, Viona, Eri, Ori, and Haz were building a massive sandcastle. I took advantage of everyone being distracted to sneak off to the treeline at the north end of the beach to… water some bushes. Well, I wasn't the only one taking advantage of everyone's distraction, I heard Kisa yelling at someone.

I know Kisa can take care of herself, but I figured I would go see what was going on in case she needed backup, or a witness that everything had happened in self-defense! It was Blaise. Apparently his instincts not only are keeping him from shagging anyone else, but he keeps trying to go home and instead finds himself having apparated somewhere nearby. Kisa was lecturing him about being a creepy stalker, and he was complaining that he didn't want to be a creepy stalker but his inner veela was not getting that memo. And I think she's struggling almost as much as he is because she would lecture, and then stop midsentence to snog him, and then pull away and go back to yelling.

I left as soon as I realized I was now being a creepy peeping Tom, and left them to their weird dynamic. I wasn't sure if Kisa was going to come back, or if we weren't going to see her for three more days. But about ten minutes later she came back to the group, sporting a love bite and eyes full of rage. She then joined Lainie and Toni in their grappling and had them both on their backs within thirty seconds.

I joined you in the water shortly after that. The bubble-headed snorkeling was so much fun. But the best part was watching Jaz watch everything in wonder. It wasn't long after I joined you that she started getting sleepy though. Lainie was taking a break to lie in the sun to get herself a bit more tan, so we let her watch her napping little sister on the beach while the rest of us kept swimming.

The epic water battle that ensued was absolutely hilarious! I threw Siri on my shoulders, while you made a tower of Dracos, and we quickly divvied everyone else up onto teams. Everything after was a blur of hysterical laughter, dunking, splashing, and launching the littler kids like water cannons.

Eventually we all were thoroughly waterlogged, full of sand, and wrinkled from being in the water for so long. We went back to our place to get cleaned up and dressed up. Knowing it would take you forever, I got all three littles ready while you readied yourself, and the bigger kids just needed a little assistance. Eri and Haz needed some help brushing out their miles of curls that had gotten a little out of hand in the salt water. And River needed help finding the waistcoat he was sure he had packed (he hadn't, I lent him one of yours).

Remind me next time Eris talks about getting a pixie cut, that I shouldn't try to talk her out of it again. Taking care of that hair is no joke!

We eventually made our way, just in time for our reservation, to Infinity Blue Restaurant for dinner. I have no idea what the rest of you ate, I was so focused on the unbelievably delicious lobster-pasta I ordered. That paired with my dry crisp white wine? Well, I'm glad you cast a muffliato on the table. I know you cast it in case one of the kids started talking about something muggles shouldn't hear, but the benefit for me was no one outside of our family hearing me make ridiculous yummy happy noises at my food.

I may have overindulged a bit because the rest of the evening ended up being a bit of a giggly blur for me. But I woke up this morning refreshed and happy and ready to face the day. I have an idea for something we can do today! Apparently there is a kind of animal sanctuary called Skiathos Donkey Club. Let's go take the kids to feed and pet some donkeys!

Yours,  
Harry

P.S. You don't have to put Jasmine's dragon on your hand, what about on your shoulderblade?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry says the wrong thing to Kisa...

Friday July 10th  
Vozlyublennaya,

The Donkey Sanctuary was surprisingly fun. I think I even caught Kisa smiling! And then how we found a place to go surfing? Perfect!

I mean I know we learned how to surf in South Africa as a bit of a joke: "Oh, we're near the ocean, so we should make sure everyone knows how to swim very well, and what the hell, while we're at it, why not surf?" But considering that we were also near excellent surfing beaches in Unity California and Unity Australia, it just became something we did whenever we could.

As a bonus, it wore everyone out! So, now you and all of the kids are napping - or at least laying quietly reading or something. I'm enjoying the quiet as I write this, and looking forward to going out to dinner tonight. We're of course going to a five star place, but I hear they serve beef tongue tacos, and I've never had that before, so I'm quite excited to try it.

Elena and Antonio are getting ready to go out to another club. They are still coming to dinner with us, but then afterwards, plan to go out dancing. And pulling, sigh... It seems that Elena and Antonio, despite sharing a bed and making excellent us of it (Elena made sure to joke about it in front of me so that I'd cringe), have come to an agreement that they really are more like best friends than they are lovers, and so, have made a pact to be each other's 'wing man.' I'm assuming that this really means that Elena will help Antonio flirt since he is so very shy and she has no problems striking up a conversation with anyone and everyone.

Now that I've talked to Yesenia and she helped me identify the underlying problem, I'm actually getting better about letting Elena be an adult and not taking issue with things like having a non-serious relationship and going out to pull. Still sort of wish I could shrink her down, put her in my pocket, and never let her go, but I know that I can't. I suppose it's still a work in progress, haha.

Alright, so, you know how I occasionally come across a business that is run down but I can see enormous potential in? Well, I came across a bar earlier. It's not on Little Banana (or big Banana) beach, but a different one. I forget which beach. Probably the one we went surfing on. Anyway, it's got a perfect location and plenty of customers, but it has bad management. Apparently the owner is getting rather old and just wants to retire, but he has no one to leave the business to, and because it's getting rather run down, he can't sell it for what it deserves.

Honestly, what HE thinks it deserves is much less that what it ACTUALLY deserves. So, I bought the bar from him and Insta-owled Greg and Millie to get their arses out here. They're going to fix it up for me, and once it's ready, we're going to turn around and sell it for a nice profit! Unless someone expresses interest in running it for me. Actually, one of the employees who's been working there for years was rather irate that he just up and sold it to me, and so, I might be able to work out a deal with her if a buyer willing to pay what I want for it doesn't come along.

Either way, it's win-win for me!

Oh! It seems that Zwei is awake and wants me to play catch with him. Oh! Siri too. I have a feeling that Jaz will yank on your hair and wake you up when she gets hungry and realizes I'm not in bed with the two of you. If so, you'll find me and the boys out on the lawn of our villa.

Sometimes I'm happy, sometimes I'm blue, my disposition, depends on you,  
Draco

P.S. Oh! Looks like Blaise just Apparated in, looking like a miserable puppy. Come to think of it, I have no idea where Kisa is.

 

Saturday July 11th  
Argh,

You might be getting better about my Lainie-girl being an adult, but I'm still at the same level I have been all along. I'm aware she's an adult. I am not going to limit her ability to make her own choices. I will even be fine with her sleeping and "sleeping" with someone in the same house I am in. I support her and know she is mature and brilliant enough to make the right choices for her life. But, yeah no, I don't think I am ready to hear her joking about pulling or making good use of a shared bed. A bed she's sharing with our sweet Antonio who we've known since he was a little boy too.

Wait a minute, maybe I need to have a modified shovel talk with Elena. I mean, obviously not a real shovel talk, she is my baby girl. But maybe a bit of "I killed a dark lord when I was seventeen with nothing but an inappropriate amount of luck and a well placed expelliarmus, if you hurt Antonio I have no problem locking you in your bedroom until your primary interest is in putting on plays at Unity."

Well, I know Blaise showed up yesterday in full pitiful mode, but I assume you'd like the inside scoop? And how have I become the one who knows all the gossip? It's like the world's turned upside down. Up is down, down is up, what else is going to happen?

So Blaise shows up all, "Kisa won't let me near her, I can't go near my Ron and Hermione, my inner veela wants his mate, and my human heart wants my loves. And Kisa is on her way to a club to 'Pull any damn man or woman I want to, you don't own me Bird-Boy!'" I have never seen our sweet slag look so pathetic. Normally, if he was down, we would offer a bit of playroom time so he could shag away the sad. But that is obviously off the table right now! So we invited him to dinner with us and afterwards brought him back for a group snuggle pile while we watched some movies.

It took every ounce of self control I possess to not giggle at him when he gave a huge defeated sigh and whined out, "I can't believe this is what my life has come to. Taken out of the game during the prime of life."

Melodramatic much?

So this morning, I am just sitting around, enjoying the morning with the few children we have that enjoy greeting the day as early as I do. And Kisa comes stumbling in the front door. I start teasing her a bit, because apparently I am terrible at reading women's emotions. Damn, it is a good thing I like cock so much, because I would be trash at being with a woman. I'm giving her a little "ooh, late night" wink wink. And she goes OFF on me!

I ended up shooting Siri and River a "run you fools, run while you still can" look and they went darting outside. All the while I'm hearing, "Oi, listen here Harry James! Late night? Late night?!? You have the balls to joke about my late night straight to my face? Let me tell you a little something about my late night. First, I have to fight with YOUR friend Blaise about my hold on him. He makes me feel guilty that he can't be with YOUR friends Hermione and Ron. But then makes me feel like I'm a slag for wanting to go out and be a nineteen year old woman and pull at the club."

At this point I have realized my mistake at letting Siri and River leave, now I have no witnesses to tell the authorities when they start investigating my murder. She kept going. "Then, I go to the club, and what do I find? No one worth pulling. I mean sure, there were attractive people. Some of them were bloody fit. I mean, we are in freaking Greece, you'd think I could pull a bloody fit Greek man? Noooooooo. I have to compare every one of them to him. His eyes are deeper and darker. His skin is the perfect contrast to mine, not all pale and gross like that bloke's. I bet that guy's cock isn't nearly as big."

And then, your utter moron of a husband made an even worse mistake. "Well, you probably weren't wrong, Blaise's is the biggest I've ever seen." What in the world possessed me to say something like that? Why would I do that to myself?

Her eyes got impossibly wider and even more crazed than they already were. Maybe she's Blaise's mate because she's part veela as well, because I swear she started shrieking at me in a tone that could not have been human. "Harry! I am used to getting everything I want. I go through who I want to go through. And I take any prisoner I damn well please. And now I am stuck on some man who's already in love with two other people!"

And then something happened that I have never seen in the decade I've known her. Kisa started sobbing. I pulled her into my arms and just held her while she cried it all out.

But now she's been fed some homemade waffles, given a good cuppa, and tucked into bed. So she will not be joining us during our family festivities today. I think she just needs a bit of rest and some time to wrap her brain about how she feels. Wouldn't things be easier if she could just fall in love with Ron and 'Mione too? Ha!

But apparently the smell of waffles cooking and tea steeping has drawn most of the sleepyheads. So I had better make up a bigger batch of batter. Zwei is probably going to eat half a batch himself. He must be about to go through another growth spurt because he seems to eat double his weight daily. And I have to admit, I was just teasing when I started calling him Zwei. But I kinda like it now.

Hurry up and get to breakfast so we can get a start on our day! I saved a whole bowl full of fresh berries for you!

Loving you,  
Harry

P.S. Since it will be the first time we're home for Mine, Siri's, and little Draco's birthdays should we throw a huge bash? One party, three birthdays?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The point of Skiathos is to lay out on the beach :-D

Saturday July 11th  
Agapitós,

Kisa cried? I feel like I should warn Blaise to run and hide somewhere far away. If he goes missing... I'm going to miss him so much!

I think you should hold a party for the boys that is also your *family* version of a birthday party, but then have the real party later that night. If you want, I can even reserve Unity Park for the day. We haven't done that since shortly after it opened!

Speaking of late night parties, I say we have Elena, Antonio, and Kisa stay in to watch all the others while WE go out to a club for a bit of fun. We actually haven't done that in a long time either. I'm thinking, hmm, California? Yes, I remember now, we'd been in Australia for their fall/winter/spring 2007, and then we were asked in September to go to California in October and we were bemoaning the idea of skipping summer to go back into fall and winter, but to our surprise, California had an even milder winter than Melbourne. Therefore, after we'd spent Christmas and New Years with the kids in Unity California (our circle coming to us for the most part), we took advantage of the thriving kink community a few days later.

Fuck! That was almost two years ago! I'd say we definitely deserve to go play around a bit! And not like when we went to Blaise's Club and got interrupted by Jasmine needing me. Hmm... I might actually have to ignore the feeling if I suddenly feel like she needs me, as we'll know that she's fine and safe in Elena's care.

But that reminds me, you never did give me a full account of what you got up to after I Apparated away. Did you do as suggested and have Luna take over for me? I'm getting extremely horny just thinking about it!

Oh, looks like someone decided to come take a peek to see if I'm awake yet, and spotted me typing this in bed as I drink some tea. Apparently I'm holding everyone up as they are eager to get to today's activities. Best sign off then, hahaha!

I get off on you getting off on me, give you what you want, but nothing is for free, it's a give and take kind of love we make, when your line is crossed, I get off,  
Draco

P.S. I think our next fun filled holiday should be educational as well. Perhaps bring the kids to Machu Picchu? Or... Chichen Itza? What do you think?

 

Sunday July 12th  
My Dragon,

You know how much I love to plan our trips. I love looking through guidebooks, picking out just the perfect restaurants, and I absolutely love those tourist type destinations that are specific to each location. Like when we went to the Donkey Sanctuary. I mean, when else in our entire lives are we going to go to a DONKEY SANCTUARY? Ya know? I just feel as though if we are going on a destination trip, why do something we could do anywhere else. You don't travel to Mexico and go to a burger place. You don't go to New York City and order Pizza Hut pizza.

Ok weird, the only examples I can think of involve food. I think I may be hungry.

But, the thing I love about Skiathos is there is very little specific to do. You come for the beaches. Why would you do anything else when the Mediterranean is just sitting there calling you from every inch of the island? So as this is our first trip on our year long, "heal, travel, love, play" sojourn, it's just perfect that relaxing on the beach IS the point of the locale. Once you were lured out of our room yesterday morning, I believe we've spent no less than eighteen of the last thirty-six hours on one beach or another.

We've tanned, swam, snorkeled, surfed, and built sand castles to our heart's content. Those of you who are very pale, have gotten a nice flush of color. Just a hint of blush that makes your eyes sparkle. Those of us with the darker skin tone now look like we live outdoors! But the best part of beaching has been watching Vivi surf. For a little girl who, sorry I mean young lady she does not like it when I call her a little girl, is so particular about her wardrobe and her hair and her skin care, she just loses all sense of poise and turns wild when she's on a surfboard. Her eyes flash and her hair blows every which way, she looks like she is waging a personal battle against the sea and plans on being the only survivor.

As for our next trip? I love both of your ideas. I think educational is great, and whenever we get to go somewhere with so much history and standing where such great historical cultures built up the world I am humbled and thrilled. I don't think either choice is wrong, but we've done Machu Picchu so I guess it's just a matter of do we want to go somewhere we went as a couple and have the nostalgia of seeing it as a family, or do we want to discover something none of us has ever done all together? You decide and I will follow you my love.

You mentioned asking the adult kids to watch the small kids so we could go out for the night. To go out clubbing like the twenty-eight and twenty-nine year-olds we are. I could see that Lainie was so torn, she wanted to say yes, she loves her siblings and knows we really love being able to take a date night to ourselves. But she and Antonio had met some fun people at the club they went to the night before and had made plans to meet up again last night. So we decided on tonight instead for our kinky club and date night.

Well, we didn't tell them it was going to be kinky, but I have no doubt you are going to make it so!

I am sure it will be much kinkier than the night you left me to Luna's devices. After you apparated away, I got the chance to talk to you so I knew everyone was just fine. But you know how I am, the mood is always a bit spoiled when you're not there. Actually, there IS NO mood for me when you are not there. It's just not sexy without you. However, you had ordered me to transfer your role to Luna for the evening, so your domination WAS there. I was a good boy and walked over to Luna and told her what you said.

Now, Luna is definitely not my type, too many extra parts and not enough one really important part, but she is a fantastic domme. So she read me like a book and knew that I didn't particularly want to have a long kinky night without you, but that I really wanted to please you. So she had me kneel at her feet for the rest of the evening. My only job was to use my hands and my mouth to fully harden, prepare, and wet any cock that was going to enter her. It included the shafts I knew and were her usuals, her husband's and their boyfriend's, and then a few random ones. I also had to guide them inside of her. I kept thinking of how proud you would have been of me, out of my comfort zone as there was a woman involved, and definitely out of my comfort zone since you weren't physically there to ground me and see me please you. And that was all the grounding I needed.

So are you proud of me?

Even though I am proud of myself for serving you that way, I am much more looking forward to this evening with you being right there with me every step of the way. I have my plug in and my ring on, I'm just waiting for you to join me.

I'm going to go kiss all of our babies goodnight one more time, hopefully you'll be ready to go by the time I finish my "rounds."

Yours,  
Harry


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco go to a swinger's club to play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: In case it wasn't obvious, Harry and Draco play with others in this chapter. There is a bit of het, but it's brief and I try to be subtle about it so it hopefully won't squick anyone :-)

Monday July 13th  
Ma raison d'être,

By rights, I should be passed out! We went to Nirvana in Athens, which is a swingers' club rather than a kink club, but I couldn't find a kink club on such short notice. Everyone was very friendly though.

We started by ordering drinks and sitting at a cushioned bench with a low table just looking around at all the people. It was a bit slow since it was Sunday, and it was apparent that most of the couples there were straight. A bit disappointed, I thought that maybe we'd simply play with each other and give everyone a show, but then a woman came over to us, leading her husband on a leash.

You looked interested to see what sort he was - a pup or simply a sub who likes to be collared and leashed. You were of course wearing your collar, but we hadn't thought to bring the leash with. As it turns out, he was simply subby, which you liked. You may love me being dominant and bossing everyone in the world around, but you never look happier than when you get to slip fully into being a sub.

I can quite picture how you must have looked while letting Luna dominate you the other night, your desire to be a good sub at odds with your need to share the experience with me. You looking awkward and yet so bloody fit that I'm sure everyone wanted more than just your mouth on them.

Anyway, the woman grinned at us. "My husband just LOVES being 'forced' to please others. He tries to deny and pretend that he hates it, but he's a cock loving whore."

He actually blushed and looked away. "Am not..." Then he winked at you. "It's not as much fun if I'm not being forced against my will."

You chuckled and nodded in understanding.

"My husband *also* adores cock," I informed her with a grin.

"Sounds like they might have a lot in common, I think my husband should have to drink your husband dry," she suggested in her thick accent. I'm thinking probably German.

"I think that could be rather interesting," I agreed, gesturing to the 'dark room' where all sexual acts were supposed to take place. We relocated and then she grabbed her husband by his chocolate brown hair and looked him fiercely in the eye. It was a bit amusing to see a man at least as tall as I am and built like a linebacker cower and look genuinely afraid of what that petite little woman might do to him if he disobeyed her.

"Suck that man good and hard! Do such a good job he can't remember his own name, and when he fills your mouth, swallow every drop - don't let even a speck of it go to waste!" She commanded with a steely tone to her voice.

"Ja herrin!" He exclaimed in obeisance.

To make things easier for him and have a bit of fun in the process, I kissed you and unzipped your trousers. To my delight, you had decided to make things as easy as possible by NOT wearing any pants. Your gorgeous shaft was already quite interested in this turn of events.

Getting comfortable, you relaxed as much as possible, clearly planning to make him work hard for his reward.

I watched him make your toes curl until you started purring unconsciously. Then I turned my attention to his wife and realized that she was so into watching him that she wasn't paying the slightest attention to anything else. So, I decided to see if I could distract her. First I caressed her right breast, slipping my hand into her bra when she didn't object. Then I popped it out to suck on her nipple, making her inhale sharply.

But still, she was very determinedly focusing on her husband. Getting to my knees, I slipped her knickers out from under her skirt and amused myself by seeing just what it would take to get her to forget about what her husband was doing. To her credit, she didn't take her eyes off her husband, even when I made her squeal rather loudly.

Seeing that must have triggered something in you because you promptly filled his mouth. It was then that we noticed that we had a bit of an audience. Another gay couple had arrived after we came into this room, and upon asking if there were any other gay couples visiting that night, were directed toward us. The shorter of the two - a mildly chubby white man who was also brunet - positively *begged* to be allowed to rim you, which I naturally permitted. Meanwhile, die ehefrau commanded ihr ehemann to hoover the other (other other?) gay man.

Walking around to her back and forcing her to bend over a bit so she could brace herself on her husband's shoulders, I took a bit of pleasure from her while we watched everything that was going on. I completely understand why she was fixated on her husband's face, because watching MY husband's face when he's being worked up is sheer joy. I get to pay attention to every flicker of emotion that crosses your face, and as your face grows more and more flushed from pleasure - as your breathing gets faster, and you frequently gasp as if surprised - I feel a powerful tugging in my loins. My sharing kink was definitely in full bore tonight.

The moment he finished swallowing his new mouthful, she ordered him to come over and lick me clean. I have a strong feeling that this bloke was the most popular man in the club that night!

After I pumped his mouth full too, they wandered off to see who else they might have fun with. Which left me and the black gay man watching you and fondling each other. You - unsurprisingly since you had a couple of fingers and a tongue in your arse - had already recovered from your blowjob and were well on your way to another orgasm. We played with that lovely gay couple for more than an hour before *they* turned into puddles of goo and had to leave so they could go sleep it off.

As for us, we moved to [the club within the club](http://en.protothema.gr/the-swinging-couples-of-greece-where-do-they-go/) part of Nirvana called the Bikini Club in which there's a huge bed, showers if needed, and honest to Merlin gloryholes. I must admit that it was surprisingly fun to be on the giving side of those holes.

But it was right about then that I had an urge to see you demonstrate your skill to the fullest. I wanted to make someone absolutely jealous of me and the fact that I have YOU for a husband. So, I found an amenable man, and best of all, he was dark and swarthy - which is as close to my type as anyone who isn't you can get. Climbing into the bed, I ordered you to rock his world, which you did.

His girlfriend declined to participate because she was fascinated to see how far he would go. As it turns out, the middle of a you and me sandwich - after what he claims was his first time bottoming. Whether it actually was his first time or not, you had him nice and warmed up for me by the time we all wanted that sandwich.

I'm not certain how much they had played, but our friends the German couple joined us again right about the time we thoroughly exhausted the man we were doing everything we liked to. She pointed at us.

"Let them fuck you like that!"

He looked slightly alarmed. "Aber schnucki!"

She gave him a significant look. "Are you saying your word?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Nein herrin."

Rather than repeat her order, she simply and emphatically pointed at us. After an argument like that, it would have been a shame to decline. So, we set about rocking his world too. Perhaps it was only to be expected, but he preferred to be the 'submissive' one, so after a bit of him in the middle, we actually switched positions so that you and I took turns being in the middle with him on the bottom."

When we wore him out, you were done for the night too. To be honest, so was I, but of course, at that point, I was TOO worn out to fall right to sleep - as any other man on the planet would have done. So, I took the opportunity to feed Jaz and write to you. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep now.

Come my baby, come come my baby, you're my butterfly, sugar, baby. Come my baby, you're my pretty baby, I'll make your legs shake, you'll make me go crazy,  
Draco  
P.S. I'm always proud of you!

 

Tuesday July 14th  
Good morning from moderately sunny because it is July, beautiful but not island in Greece beautiful, Unity House,

After a week or so back at the Manor to settle back into the normalcy of being home, almost a full week in Greece to relax and enjoy some well-earned fun, and yesterday to get home and recover a bit from the exhaustion of traveling, I am sitting at my desk in my office at Unity. It feels so weird. Obviously I have come through and visited every time we've been home. I handed over the running of the place to Tabitha eight years ago now, but she has kept me up to date on changes and big news. I've also had my own office at each Unity House we've created, so it's not like I've been away from this part of running things.

The weird part is this is where it all started. I would sit here when I was learning as I went about how to run this place. I planned our first meet and greets from this desk. And in the years since we've left, I purposefully never sat here, never even came into the office, I didn't know if I could emotionally handle it. I am so proud of everything we've accomplished over the years, but I felt a bit like I had abandoned this House when we left. So every visit was just me playing with whatever Kids were living here at the time. But now I am back, and while I certainly am not taking Tabitha's job away from her, she runs this place and she does it probably a million times better than I did, I am ready to dig in and be more than the fun uncle who visits from time to time.

I have all of our kids with me today. Yes, even the sleepyheads were excited to get over here. I've got Jaz strapped to me, and everyone else is just running amok. So when you wake up to an empty bed, and an almost completely empty Manor, do not panic! Enjoy the quiet. If you feel like joining us today, that is great, otherwise feel free to use the time to do something you have been wanting to do for yourself. Maybe go reacquaint yourself with the peacocks or the owls. Head over to your business partners and pitch them the translation tech you were going on about the other day.

I say almost completely empty Manor because I do believe Lucius is still there. However, your mum and your brothers and sisters are here as well. I assume you probably did, but did you know that Narcissa has been pretty much running the gala planning and preparation every single year? I knew she did when we were still here and I was still running the place, but I figured she was just doing it for us and would let someone else do it when we were gone. Nope, she seems to have taken over your role as head fundraiser and run with it.

And this year's gala is going to be huge! It's the eleventh gala, and that makes this year the ten year anniversary of Unity House and Traditions. As always, all Unity Royalty will be invited. But Narcissa wants to, and everyone else agrees, have something to show just how many children have come through and the lives that have been changed. I'm not sure what she'll come up with, but I'm sure it will be beautiful and heart wrenching.

So we've been brainstorming all morning, pitching ideas, discussing color palates and menus. When Tabitha suggested taking a break so she could work on some non-gala related business, the rest of us decided to take a bit of a break as well. But I suppose I've spent enough time in here getting my bearings. I am going to go do some rounds, get to know this crop of Kids. And make sure Siri and Zwei haven't burnt the place down yet.

I'm not going to be home for dinner this evening. Sorry it's so last minute. I booked an appointment with my therapist, so I will drop the kids off at the Manor between finishing here and heading off to my session. I'll definitely be home for bedtime snuggles and story time.

Enjoy the quiet while it lasts!

All of my Love,  
Your Harry

P.S. My jaw is still sore from Sunday night! Do you have a potion for that?


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry likes when Draco wears Gryffindor red, so Draco wears it when he knows that Harry won't be around to see it, just to be a bit of a shit, lol.

Tuesday July 14th  
Geliebter,

While you and all our babies were over at Unity, I had a glorious morning. After 'sleeping in,' I got out of bed and stretched, did some light exercise, took a shower (was our shower always this big?), and got all dressed up in some of my finest non formal clothing.

I know you love seeing me wear Gryffindor red, but that I don't do it often because it's Gryffindor red, but I was in the mood today, so I wore that particular waistcoat. You know, the one that has the black embroidery on it that pairs well with a rich black button up shirt.

Once ready, I met up with my Australian mates to discuss the first step that need to be taken to make the adventure park a reality. That meeting took four hours longer than really necessary and involved a large amount of good quality craft beer. But don't worry, I paced myself and never got more than a little tipsy. I would NEVER let myself get into a position where I signed a contract that wasn't extremely beneficial to me. Thus, we came up with a clear plan; starting with them inspecting the available premises off Diagon and choosing the one most suitable for them. If they need to do any sort of remodeling, they'll be borrowing Greg and Millie for a bit.

After the plan was solidified, they left to go about determining how much money they would need to get the ball rolling. They are going to invest as much as they can as they've made quite a bit of profit from their Adventure place in Australia, but I do plan to fund the rest with the guarantee that my percentage of the ownership will be directly proportional to the percentage of money I invest.

Left to my own devices and still having a bit of time to just faff about, I dropped in on Theo and Derek, who - unlike me, Blaise, and Pansy - actually go into an official office and do actual work on our business each day. You know, the marketing and sales and overseeing of the product production, those things that aren't necessary for me because I do all the developing, or Pansy because she does most of the research I need, or Blaise who takes our current products and tweaks them from time to time so that we can come out with 'new' versions.

Anyway, I was excited because I finally had an opportunity to show them that translation device I've been working on since - oh... Argentina??? The same one I wouldn't shut up about the other day because I finally got it to work! I now have a fully functional translation device that a person can put in their ear and when someone is speaking in a foreign language, they hear it in their own language.

Obviously this is just a prototype, so its default settings are translate any of the languages I programmed into it into English, but I think now that I've got the basics down, I should be able to figure out how to tweak it so that it can be set for any language the user needs. That said, we can start producing this version now and come out with other models as people ask for specific languages.

Actually, it might be easiest to have people custom order the device with the language they need translated and the language they need it translated into as the only two on the device. But anyway, I'm apparently running late for dinner now, and so had better wrap this up and get a move on it.

Love you more than I love myself,  
Draco  
P.S. I've decided that since we can't decide between Machu Picchu and Chichen Itza, we'll just do both. A week at one, and then a week at the other. Sound good?

 

Friday July 17, 2009  
My Own,

Yes, our shower has always been that big. But it's probably been a very long time since you've taken a shower alone. You've always preferred baths, so it's not like you took a whole lot of showers. When we lived here previously you always had at least one baby trying to follow you into the shower. And the few times you've gone in for a shower alone, I have taken advantage of the situation and joined you.

I certainly hope you enjoyed your lonely shower. I can just picture it; hot water streaming down your body, you scrubbing yourself down, the bubbles flowing over your skin. And then, maybe you take this time alone to touch yourself which you so rarely need to do. Taking yourself in hand, pumping three or four times to get yourself to full mast. And then leisurely stroking until you need to speed up. I can almost hear you panting, the sounds of wet skin, and then right at the end you let out that higher pitched squeal that ends in a deep grunt. Your cum spraying the tiles and the shower rinsing it down the drain. The only evidence of what you'd done in the softening of that gorgeous shaft and the flush staining your cheeks.

What was I saying?

Oh, I'm glad the meetings with the Australians have gone well. Have they managed to find a premise that they like or are they still searching? Obviously the three different Parks you own or will own are with different investing partners, but I wonder if there's something all three groups could come up with to do cross promotional ideas. Or some sort of bundle pricing if they pay for access to all three parks. Do you remember when we were in California and we went to Disneyland? Well you could pay to go to just Disneyland or just California Adventure, but you could also purchase a park-hopper ticket that allowed you to go to both on the same day. So maybe something like that? I know that the Witches and Wizards who live near London have no issues just doing one park and coming back at another time for the other park. But if you have people coming in from the continent or visiting from elsewhere in the world, it may be beneficial to offer the triple experience.

And oh my goodness am I excited that you've finally gotten that translation device working! Not only do I know you've worked immensely hard on it, but I can think of about a million uses for it. It would have come in handy during any number of our setups where we didn't know the language. By the end of each trip we had certainly picked up enough to do some basic communication, but to be able to understand and then communicate our responses immediately? That would have made things go much smoother. Don't get me wrong, our interpreters were fantastic, and they did an absolutely amazing job, but things always came together much quicker during our English speaking trips.

I love the idea of doing both Machu Picchu and then Chichen Itza. They're similar enough in education and the ancient sites that it will feel like a cohesive trip. But being able to do one and then the other means we'll be able to really see the differences and similarities of these two ancient civilizations. I'm looking forward to heading there once the gala and the birthday parties are done!

Oh yeah, birthday parties. We should definitely do a big family party for the boys and I. And I like the ideas of either an after party for just me (wink wink adult party) or renting out Unity Park. Ooh, can we rent out Unity Park at night? I know it's usually closed just about sundown but I think it would be so cool to do the rides while it's dark and all we can see flying past us are the lights of the city and the stars.

So, I've been babbling a bit. And I know you never ask me about my therapy appointments, knowing that if I want to tell you something I will, but I think you'll notice I haven't said a word about my session on Tuesday. Well, I uh, Katja thinks I should go back to weekly sessions. I know you thought I hadn't really shown signs of trauma, and were a bit surprised to see the evidence that it was there while our babies were having nightmares in Greece. But I think I've been able to hide it under layers of obsessing about something else. And honestly, I've not been pretending to be happy, I AM happy. I'm not falsifying the emotions I'm showing, but I have been burying the unpleasant ones. And both you and I know that eventually they will come out. Usually in an unhealthy way, and usually damaging in some way.

Yeah, so Tuesday evenings are now going to be my therapy nights. I hope that works with your schedule. If Tuesdays are bad, let me know and I can see if her schedule works for me to come in a different time.

Anyway, I'm going to go kick some of these Kids' bums at the climbing wall! See you when I get home.

Love you,  
Harry


	13. Chapter 13

Monday July 20th  
My brilliant husband!

Your idea to combine the passes is sheer genius!. Hmm, actually, I should look into building wizard friendly hotel so that when wizarding families DO want to stay a few days in London - say to go to Unity Park or shop on Diagon Alley - they have a proper place to stay. I can't believe I didn't think of that YEARS ago, haha!

The only problem I can think of initially is that Unity Park was built in a building in Kensington, not too far from the Science Museum, and Potter Park and this new adventure park are both right off of Diagon Alley, so, do I build the hotel right off Diagon Alley where there are THREE (if you include Diagon itself) things to attract families on holiday, OR do I build the hotel next to Unity Park, which is arguably the place that draws the most visitors? I... hmm... I suppose that if I build it in a building I already own off Diagon, I can always install a magic door so that guests who have bought a pass can just step right through the door and be in Unity Park. That works!

Speaking of, I have spoken with the co-owners of Unity Park and we've arranged it like this: Since your birthday is on a Friday and that's one of their busiest days of the year - the last Friday of July that is, not specifically your birthday - they suggested this alternative: we can close Unity Park down on Thursday for the entire day/night. That way, we have the option of bringing our Kids AND the current batch of Unity Kids and anyone else you want to invite to your party there at any point during the day, and we can stay all night if we want. It was even suggested that if we want to turn it into a NOT kid friendly party at any point (probably after dark), we can convert the area where up to ten private parties/picnics can be booked (it's basically reserved tables/seating in the food court area) into whatever we need for an adult slumber party. That way, the guests that stay can still ride the rides if they want, or they can play with us until they pass out from sheer exhaustion, buwahahahahaha!

As for privacy, they have enough house elves on staff to keep the place running for a small group at night, so all of their human employees can be sent home at their usual time and we'll still have everything we need. Sounds fairly win win to me!

Oh, and now that I'm on the subject of house elves, Muffy is mad at me again. See, she had Amaryllis, Daffodil, and Crocus for Elena, River, and Hazel. Then she had Hyacinth and Tulip for Sirius and Draco Junior, but NOW that we have Jaz, she has been waiting for orders to have another baby too. Only I haven't really thought about it. So, she had to take matters into her own hands and consider all my previous permissions as continued permission. And even though she SAID it as 'permissions' I can only recall giving it officially the very first time, hahahahaha! In any case, after Muffy called me a bad master who never considered her wants and needs, she informed me that young Mistress Jasmine will have her own elf at some point before her birthday.

Also, on the same subject, as happens every couple of years, various families with female elves approach (or owl) me about having Dibly provide stud service. It's well known that Malfoy elves are of superior stock, hahaha! So, I asked Dibly what he thought of the prospect, and just like any healthy male of any species, he basically said: Duh! So if you can't find him for the next week or so, that's why. Basically, the other family gets to keep him until their elf is confirmed pregnant.

Before I forget to mention it at all, I think Tuesday nights are perfect for your therapy sessions. Actually, I'll see if Yesenia can schedule me for the same time, since I really ought to have weekly sessions for a while as well. More importantly, I'll speak with the other Mind Healers at Unity House and see if/how they can split our kids up between them. Elena probably doesn't need much, maybe a session or two, since she was in Hogwarts most of the time and only Portkeyed to us on weekends when she had time. Unlike when she first started and we insisted that she Portkey back *every* weekend and even some nights (that reminds me, I still have to buy Kingsley something nice to thank him for giving Elena a dedicated Portkey), by her Seventh Year, we had relaxed enough to allow her to choose when she wanted to Portkey to us. Anyway, aside from her and Jaz, the rest of our kids likely need regular sessions for a while too.

The last thing I want to talk about before signing off, is Theo. He naturally went to George first in his mission of marketing my translation devices, and George hasn't lost money on any of our products yet, so he naturally agreed to carry some, but Theo also wondered who would be most likely to want or need such a device, and came to the conclusion that Ministry Diplomats more than likely could use them. So, he has a meeting with Kingsley today to discuss it.

But now seems like the perfect time to surprise you with a date. I'm not sure where to bring you though. Obviously somewhere relatively close by. The Aqua Shard? Greenhouse in Mayfair? Regulation? Buwahahahahaha! Oh!!! Speaking of dates, I managed to get us tickets to Torture Garden next month! http://www.torturegarden.com/about

Ooo… and now we need to go shopping for appropriate costumes...

'Cuz I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it,  
Draco

P.S. Yesenia also thinks that I've probably been mopey and mildly depressed ever since Onyx died. He was only 9, well taken care of, and in good health, so it was quite a shock to me when he succumbed to the heat. She thinks I might feel better - at least a little - if I buy a new pet. So, I have to go pet shopping sometime soon too. Healer's orders!

 

Monday July 20th  
My Silly Husband

Uhhh, I think you already answered your own question. You asked what we should do for a date and in the next sentence you mention we are going to Torture Garden and need costumes? Obviously the answer is that whatever we do needs to be close enough to Regulation so we can go get our costumes! So here's what I am thinking. We go eat dinner somewhere fantastic, you pick the place, whatever you choose will be delicious. Then we go to the theatre. There are three musicals I would LOVE to see; we can do Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre if we want unbelievably amazing music, there's Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre if we want to listen to fun songs about women justifying murdering the men in their lives, or if we want to laugh our arses off at inappropriate puppets we could do Avenue Q at the Gielgud Theatre. They're all roughly a twenty minute cab ride from Regulation so when the show is over we head over and do our costume shopping!

I was wondering, you asked Greg and Millie to head out to Skiathos to work on that bar you bought, you've already semi-promised your Australian partners Greg and Millie for any remodeling, and I know you're not going to trust anyone else to construct this hotel you're planning. So, are they going to be able to do all three and still plan their wedding? I can't imagine you trusting anyone else with these jobs, but yikes when do they sleep? Well, I suppose the bar wouldn't take overly long, the Australians haven't set on a location quite yet, and your hotel will take a bit of planning on your part before it's ready for construction. Ok, I think it's likely that you knew what you were doing while business planning.

And at the risk of adding an extra business to your plans, because you know how much I feel like you spread yourself too thin, what if you did a hotel at both locations and tailored them to suit different clientele. Make the one on Diagon geared towards the families with older children and singles. That way it can also be perfect for people coming in from further away to do their back to Hogwarts shopping, and for young adults to come for an exciting dangerous adventure. And aim the hotel near Unity Park as an all inclusive family type resort hotel. Come for Unity Park, no need to go anywhere else, we have everything you need on site.

Oh! Speaking of staying somewhere … wow I am awesome at segues … Miles and Sammy will be here Monday morning bright and early. I promised Miles he could leave Sammy with us Monday evening so he can meet up with Colm and figure out what's going to change or stay the same now that they're on the same continent. Both with Sammy's custody and care, as well as their potential rekindling of the relationship.

You know, I am pretty sure our insistence at having a huge family and Muffy's insistence on creating a new elf for each of our children is going to be responsible for a massive surge in the house-elf population. I know better than to argue with Muffy, but did each child really need their own elf? I honestly think it's hilarious that Hermione spent so much time trying to save the house elves from their enslavement by wizard-kind but in this house? Muffy runs us like her own personal minions.

I uh, erm, so I did something a little crazy. See, I have been watching you miss our Onyx for a while now. And I didn't want to push you into getting another animal, because I know Onyx wasn't replaceable, but I think having a dog makes you quite happy. I've um been keeping my eye out and waiting for some sign that you were ready. Maybe, instead of sitting in bed lingering over your tea and your email you should maybe go ask the kids if there's something they should be showing you.

Love,  
Harry

P.S. If I way overstepped then the thing that may or may not be being played with by the children can be theoretically rehomed.

P.P.S. There may be two of them...


	14. Chapter 14

Tuesday July 21st  
The most gorgeous man in the world,

Tonight was perfect! We agreed that we both needed a good laugh, so we went to see Avenue Q at the Gielgud Theater. My sides hurt a bit now from laughing so hard, but it was worth it. Afterwards, we went shopping at Regulation and bought costumes that would get us forcibly evicted from most places, hahaha!

Now, I'm in bed feeding Jaz. As usual, she's wide awake and ready to party, despite it being after midnight. Since I am rather awake myself, I'm going to bring her to the ballroom and do a bit of firedancing. I have a feeling that she will just LOVE the visual aspect of it. Plus, whenever I wear her when I'm dancing, she tends to fall asleep, haha.

As for those gorgeous dogs you bought, I love them. They are friendly, energetic, and so soft to the touch. Well, at least parts of them are. That said, I could already tell that they are the type of dog that is more suited to little boys, so, we can keep them, but they officially belong to the kids. Don't worry, their house elves know to take care of them if our kids forget.  
Personally, I'm going to take my time and find a dog that just calls out to me.

Oh, before I forget again, when I told Yesenia that I was going to decline donating to her cause because of issues surrounding the Malfoy estate and magical inheritance, she understood. She realizes that even if I agreed to being a simple donor with no rights to the child other than first option to adopt if anything ever happened to her - and only interacting with him/her as much as I do with her other kids - that, well, it could potentially be a thorny issue when I die and my estates need to be split up among the kids. Legally, the child wouldn't have any right to Malfoy Manor, but magically, he or she could.

So, that's the end of the matter. But then she joked that YOU don't have any such ancestral inheritance issues. She knows that there wouldn't be any sort of direct deposit, but if you were willing to donate to her cause, she would be ever so grateful. You know me, I have a sharing kink, and you have a subby kink, so the idea of ordering you to prepare a donation in a cup and then use a syringe to deposit it where it needs to be sort of gets me hot. But I suppose that I could do the syringe part. Seems a shame to pass up such an excellent opportunity though.

But don't feel like you have to make any hasty decisions because Yesenia doesn't want to start the trying to conceive process until after Ianto goes off to Hogwarts. I know he's adopted, but I find it somewhat interesting that he's already old enough to go to Hogwarts this September. I mean, when we left for Africa, she didn't have any children, and then when we return for good, she has one that old already. You'd think that after adopting an older child myself, this wouldn't be weird to me, but I suppose that one of those things. Shrugs.

But as I was saying, me and my party girl are about to go dancing. And oh! Looks like Zwei just popped his head into the room, so unless he had a nightmare and wants to snuggle with you, he's probably going to come dancing with me as well.

I love you so much that sometimes I genuinely cannot remember a time when I didn't,  
Draco

P.S. Riding to the restaurant, then the theater, and then Regulation on your motorbike reminded me so much of the time you surprised me with a date and we couldn't keep our hands off each other. I got so turned on (both times, haha!) that I just couldn't help but do exactly as you did the first time; have you pull off the road somewhere, erect a bunch of privacy wards so that we didn't get arrested, and then have my filthy way with you all over the bike in every way possible. Merlin! What is it about you in leather that makes me lose my mind?!

 

Tuesday July 21, late evening

Um, no.

Most Gorgeous Man in the World,

I thought you've been writing to me all this time and come to find out you've been writing to yourself? Not cool.

Anyway, I just got home from my weekly session with Katja. It was a really rough one. I feel lighter but I am emotionally exhausted. I figured since you're referring to me as the most gorgeous man in the world that I would also pretend I'm you and go hide in our closet, write to you, and gorge myself on some Ben and Jerry's.

It is going to take me so long to come to terms with my guilt over placing you and our children in the wartime situation that I did. I know logically that we made the decision together, just like I know logically that our children are young and resilient. They will not only bounce back after some time to heal, but there are life lessons and beautiful things that will live with them for the rest of their lives because of the experience. But all I can think when I see our children wake in terror, is that I failed at keeping my children safe. I really don't think I will be able to heal from that trauma until I can see the evidence that the rest of you are healing from it.

The trauma from our actual memories is a bit easier. We've been doing a lot of visualization, talking about my memories in detail, reliving everything. But while it's been so hard to talk about, getting it out there, pulling it out of the parts of my brain it was festering I think will definitely help in the long run. But for now I feel like a giant sack of rubbish and I plan on making myself ill on ice cream.

So while I am thinking about terrible choices I've made and their natural consequences, I will most definitely not be making such life changing decisions about whether or not to donate to the "let Yesenia grow a baby" cause. I'll be honest and tell you that I can't see myself doing it. I can't imagine knowing I have a child out there, and not being active in their life in the role of dad, I can't imagine being a dad with anyone but you, and unless we force Yesenia to move her entire family into the Manor, I would be living in a different house than my child. Again, I am going to wait to make a decision until I'm in a healthier place mentally, but I really don't think I will end up doing it.

Would she like me to panhandle for sperm on the streets of Diagon? I would do that for her.

I wonder if we could talk Derek into making a deposit since he's adamant that he will not be having children himself. I mean, if he's not going to use it …

Now that I think on my plan to not make any big life decisions, I may have been a bit hasty in bringing home a dog. Or two. At this point it doesn't matter because I am pretty sure the children would kick ME out before they would let me bring those dogs elsewhere. Even our little Jaz, who I thought wouldn't really care at all, just kept rubbing at Romulus' fur and making a bit of a humming noise. I probably wouldn't have noticed the noise in any of the other kids, but she's so silent that she breathes a bit loudly and I notice!

And the pups slept in the big transfigured bed with Viona and the almost triplets last night, I'll bet these little balls of love and fluff are going to be good for them. So whenever you find the dog that grabs you by the heart and refuses to let go, we will just be one of those crazy families with three dogs. We're already the crazy family with nine children, we may as well go all out.

Oh I think I forgot to mention it earlier, we did the barely passing in the hallway thing when you were on your way to your therapy and I was on my way out for mine, so I didn't get a chance to really talk to you. I spoke with Miles a bit today. Just talking about a few particulars for their arrival and all that. Well I mentioned the gala being this coming weekend and Miles was absolutely horrified at the idea of missing it by just a few days. So instead of the two of them coming Monday bright and early, they'll be here Friday afternoon instead. I'm thinking about not telling the kids about the change in scheduling and just seeing their faces when Miles and Sammy walk into the Manor unexpectedly.

I'm really looking forward to the Gala. You know me, any excuse to spend an evening wrapped in your arms, and possibly accidentally sonorous you when you're singing to Jaz. I mean, IF you sing to Jaz, who knows you might not even dance with her at all. I certainly didn't specifically order our robes in colors that would complement both your favorite gold cloth for carrying and her dress. It's just a coincidence that you look so amazing in blue and gold.

Who am I kidding, you look fantastic in anything. And apparently you have a thing for me in leather! I would assume it was just the leather jacket when I'm on my bike, but if my costume for Torture Garden is any indication, you like it on me in all forms. I did a bit of research on it when you said you had gotten tickets and I am so excited to go when we get back from the Americas. I heard that some people actually go dressed in regular clothing and change once inside but I assume that will not be us will it? I can picture you walking me from the apparition point to the door in my full gear plus I would assume you'll have me leashed as well. Oh, the things I do for love!

Ok I think I have gotten all my moping and sulking out, I need to go see the kids before they head off to bed. I need some serious baby snuggles, and now that my eyes aren't all red I can probably get them without scaring anyone.

Love,  
Your Harry

P.S. Are you excited for our first movie night since coming back tomorrow? Tabitha says that to welcome us home, she's letting me pick the movie! Lilo and Stitch it is!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco was just walking down the street when he passed something he normally would ignore.

Wednesday July 22nd  
Mi corazón,

I'm both surprised and not surprised by your decision to not donate to Yesenia's cause. I'm not surprised because I can understand all of your reasonings, especially the part where you should not be making any major decisions. But I'm also surprised because I thought that you were one of those people that loved helping others so much that you would do even this for a friend. I'm not trying to shame or push you into it, I'm just saying that's what I thought you were going to do. Especially since you were so supportive of me if I made that decision.

Here's the thing, if I could find a way to do it that completely bypassed all the magical and genetic inheritance issues, I'd probably do it. And perhaps ironically - since we run several orphanages around the world - but I have a great deal of sympathy for people who want biological children and cannot have them. If a muggle gay couple came to me and asked me to carry one created from their DNA being combined, because they don't have the magic necessary to do it themselves, I would probably do it. I'm not sure I'd even think about it much first because, to me, I'd simply be helping them have *their* child.

But obviously it's very different if I am providing half of the genetic makeup. Because you are very right, in that instance, there're blood ties that can become very sticky if everything goes to shit in the future. For example, if I agreed to donate to her cause and also have nothing to do with the child, but then she died and suddenly the child was up for adoption? I'd want to be the *only* person considered to adopt him or her - or you or my parents if I was already dead too. So yeah, I get it.

Secondly, you're brilliant! I keep saying this but I'm never sure if you believe me. *DEREK* would be a perfect donor for her, and who knows, maybe it's finally time for him to consider settling down and being part of a family. I think I'll talk to him to see how he feels about giving her something he's not using anyway (brilliant analogy!), and if he's even slightly interested, I'll invite them both to dinner at Café Exquis to see if they get along. If nothing else, they could discuss their options.

But that will be later on, probably closer to September.

Those pups you got are positively adorable. I love the way they promptly flop onto their backs and beg to have their tummies rubbed. And I also love how they are so eager to play tag that Siri and Zwei get positively worn out each day, haha. As I said before, Remus and Romulus are perfect for our kids.

MILES IS COMING HOME ON FRIDAY!!! I'm positively giddy now! Salazar, it's been... since California since we saw him. And I bet little Sammy isn't so little now! The last time I saw her, she had worn the same fluffy ballerina slash princess dress for about 2 months straight. I know I call Hazel our little Diva, but even I will admit that Sammy is even MORE so. She's like her daddy: her makeup has to be perfect, her dresses have to be gorgeous, and heaven forbid someone's attention wanders away from her for even half a second! I miss the hell out of my little 'granddaughter,' hahaha!

Seriously though, as much as I do consider Miles one of ours, unofficially, I just CAN'T think of myself as a grandfather *already* - I'm not even 30 yet! But illogically, and rather sentimentally, I think of her as my first grandchild, haha.

So today has been rather slow. I met up with Rory and Nate - my Australian mates - and they have finally decided on which particular building off Diagon will work best for them. So, now that they have premises, they're going to be busy drafting the blueprints. Once they're done with that, THAT'S when Greg and Millie will come in and offer advice and their expertise. Incidentally, they're not only done with that bar in Greece, but they've (Millie) worked out a contract with that employee I talked about - the one that has worked there forever. So, I'm going to be Portkeying to Greece for about two hours tomorrow to sign paperwork

But as I was saying, since I had very little to do today, once I finished with Rory and Nate (brothers not lovers, hahaha), I wandered the area around the part I own just off Diagon. As it turns out, there's an animal equivalent of Unity House not too far away. Just a couple of blocks over. They take in animals from the other shelters - animals that have been up for adoption for a while and are scheduled to be euthanized. This place takes them, tries to adopt them out, but otherwise cares for them until they either find a forever home or die of old age. As I understand it, there are also a precious few homes around the country that take in certain breeds of dog to care for, sort of sharing the burden of this place, but sadly, there is ALWAYS *far* more animals in need than there are homes willing to take them in.

I think any other day, I would have just passed this place by and not even given it a second thought, but there was what I thought was a puppy playing in the window that captured my attention. I went in to ask about him because I couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten so... I don't know, injured? abused? ran over by a car? that he was now missing his right front leg. MORE fascinating was how he didn't even seem to notice or care. He ran around playing as if he was a normal puppy with all his legs intact.

Well, as it turns out, he is a she. She's fully grown, called a Tea Cup Yorkie. Apparently, this is not an official breed but rather the runts of the Yorkie Breed (which are normally considered waste products in any other form of animal husbandry since runts often have serious health issues and die within the first year or so of life anyway). Being such an incredibly small dog, she is easy to *not* see, which is what happened. She had been bought by a loving family, but one of the adults didn't see her one day and accidentally stepped on her, crushing her leg so bad that she had to have it removed. At that point, she became a bit much for her family to take care of, and so she was brought to an animal shelter and eventually passed along to this place.

She's two years old now and can fit in the palm of my hand. I love her spirit so much that I utterly fell in love with HER the first moment I held her. So guess what? I have a new dog now. The manager of the animal rescue shelter told me that she was trained as something called a purse dog. As in she fits in a purse and is used to being carried around in one - when she's not running around like a daft mutt. She gave me Bear's purse and her favorite toys, and enough food to feed her for about a month. I gave Gennet (the manager) a very generous donation to help keep the place running for at least another year or two.

Of course, you'll get to meet little ferocious Bear in just a few minutes, probably long before you actually read this email, when I pop into Unity for movie night. See you there!

Every breath I take,  
Draco

 

Thursday, July 23, 11:55PM

My Love,

I can't sleep, I'm too excited, and wound up, and nervous, and happy. Miles and Sammy are going to be here tomorrow! The gala is the next day. I just laid here for what felt like hours (I don't think it was actually hours) playing with this ridiculous puppy. And by ridiculous I of course mean ridiculously adorable. You named her Bear. Bear. This tiny ball of fluff that weighs less than one of my shoes, is named Bear.

I wonder what Teddy is going to think of the fact that we named one of the puppies Remus? Oh who am I trying to kid, he's going to think it's hilarious. He's such a Marauder.

Well, since I was up anyway, I made sure Jaz couldn't let out a single peep, magical or audibly, to wake you up. I just fed her, and you are right, she thinks it's time to party. I had her sitting up in my lap, and put Bear in HER lap, and she did the same thing she did with Romulus and can't seem to stop rubbing the fur and making little humming noises. She's going to be our little animal lover I can tell. Not that the rest of them aren't absolutely in love with our pups, but I think there's something special about how much Jaz seems to love them.

These dogs have only been here a few days, but I can already see the difference they're making with the kids. They don't talk about it much, but I know losing Onyx was really hard on them all. Not that it ever would have been a good time to lose that silly little pug-faced monster, but it really couldn't have happened at a worse time for all of us. I know I used to tease you about how attached to that silly little dog you were, I actually laughed when you tried to explain to me what a "purse dog" was because you've already had a purse dog. But I miss that little face so much!

I had a blast last night at movie night. I am a bit sad that it wasn't like it used to be when we had a pile of babies on top of us, but just having Jaz with us gave me an excuse to hide my face in your hair while I cried. The whole movie is a tear jerker for me, I mean come on the little girl who lost her parents? And Nani, trying to be a parent and a sister and feeling like she's failing at everything. Just trying to wing it and hope you don't damage the tiny person you're surviving for? I spent the entire movie trying to figure out if I identify with Lilo or with Nani, or even as David when I think of my friend relationship with all of the Unity Kids throughout the years, and then at the end I was Stitch. "This is my family. I found it all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good. Yeah. Still good." The only word in that sentence that doesn't resonate with me is "little."

We've pieced together this *big* family of ours, and attached it to our large extended family, and to outsiders it probably looks broken. Or weird at the very least. You have siblings younger than your older children. We have a daughter we could not have possibly been old enough to father. We have a "granddaughter" that we were twenty when she was born. We have war scars, and scars from hard childhoods. But I wouldn't change a thing about these amazing people. It might be crazy and untraditional, but it's ours and it's still good.

Am I being utterly selfish by not helping Yesenia piece together her own perfectly chaotic family? I guess it doesn't matter right this second, because I am on a self-imposed life-changing embargo, but now that I am not sleeping I have plenty of time to beat myself up about it. Maybe by the time I would really need to make a decision, Derek or someone else, will have stepped up to the plate and the decision will be unnecessary. A guy can hope.

It sounds like the meeting in Greece went well today. Is everything all closed up and finalized or do you think you'll have to head back a time or two to tie up loose ends? Or is everything done but you're going to pretend there are more meetings so you can randomly go have a nice, warm, sunny afternoon in Greece once the gross, fall, English weather starts in? Come to think of it, I might have some business to do there as well. I'm honestly a bit nervous about the upcoming fall and winter. It's been a while since we've been in a colder climate. I think our only location that really had winters was in Canada, and that was no joke! Ugh, even with warming charms and a million layers of clothing it was too much!

I'm really looking forward to Saturday's Gala. Seeing our Royalty coming through is going to be wonderful, plus the heads of the international Unities that we built were invited. You'll have a chance to thank Kingsley in person for the dedicated portkey we had access to for so long (we did give that back right?). Although the nerves are already setting in, we've come back for the Galas a few times throughout the years, but this is the first one in eight years that I will have had a hand in the preparations. Good luck dealing with over the top, neurotic, anxiety ridden, spaz Harry on Saturday!

It seems as though our Jasmine has finally succumbed to sleep, and getting all my thoughts out means I might be able to get a few winks as well.

All of my love,  
Harry

P.S. I hope you didn't make plans on Sunday, I promised Lainie I'd teach her to ride my bike, and promised River a ride with me!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's having an off day.

Friday July 24th  
The pusher of all my buttons,

You're... You're going to teach Elena to RIDE your bike?!?!

Salazar! I need to go into my closet and just breathe for a few minutes.

…

Alright. So. I trust you to be safe with River, so that's not what's freaking me out. After all, you give me rides and we've never had any sort of accident or close call. I'm just not sure I'm comfortable with Elena (or *any* of our kids) on the bike by themselves. Logically, I know it's no worse than flying a broom and they both (all) do that with ludicrously phenomenal skill, but...

…

Alright, I'm going to be anywhere but there. I'm going to pretend that Elena is NOT learning to drive a dangerous motorbike. I'm going to... Go commiserate with Blaise as he struggles to figure out what it is he has with Kisa. Which means that massive amounts of alcohol will be consumed. We'll be at his place that he mostly abandoned when he got together with Ron and Hermione. We might even have Theo, Pansy, and Derek there too. And Greg and Millie, I suppose. And maybe Daphne and Astoria.

But first, the gala...

And better yet, Miles and Sammy! They're due here any minute, NOT that we've let any of the kids know that. I completely agree with your thoughts on Lilo and Stitch. Our family may be big and impossibly mad, but it's still the best family in the world because it's ours and we made it with our hands and hearts.

Oh! Bear (I didn't name her that, it was *already* her name, I just kept it because it's adorable on her), is trying to drag me off by my trouser leg, which I think means she needs to go outside. Good thing I've spelled my laptop to float behind me and take dictation when I need it to. Saves Muffy (or Pippa) from carrying it around everywhere I go and typing everything I say, haha!

Speaking of Muffy, she just popped up next to me (on the South Lawn, letting Bear do her business) to tell me that someone is ringing the bell at the gate. I'm almost positive that it's Miles. I get to be the one to greet him first!

-

Harry... I'm... I'm thrown. I have no idea how to respond to this...

See, Miles and Sammy arrived and I hugged the hell out of Miles while Sammy just sort of watched us warily. At first, I didn't recognize her AT ALL. I sort of did my usual mental explanation of: "Oh! If I see a kid in the Manor I don't recognize, assume it's Teddy," thing. I even almost called her Teddy, until it occurred to me that Teddy wouldn't be arriving with Miles. And then I stuttered out an incredulous: "SAMMY?!?!"

She crossed her arms and glared at me. "Of course, who else would I be?"

"But..." I stammered. The last time I saw her, she was a girly girl. I mean a REALLY girly girl. SO girly! I called her one of my little Divas because that's what she was. Only now... she looked like a little boy! A very boyish boy! "Erm... Hi?"

She was obviously very mad at me. "Oh, so it's fine if my father dresses up as a woman and struts his stuff for an audience, but if *I* want to look like a boy, you treat me like I'm not even here???"

"I didn't!" I blurted out in shock. "I'm not! I'm just confused! What happened to my little Diva that refused to change out of her fluffy princess ballerina dress for two months?!"

She harrumphed and stomped her foot. "Sometimes I want to be a girl dressing up like a boy, and sometimes I want to be a boy dressing up like a girl! What's so wrong about that?!"

That makes no sense!!! Of course, I just barely had the presence of mind to NOT say that out loud. I cast a baffled glance at Miles, who was snickering merrily. Well, I suppose with a mother/father like that, she was bound to be a highly unique individual.

"Welcome home, Sammy," I managed with a warm smile. "How would you like to hold my new dog? Bear! C'm'ere Bear!" Bear ran over to us as excitedly as she does everything, yapping and jumping happily to meet the visitors.

"She's so tiny!" Sammy exclaimed with a very girly purr, somehow managing to catch Bear and hold/pet her despite a thousand little kisses.

I told Miles to go ahead and bring Sammy to greet the rest of you while I finished letting Bear do her business, but this was really an excuse so that I could sit down and try to figure out how I'm feeling. Why does seeing Sammy as a tomboy throw me so? It's disconcerting and I can't quite figure out why. I mean we have a Hazel, for Merlin's sake!

If I'm not back in the house in a reasonable amount of time, come find me and figure out what I'm feeling. Love you!

It never felt so good, it never felt so right, we were glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife,  
Draco

P.S. Aren't we supposed to have Teddy this weekend too? I mean, I know we've seen him a couple of times since we've been home, but I could swear Teddy begged to spend the night/weekend so that he could join in on all the fun the rest of the Kids are having this weekend as part of the Gala.

 

Saturday July 25th  
You Silly Billy,

I’m not really going to teach her to RIDE my bike! I’m going to teach River to ride it, Elena’s known how to ride for years, I’m going to teach her to *drive* the thing.

I love you, but do you still think I’m a moron? Do you think there’s a chance I would put any of our babies on it unless I had charmed it, them, and the surrounding area with every safety charm I can manage? Between the two of us who is the mother hen? Which one of us does Vivi STILL call Mumdah if she’s sleepy or not feeling well? You utter prat.

But I don’t want to make a decision that will breed resentment. I will still teach Elena to drive because she’s an adult and she asked me to. But if you really don’t want River on it, I will of course go along with that. He’s your baby too. Also, do not tell River I called him a baby. Thirteen year old boys are so sensitive!

I’m sorry I didn’t find you on the lawns yesterday in enough time to tell you how to feel about Sammy. By the time I realized you weren’t asleep or locked in the bathroom getting ready, she had gone to drag you in herself. I think you know what I am going to say, at this point I have said this so often I might as well see if Molly will cross-stitch it on a pillow for me. But as my Katja has told me every time I stumble and blame myself for reacting to surprises with thoughts that the Dursley's had drilled into my head; Your first thought doesn't define you; it's what you've been conditioned to think. What you think next defines who you are.

Your initial reaction was shock with a bit of confusion. But then you told her welcome home, and threw a cute puppy at her. So basically, you treated her just like any other child. It really doesn't matter how she identifies. She may just be questioning the world, when she's grown up with her father and his friends running the entire spectrum of gender and sexuality it probably was weirder for her to be a girl who dressed as a girl. If she's genderfluid we know how to handle that. If she's transgender we know how to handle that. If she's agender we know how that works too. We love her, use her preferred names and pronouns, and stuff her full of too many biscuits when her dad isn't watching.

Not only did she go drag you inside with the rest of us because she felt weird without you there, but even if she was still upset you know she'd be able to get over it with a sincere apology and a lifetime of understanding. When Hazel transitioned to her new name and new pronouns, your father had a really hard time with it. It might have been the first time since we got married that he and I got into an actual argument as opposed to fighting over who's the bigger perv when we drink. We almost came to blows, I thought we were going to lose our home base and the kids might lose their beloved Grampy Lulu. If your mum hadn't forced the both of us to sit down and listen, I may have stormed out of there in a Gryffinrage.

But now, Lucius is her biggest supporter. It actually irks me a bit because she's MY baby girl and she should love me the biggest! But in all seriousness, he treats her the way he treats all of his granddaughters, like the sun and moon rise and set in their eyes. Sammy knows you feel the same way about her. She's testing to make sure she still has your love and support whether she wears a floofy dress or coveralls. I believe in you!

I slept in a bit this morning, and I should head off to Unity soon. We had such a long day and late night yesterday that I was able to sleep past my usual internal alarm. I'm "needed" to go put some finishing touches on the Gala prep. Although I honestly don't understand why they would want me there. Maybe an eight year break has dimmed their memories of my neurotic behavior prior to all the previous galas?

Staying up late was certainly worth it! I think you're right and the last time we saw Miles and Sammy was when we were in California, so it was the last time Teddy saw them either. Remember he and your siblings spent a month with us that summer? I always worry that our children would forget our family members since we lived so far away, or that the kids we "left" here would forget us. But it was a fun reunion, so unbelievably loud, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ok I have put it off long enough! I am going to head to Unity. I'm bringing our six oldest, Teddy, and Sammy with me. I'll see you about an hour before the gala I assume? You just have to bring Siri, Zwei, Jaz, and all of our robes!

Can't wait to dance in your arms all night,  
Harry


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the gala and Draco and his kids have come up with a little surprise for Harry ^_^

Sunday July 26th  
Mon Amour,

I didn't mean to imply that I was uncomfortable with you bringing River for a ride, as I said, I trust you with that. I actually trust you to teach Elena to *drive* the bike too, I just can't be around to watch it. I will probably bite all my nails off and tear all my hair out if I do.

Moving onto the Gala, I honestly felt far more relaxed this time around than ever before. I feel like if we can be successful running a fundraising Gala in countries where we can't even speak the language and might need to fear for our lives (or at least liberty) if they realized that we're married, then we have absolutely NOTHING to stress about in our home country where everyone loves the fuck out of you and wants to push each other out of the way in their clamor to give you the most money first.

When I arrived with our robes and the various outfits our kids planned to wear, I was just in time to stop you from a total meltdown. You were shouting something about the creampuffs not being puffy enough. The current batch of Unity Kids aren't used to this at all, and so seemed baffled as to what - if anything - they should do. And the Adults were basically ignoring you because they ARE used to you being a panicky little mutt.

Siri and Zwei basically rolled their eyes and hung back as I walked over to you, grabbed you by your arms, and snogged the hell out of you. Lucky for everyone, that still works to calm you down quicker than anything. I then led you and our entire brood - except for Elena, who was probably off throwing together last minute preparations for a show of some sort - into one of the rooms on the second floor that's been turned into a bit of a lounge over the years. Based on bits of incriminating evidence, I'm willing to bet that the older Unity Kids come up here to smoke and possibly shag when they get a chance.

River, Orion, Siri, and Zwei were predictably the easiest to get ready. They simply had to change into their snazzy dress robes, and apply the lightest hint of makeup to even out their skin tones and make them look naturally gorgeous. I mean they are naturally gorgeous, but they felt that they needed that little bit of enhancement to cover blotches and uneven tans and the like.

To my surprise, Teddy had chosen to look like a younger version of you, only hmm... pudgier? I'm not entirely sure what he did different, but clearly he was trying to NOT go for an exact copy. In any case, he looked rather dashing in his dress robes. I have to admit that the reason I was surprised was because I had thought for sure he was going to use the Gala as an excuse to look like someone completely different so that we all had to wonder who the new kid was. I mean, *we're* all used to assuming that any kid we don't recognize is probably Teddy, but the *other* kids would have been confused, and that usually makes Teddy laugh his arse off.

Good thing for us that he loves and actually wears the pendant you got him that says Teddy right on it. It does occasionally make it easier to recognize him if one knows to look for it.

But as I was saying, Viona, Eris, Hazel, Sammy, and Daisy were all in the most expensively fabulous dresses they could talk me into. All of their hair had to be perfect, and their makeup had to be flawless. I'd *swear* it was a Diva competition! Which just made me all the more glad that Jaz is far too young to care what she's wearing. I put her in her adorable blue dress robes (which I think might actually be leftovers from when Viona was this age - before she decided blue was a color she would never willingly wear), and then strapped her into my favorite gold wrap carrier.

After we were all ready, we had a mini crisis as Teddy looked at all the girls and decided that they looked so much better than he did that he wanted to morph into a girl too, and then needed to transfigure his robes into a stunning dress. THEN - once that was settled - he changed his mind and reverted back to his original form because he decided that the real point of the night was to support the Unity Kids in their fund raising efforts and NOT to outshine them. This was said as a barb hurled at our girls, who promptly tried to murder him mob style.

Thankfully, the rest of the night was smooth sailing. Unless I simply focused on you and tuned everything else out. Seriously, I think the place could have started on fire and I wouldn't have noticed. So... if the kids started brawling and you're wondering why I did nothing to stop them, that's why.

However, I WILL say that there was one other thing I noticed, and that's when Elena strutted into the room at the head of the current batch of Kids who had volunteered to sing and dance/perform with her. I was once again briefly thrown for a loop because apparently Elena had asked to borrow the dress that Hermione wore to our wedding, and she looked so... grown up! Enough that I felt rather discombobulated. Especially when quite a few of the patrons and other boys/men took a rather avid interest in her. Much like Blaise had done to Hermione at our wedding, everyone was staring at her to see if the faux see through part over her breast was truly faux see through, or real see through.

Damn it! I'm going to have to eventually get used to the fact that she's all grown up now!

In any case, after the dinner and performance, there was more dancing. Eventually, it was that time of night in which Jasmine got tired and started rubbing her eyes with her fists while yawning. I know she can't hear it when I sing to her, but I like to think that she can *feel* it and be lulled by it anyway. So I started by humming until you caught on that I was *singing* to Jaz, and 'accidentally' Sonorused me.

Smirking, I pointed at Elena and said: "Hit it!" She responded by grinning and magicking various instruments to her brothers and sisters. And Sonorusing them all too. Between them, River had his violin; Viona, Orion, Eris, Sammy, Daisy, and Teddy all had various horns and other instruments that I don't remember the names of. Hazel was on a type of piano or keyboard while Siri had a tambourine and Zwei had maracas. Elena had a set of drums, and Ethan even got in on the act by playing a set of drums himself.

When they'd gotten into the melody enough, I started singing. The very first verse was all me, but then the kids joined me, so that by the third verse, we'd all layered it beautifully.

"When the day that lies ahead of me, seems impossible to face, when someone else instead of me, always seems to know the way, then I look at you, and the world's alright with me, just one look at you, and I know it's gonna be..... A [lovely day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEeaS6fuUoA), a lovely day....."

Me and Elena both did the long vocalizations, but the rest of the kids did an excellent job of the repeats and background vocals. Provided that they weren't blowing into horns, haha. I was impressed!

You looked torn between being so proud of us for creating such a full bodied and multilayered family song as a lullaby for our baby, and being fairly offended that we didn't include you in it. I reassured you that we weren't trying to exclude you by grabbing your hand, pulling you close, and giving you a possessive kiss right then and there. Flushed and happy, you made sure to tell us all how good we sounded, which we almost couldn't hear because so many people where applauding us.

Miles then came over to us and gave us each a kiss on the cheek before scooping up his daughter and leading her through the song they always sang together: Oh Happy Day - but tweaked to replace Jesus with Merlin and every other Deity they felt like at the moment. I think we devolved into a bit of karaoke after that, someone calling out songs at random for the official band to play while however many people as wanted to sang it. Plus all the continued dancing we did.

Which naturally exhausted us all and left us warm and happy when we finally came home and sought out our beds. I'm not entirely sure a single one of us managed to remove a stitch of clothing before crawling into our respective beds and passing out. Even Jaz slept all night long - unless someone else took all her night feedings (which would probably be Muffy, come to think of it) - which means that I slept rather well. Merlin I NEEDED that!

But now that I'm awake and have drank my tea - not to mention finished my recap - I think I'll go find you and see what everyone else is up to at the moment. I'll not be surprised if everyone but you slept in and so you're just NOW serving your world famous pancakes with fresh strawberries and hand whipped cream. Mmm...

I'm givin him somethin' he can feel, to let him know this love is real, givin' him something he can feel, all my lovin', to let him know this love is real, this love is real,  
Draco  
P.S. Thanks for reminding me that it's okay to react badly when first presented with something that throws me, but that I then have the opportunity to decide to apologize and react better. You really are the reason I'm a better man than I ever thought I'd be.

 

Monday July 27th  
Husband Mine,

I am quite thrilled that you didn't join us for the motorcycle training. The idea of you pulling your hair out, your gorgeous hair that I could spend hours running my fingers through, is not such a good one for me. I'm assuming you already knew this, seeing as no one insta-owled you or came to get you from Blaise's drunken house of shenanigans last night, but there were no injuries. Well, very few, my pride was injured just a bit that Lainie picked up driving the bike in less time than it took me. Not that I want to take away from her accomplishment, but I am thinking her years of riding as a passenger gave her an edge!

Shh, just let me have this!

Ok fine! It's probably because she's talented and brilliant. She is going to do so much good in the world. She's got an enormous heart combined with the skills to make things possible. She swaggered into the Gala on Saturday with the confidence of a rock star who knows everyone is there to see them, but without any arrogance. Just charm and warmth, ready to welcome everyone and put them all at ease. How did we get so lucky to have this young woman in our lives?

It's quite amazing how well Jaz responds to music without the ability to hear. But I told you, I think the vibrations are enough for her. And she responds so well to you, even if she didn't know what you were doing, with your facial expressions and holding her close she must have been able to feel how much love you have for her. And when everyone else got in on it (except me!) she seemed to just breathe in the joy in the room. She's so expressive, smiles for days and those giant dark eyes that seem to pull you in. Ugh, she's going to be another spoiled girl who has her Daddies and everyone else who meets her wrapped around her tiny fingers isn't she?

I not only made my "world famous" pancakes yesterday for the family, but I just spent the morning doing the same here at Unity. I really don't know these Kids that well. Most of the time I have spent here since I've been back has been in group settings and doing Gala prep. I don't really know any of them on an individual level. I was a bit worried that I had scared them with my nonsense freak-out Saturday, but no one seemed to flinch in fear. I hope the caregivers told them all it was to be expected and it's really the only time of the year I panic. Give me an influx of twenty-one children arriving unexpectedly because my amazing husband offered his help and I am in triage mode and get stuff done calmly and quickly. My Achilles heel seems to be un-puffy creampuffs.

Now the Kids are having some rest time so I thought it would be a perfect time to come chat with you. You weren't home last night before I got to sleep, at least your blonde head sticking out of the blankets let me know you had come home alive! Hopefully you found the hangover potion I left on the nightstand.

And now I demand the gossip! What is Blaise doing about Kisa? What is Kisa doing about Blaise? How is Blaise? I know Ron and 'Mione are putting on a brave face to support him, but they are really having such a rough time. They certainly aren't angry, they understand it's just the way it is, it's his biology. But they love him so much. I think they're secretly wishing that once the bond settles a bit that he will be able to come home to them. It's not like their relationship has ever been traditional, they're not going to pull away if he needs to be with Kisa too. Ron seems to be doing better than Hermione though. I think it's easier for him because Kisa is a woman, he doesn't feel threatened.

So, I was wondering … we plan on traveling most of this upcoming year right? Fun destinations. Healing and happiness. Watching the joy on our kids' faces this weekend reminded me that their last experience with any of the Unities was a hard one. Again, we made a difference, our kids made a difference, but we ended on such a bad experience. Do you think we should try to visit some of the Unities that are more positive while we jet-set around the world? I am going to check with Yesenia and see if she agrees it would be beneficial, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be. We can visit the homes we lived in, they can see their friends that may still be there or nearby, we can surf if we go to Unities near the ocean. We don't have to, it's just a thought, let me know what you think.

Oh and speaking of seeing their friends. I really wondered if River would change his mind about attending Hogwarts when he got together with some of the Kids his age that are here at Unity during summer hols. Maybe he'd hear their stories and feel like he was missing out. Nope. If anything he is more interested than ever in staying with his private tutor. "Dad, did you know they spend almost all of their time inside? And lessons are scheduled for specific times? And if they've already learned something the class is being taught they have to just sit there with no ability to work ahead? Gross."

So it sounds like we have the entire year where we don't have to worry about missing any of our babies!

Ooh! Timer just went off, looks like quiet time is over. Time for me to get to know my new Kids.

Love You,  
Harry


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco gets a bit drunk with his mates.

Monday July 27th  
Oh.... my head!!!

Ow ow ow ow ow…

Sigh! So much better! Thank you so much for putting the hangover potion on my bedside table so close that it was practically under my hand when I woke up. If you were here, I'd kiss the bloody hell out of you!

My night with Blaise and the rest started out calmly enough. Blaise declared that he wasn't going to talk, much less THINK about Kisa, and then threatened to carve the words: Shut it! Into anyone who mentioned her.

So, because he was determined to NOT talk, he passed out shots of all our favorite drinks so we could sing a drinking song and take shots while we clapped and sang. It naturally got us all bladdered fairly quickly, hahaha!

Probably a good thing that I didn't have my laptop or my Insta-Owl Mobile on me, because I probably would have sent you a play by play of the entire night as it happened. Our first brilliant idea was to play a card game called Bullshit and the losers of each hand had to take another shot. When we were all too drunk to see straight, we played hide and hex. (I'm going to need a bit of healing when I fully wake up, but I should be able to do that myself.) At some point, we'd all tripped and tumbled into a pile, which made us all laugh for about an hour straight. I don't even know what we were laughing at!

After our giggles subsided a bit - and we'd drank a few more shots - I absolutely HAD to strip everyone off and transfigure anything I could get my hands on into outrageous costumes. I'm pretty sure I dressed Blaise up as a squid and Theo or Derek as a platypus, ahahahahahaha! Pansy was a cow (buwahahaha, she's going to murder me when she remembers!) Millie was a giraffe, and Astoria was the sexiest buggering Medusa you've ever seen!

Then we lit a bonfire in the middle of the room and danced around it like heathens. As the room got hotter (thank MERLIN for anti-fire spells on the majority of the house!!!), we ended up stripping off. At a certain point, we were all pouring sweat, and this seemed to trigger sheer lust in all of us. I tied up Astoria and whipped her into that spinning/flying state while the rest of them took turns shagging each other. Then I persuaded Pansy to whip me in return, so my night 'ended' when I went flying myself.

Or so I thought as I assumed that one of my friends would have called for Muffy (or you) to come get me and bring me home. But let's just say that no one was sober enough to think of something so simple. So... what? An hour? A half? An indeterminate amount of time went by before I came back to myself to find that Blaise was hugging onto me as if his life depended on it and he was sobbing.

"I love her, man! I love her SO MUCH! I can't LIVE without her! Why doesn't she want me???"

Note, Blaise's magical mandate that he can't shag anyone but Kisa remains in effect, so he wasn't shagging the others so much as using his hands to help the others shag each other. Thus he very much played around even as he was what one might call celibate, haha.

As he blubbered and wailed, I continually ran my hand through his short and tightly curly hair. A look around proved that almost everyone had passed out, except for Derek, who was muttering darkly: "Bloody baby! Whining about one woman when he has TWO other lovers and a few adorably gorgeous babies. What the fuck does he WANT?! The entire bloody WORLD?!?! I should kick him in the bollocks..."

Chuckling, I continued to pet and comfort Blaise as I talked with Derek.

"Say mate, have you ever thought about finding someone and settling down?"

"OF COURSE I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT IT!!!" He roared. "But I haven't been able to find a woman able to put up with my shit! And worse! Whenever I DO find someone I seem to get along with, I tend to self-destruct! I suddenly start doing drugs or potions and sleeping around three times more than when I'm single!"

"What about NOT settling down in the normal way?" I suggested. "For example, donate some sperm to a woman looking to have a baby on her own, and then take the idea that you have a child out there somewhere and use it to reform yourself and turn into the sort of man you would want to be for your children. Maybe THEN you could actually find someone you want to be with so much that you DON'T self-destruct."

Derek suddenly looked very speculative. "That's not a half bad idea... You sound a bit like a mind-healer..."

I shrugged. "I've been seeing a rather good one for years now. I'm sure I probably picked up some of the general concepts by now."

"Huh... maybe I should think about seeing one too..."

"I could introduce you to mine," I offered, since I was planning to do that at some point anyway.

Derek shrugged, got up, and left the room. I was confused until I realized that he'd gone to the loo before passing out in the hallway on his way back.

Meanwhile, Blaise was sobbing as much as ever. "What do I do??? How do I prove to her that she's in my blood? That I'd DIE for her!!!"

I snorted in amusement at that. "Try actually dying for her. My aunt would just LOVE that!"

"Alright, how?" Blaise asked with a sniff that let me know he was trying to calm down and pay attention.

"Salazar no!" I blurted out in dismay. "Don't be an idiot! You have CHILDREN!!!"

"And I love them SO MUCH! I love them and Ron and Hermione AND KISA!!! I just want to tie her to my bed and never let her go!!!"

I snorted again. "DON'T try that. She'll murder you! Instead, try DATING her. Take things nice and slow. Or at least as slow as the two of you can manage with that bloody soulmate bond turning up the intensity about a thousand percent. That way, you can reassure Kisa that you really DO feel something for her and it's not just the product of your biology insisting that she's the one when you barely even know her."

Blaise sniffed again, sounding deeply interested. "Yeah? I think I can do that."

"Good. Do," I stated.

With that settled, he drifted off to sleep, his head still in my lap as he hugged me tight. I was still lethargic and drowsy from the alcohol and my blissful release. I slid to the side, in a position I'm sure would have been highly uncomfortable at ANY other time. Just when I was drifting off to sleep myself, I remembered that I have a Muffy and that she could bring me home and tuck me into bed oh so sweetly. Thus, my managing to be in bed when you woke up.

I LOVE the idea of visiting our other - funner - Unities!

And surfing! We should probably plan at least one trip to Hawaii. Maybe set up a Unity House there. I KID!!! I'd probably shoot myself for suggesting it if you actually decided that it was a good idea.

Oh, Muffy just popped in with Bear and my morning tea. Once I feel decently awake, I'll come look for you. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this wonderful ball of energy in the manliest way possible with absolutely no expression on my face.

Shine a light through an open door, feel the heartbeat in my mind,  
Draco

P.S. Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? Am I forgetting something? Where's Pippa when I need her?? Wait! WHERE'S PIPPA??? Did she ever come back from Luna's?!?!

 

Thursday July 30th  
Love of my Life, Father of my Children,

In case you were wondering, at five and six years old, Zwei and Siri will still allow me to wake them up on their birthdays singing Happy Birthday! It may have helped that I was carrying a tray of pancakes with candles in them.

My sweet little Draco Jr actually spent the full night in his room, which he does most nights now, but this is the first time I've had to leave our room to wish him his happy birthdays! I know I should probably appreciate having enough space to move more than an inch in my own bed, but I sure do miss having a bedful. Until Jaz came home he was my babiest baby. If you think about it, he was the baby of the family longer than any of the other kidlets, he had four and a half years of being the baby. Even if you count the almost triplets as sharing the same baby status, they were only a little over three when Sirius was born.

Ok, to be fair, I didn't actually wake Sirius up. By the time I got out of the kitchen with the trays he was already awake. But the little sweetheart stayed in his bed. I walked into his room quietly, no one wants to be startled awake, and he was just sitting up in bed calm as can be. "Happy Birthday my Sirius James, if you're awake why were you just sitting here in the dark?"

He rolled his eyes at me and giggled, "Daaaad. my birthday songs are supposed to be in my bed, where else should I be?"

As I had no argument for that, I just broke into song and then gave him hugs and smooches until he started complaining. He also made me eat some pancakes with him. Draco did too when I was in with him. This is now the third morning in less than a week that I have had pancakes for breakfast, and today I had to have double servings. I told Siri that he was going to have to drag my arse out running every morning until we leave for Peru on Monday.

Barf, all this sugar bread is sitting in the bottom of my stomach like a lead weight. Oh well, it's worth it to make my boys smile.

So just a heads up, and you've had plenty of warning before today, but you are going to be woken up much sooner than your usual wake up time. It has taken every bit of bribery I possess to keep Siri and Zwei from waking you up so we could head over to Unity Park for our birthday celebrations. I may or may not have promised them new bikes. No, no, no, before you freak out I didn't promise them motorcycles, I won't even let any of them ride with me on mine until they're thirteen (hence River getting to go for a ride recently), I'm just talking about regular old bicycles.

What? You get to argue with me exactly zero times after you purchased an entire music store for Lainie when we brought her home. Which was probably better than the time you purchased an entire music store for her … I mean the Kids … when she still lived at Unity.

Ooooh, yes! Let's go to Hawaii! Maybe when we head to visit Unity California we can make that another two-part trip like this one. One week in California and then over to Hawaii for a week before we head home. I can't imagine any of the kids not loving a trip there, but I picture our surfing queen Viona on Waikiki beach where Duke Kahanamoku, The Big Kahuna, might as well have invented surfing. And Ori would be obsessed with some of the science tours, whale watching, touring volcanoes, any of the science museums that deal with astronomy.

I have a plan for Blaise and Kisa, so here's the deal; I know that the safety charms are top notch. There has not been a single injury more than someone was an idiot and tripped and fell walking down the sidewalk. But, what if they went on a ride together today, say something like that big ferris wheel and then maybe it freezes when they're at the top, and then they HAVE to talk. Or they murder each other. Either way the problem is solved.

I'm kidding! Well, I'm kidding about the murder part, the talking and the getting them stuck on a ride part I was dead serious.

Hopefully your entire crew has recovered from their drunken fireshag-fest. I thought we went over this years ago, no fire when you're toasted! Ha … fire … toasted … I'm so funny.

But seriously, when the kids all get sent home at dark and we go crazy after dark I expect a group of people at the top of their game! You hear me Draco Lucius? I've been a Malfoy for over a third of my life, I expect a certain lifestyle, and I demand what I want when I want it.

Did that sound convincing?

Oooh, I have another plan, have you introduced Derek to Yesenia yet? Because what if we tricked them into being on the same ferris wheel that is going to accidentally get Blaise and Kisa stuck on it?

Looking back on my plans, there's a chance I am a sociopath. I may need help.

Alright, that is long enough, I am coming in to wake you up! Don't worry, I am going to bring Bear to force you into happiness. And I will ignore your manly and calm squeals of childish delight in her antics.

The father of the birthday boys and tomorrow's birthday boy,  
Harry

P.S. You have seen Pippa multiple times since our drinking night with Luna. Is she just invisible to you at this point?

P.P.S. Ok, they weren't regular bikes, they're dirt bikes! Totally safe dirt bikes built for muggle children.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's joint birthday party with their boys is so much fun! Except for Draco, who has to deal with Blaise and Kisa...

Thursday July 30th  
The real reason I get out of bed each morning,

Afternoon, whatever.

So today has been a bit of a rollercoaster for me. I know that there were important things happening, and that I was technically there for all of it, but I'm not sure if I was really there for any of it. I'm so sorry for being a bit absent today, and I hope I did a passable job of making sure that none of the kids suspected that I was just not in the mood to have fun.

So it started when you woke me up. THANK MERLIN that you'd decided to come do so all on your own and NOT with any of the kids. You did have Bear with you, which was a bit confusing because you seemed to be hoping she would distract me and make me laugh while you used your glorious mouth to give me an orgasm - sort of mixed messages, haha - but I would have been fine with it except...

Why is it just my luck that I *always* seem to catch a nasty cold in the middle of summer??? I mean think about it, I got the flu when I first conceived Eris - in summer - and we thought it was just morning sickness, extremely bad morning sickness, but still. And then almost every year since then, I get sick once in the summer and once in the winter - no matter how careful I am to boost my immune system and take potions at the slightest hint of a sniffle.

Anyway, after disappointing BOTH of us by turning down what promised to be the best blowjob yet, I took a pepper up potion and played with Bear for a bit while we chatted and waited for the potion to kick in enough that I didn't feel like a troll was romping around in my head.

And then - JUST as I was getting ready to get out of bed - Muffy popped into the room to let us know that my old friend Detective Inspector Hannah Giles had just drove up to the gate and was wondering if we were home and had a few minutes to spare. Considering that she drove all the way here from London rather than just call me, I was intrigued to hear what she had to say. So I told Muffy to Apparate her into our room.

"Well now, you're looking as fit as ever, Draco," she greeted me with a kiss to the cheek before I could think to warn her about my cold. "Good day Harry."

"Hiya Hannah," you murmured with a curious smile.

"Thank you. I feel like an old man at the moment, so it's nice to hear that I don't look it. What brings you here?" I asked even as Muffy served her some of my favorite blend of tea and those Pecan Blondies I love.

She took a nice long sip and sighed in pleasure. "That's lovely! Right so, I know enough about magic to know that *true* psychic abilities are rare. That said, I also know that you must have at least a touch because of your dreams - once upon a time ago."

"Alright..." I drawled because I had no idea where she was going with this. Was she asking me to TRY to dream about something?

It turns out I was half right. She pulled a baggie out of her purse and handed it to me. "I have a case of a missing child. Here's the weird thing, she was at home with her parents. The doors had all been locked and her father was performing his habitual check to make sure everything was indeed locked and secure (he's mildly wealthy and his parents were killed in a home invasion, so he's paranoid about security). Meanwhile, her mother was giving her a bath and getting her ready for bed. The mother tucked her into her bed all nice and cozy, went to go look for her favorite lovey, and when she came back, the girl was gone. There's NO WAY anyone could have gotten into the house, and there's no way the girl could have gotten out without them seeing how. Her parents were horrified, but their first assumption was that maybe she fell out her second floor window. Except that her window was still shut and locked. She simply vanished!"

I looked at the baggie containing a lock of hair. "And... what would you like me to do about it? It sounds like you should be liaising with the Auror Department. They can try to check for magical signatures and Apparation residue."

Hannah nodded. "Yeah, I thought about that, and I'm planning to head there tomorrow. But I was hoping that if you held this little girl's hair in your bare hands, you could focus that tiny spark of sight you have somewhere inside you and SEE where she is."

I bit my lip in thought. "Well... I suppose I could try..." Carefully, I poured the hair into my palm and set the baggie aside. Then I closed my eyes and let my mind drift a bit as I tried to visualize what a little girl might look like based on the sort of honey brown hair I was holding.

You were thankfully silent as you watched me. As was Hannah. I'd almost swear you were both holding your breath lest you disturb any progress I was making.

Slowly, an image of a girl about 8 years old (which I assumed must be wrong because it seemed a bit old to be having bath and bedtime rituals like described) appeared in my mind. Feeling like I had to be on the wrong track, perhaps using my very first memories of Elena as a template, I shook my head and shrugged, describing what I was seeing so that Hannah would know that I was trying and failing.

To my shock, Hannah let out a light squeal of excitement. "That's her! That's Penny!"

"Er..." I couldn't help but open my eye and look at her. "Really? But you made her sound so much younger."

Hannah shrugged. "Paranoid parents, remember? They treat her like she is so much younger than she really is."

"That must be annoying," I murmured even as I felt guilty because I basically did exactly that to Elena - or well, it's my first, default, reaction. I'm trying hard to treat her the way she deserves, but it's hard and I'm certain I don't always succeed.

Sighing morosely, I closed my eyes and let my mind drift some more. Surprisingly, a room formed in my mind, I softly murmured a description of it - still half certain that I was just making it all up. I told Hannah that I saw a large and sunny room. It was full of toys. I probably rather pointlessly described some of the toys, but there really were all sorts - stuffed animals, porcelain dolls, toy soldiers, and those infernal Legos that the boys insist we step on every time we go into their rooms. There was far more than that, but I didn't think it was a truly important detail.

On the wall, there were a lot of pictures that looked remarkably like the little girl I had seen, but... different. Erm... a little taller. A little thinner. The painted portraits looked just a little faded from age.

In the closet, I could see a myriad of fluffy ballet costumes in every imaginable color - along with shoes to match it all. This brought my attention to the fact that the girl in all the pictures and paintings was wearing ballet costumes and in classic ballet poses.

Then the door opened and in walked an older man. If I had to guess, I'd say he was in his 70s. He was carrying a tray laden with a nutritious looking breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, and paté on rye toast.

"It's time to wake up, my darling," he said as he sat on the enormous and extremely pink bed. "I've brought your breakfast, and when you're done eating, you can practice your pliés - doesn't that sound lovely?"

"I just want to go home to my mum and dad," Penni murmured tiredly as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was wearing a pristine white nightgown and her hair looked well cared for and braided.

"I've told you, my darling, that your parents died and you have to live with me now."

"Why you? Why not my grandparents?"

"They're dead too. All you have left in the world is me, but don't worry, I shall take good care of you."

She looked incredibly sad but didn't cry.

"Now, Louise -”

"It's Penny!"

"Try to remember, I told you that since I've taken you in and adopted you, I've changed your name to Louise."

"BUT WHY?!?!" She was clearly frustrated by this.

"It's the only way you can inherit all my money and property when I die - but not to worry, you'll be all grown up before that happens."

She didn't even attempt to respond to that, and frankly, I couldn't blame her.

The old man suddenly sat up rigidly straight. "I feel like someone is watching us...Let me just reinforce the wards..."

Rather abruptly, the entire thing vanished from my mind and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it back.

Meanwhile, I'd been describing as much as I could with Hannah writing it all down in a pad. She asked me questions and I answered them the best I could. AND THEN it occurred to me that I had the perfect solution to her need to see the entire thing for herself. Using those impressive wandless skills we'd all cultivated back in Africa, I summoned my memory camera and extracted the whole thing so that it could be processed into a photo/video.

When it was done processing about a minute later, you and Hannah watched the thing a few times in silence before Hannah looked up at me. "Can I keep this?"

"Be my guest," I permitted obligingly. "I could always print up another copy if I cared to, which I assure you I do not."

"Thank you so much! I have to bring this to my superior and then probably to the Aurors to see if anyone in the bloody world can figure out if this man actually exists and where in the buggering hell he lives!"

Chuckling because Hannah was clearly on fire with both determination and frustration, I gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck!"

She was absently petting Bear - who was positively giddy with happiness over attention from a friendly stranger - but then sat up and gathered everything she needed (mainly the baggie of hair and the memory video, but also her purse and light jacket), and then rushed off before remembering that it would be faster if she asked Muffy to Apparate her back to her car.

"So... my amazing and gorgeously naked husband... are you ready to get dressed?" You asked.

I rolled my eyes as I slipped out of bed. "Don't go being too impressed with me. I'm dead certain I made that all up like a writer writing a chapter in a story."

But you refused to be less than astounded by my supposed abilities. Between frequent kisses, we somehow managed to get me dressed. At that point, I was more than ready to go to Unity Park and get my mind onto ANYTHING other than a confused and kidnapped little girl.

So of course, I spent the entire bloody day stuck in between Blaise and Kisa, trying my best not to murder them both for demanding that I choose sides in the love war between them. You know, when I first read your email suggesting that we trap them together, I thought that was rather Slytherin in its sheer brilliance, but otherwise something that I would never do to my Aunt because I like living. After about four hours, it was looking like the only option left!

So, practically the MOMENT all the kids were sent home with grandparents and elves and anyone else who wasn't entirely eager to stay and play at the adult party, I ushered the two extremely vexing brats into the Ferris Wheel, charmingly invited Yesenia and Derek to take the next car and chat about hypothetical potential future sprogs - or anything else that crossed their mind (seriously, I HAD planned to bring them to Café Exquis, but needs must, I suppose), and then made absolutely CERTAIN that no one else was on the ride.

Watching intently, I waited until the two cars were balanced delicately on either side of the highest point, and then ordered the attendant to stop the ride and leave it there on pain of being given clothes if he or she DARED to disobey. I also threatened nasty punishments, but I think we all know by now that those were empty threats.

Then I walked away and found a place to hide so I could think in peace for a bit. And just enjoy the quiet. And write this email because I suppose I needed to process my day before I could move on and enjoy my night. So, with that in mind, I'm going to sign off now, sit here until I feel at peace, and then probably go find you.

And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70, and baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23, and I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways, maybe just the touch of a hand, oh me I fall in love with you every single day, and I just wanna tell you I am,  
Draco

P.S. Do me a favor: If I don't cheer the fuck up by Monday, Obliviate this entire day from me and tell me that I'm better off NOT remembering my sweet boys' birthday party. Also, I STILL find it amusing that we managed to time it *just right* so that I gave birth to Zwei exactly a year to the day after you had Siri. We really are amazing sometimes, you know?

 

Friday July 31st  
Good morning my Love,

I just had the most amazing run with Siri. It's my birthday, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, I'm sore from a night of drunken sexy revelry with my closest friends. What more could a guy ask for?

You know me, I am a sap, and every occasion calls for me to stare wistfully out a window and ponder my past compared to the present and think about the future. And for the last six years, I usually spend most of my pondering thinking about the day before my birthday when I had Sirius, and for the last five I think about the day before my birthday, Siri's first birthday, when my Zwei was born.

Just like his brother Orion, Sirius was stubborn about not wanting to leave his warm little haven on time. I was sitting alone in the sunroom, shockingly no one wanted to hang out with the hormonal mess who was moaning about being over a week past his due date. I remember sitting there, rubbing my belly while begging and pleading with him to just get out already. I tried everything and he was holding fast. And then, I am not sure if I ever told you this, but I promised him that if he would just be born already that I would do everything in my power to talk his other Daddy into making him a little brother or sister as soon as possible! Within ten minutes I was in labor.

So it was just perfect that his first birthday present was his forever best friend, his little brother Draco Jr. Well, he can believe his brother was his birthday present, truly they were both my presents! It was so funny, we were all rushing about like crazy trying to get things ready for Siri's small family party. We didn't want to plan anything too elaborate because we assumed we would have a newborn at that point. You were due on 24 July and based on how early Eris was born we assumed Zwei would have been at least a week or two old at that point. But no, you finally got to go through a little bit of my personal stress and were a full week late.

While we are all taking orders from Narcissa, you calmly walked into the dining room and announced that you thought we should include Healer Rowe to the party. We've known her a long time, but it seemed just a bit odd to invite her to a small gathering where all we are really going to do is watch the baby smear icing on his face and open some presents. No, it was your way of saying you were in labor, so we frantically rushed to the hospital … ok fine! I was the only one who was frantic. Molly even managed to be calm enough to remember to bring Sirius' cake to the hospital.

It does not surprise me that all of the children we birthed were late except for Eris, forever competitive, she couldn't wait another minute to get out there and start seeing the world. She certainly wasn't going to let Orion be born first and get his hooks in us before she could! I have no idea where she gets that competitive nature from!

I'm so glad we were able to time the Unity prep and planning to make sure we were home each time our babies were born. Those first few months of their lives where we were home and able to really introduce them to our families, have their naming ceremonies, actually rest and recuperate ourselves. I think those few months each time were what gave me the strength to keep going as long as I did.

Sometimes I feel as though we planned our trips poorly as far as weather goes. We were in Canada for a month or two of summer, and most of our time there was what felt like six years of winter (or six months but it felt like more!). But heading to Argentina in November? That could not have been a better plan. We were really able to turn the babies into little beach bums. I sometimes wish we could transplant the Manor somewhere else. I know it's your home, and it's my home too. It's our children's ancestral home. But wouldn't it be so much better if the Manor was … on a tropical island somewhere?

I'm sorry you were feeling so badly yesterday. Don't worry, I don't think the boys notice you being off. They had so much to see and do. And seeing as the Park was closed and we didn't have to worry about them being stalked by a paparazzi or confronted because you and I are well known, they were able to just run around like crazy with their cousins and friends. One of my favorite things about our large extended family is that it seems as though every one of our kids has at least one cousin their age to play with. I never have to worry about them being lonely or feeling left out. The trio's Veronica is only a few months older than Siri, and their Anastacia is six months younger than Zwei, get those four monsters together and it spells trouble!

So how long did you leave the four adult troublemakers on the ride? I noticed during our playtime that Blaise didn't come, but I thought that may have been his inner Veela, but now that I know you took my advice? Was he just that mad? Oh no, wait, I didn't see Kisa after you locked them on the ride either. I know you're still alive because I can literally see you in our bed right now, so the other option is that he went full bird and flew them off the ride. Are we not going to see Kisa for three days now?

It had better be three or less! We leave for Machu Picchu first thing Monday morning. I know she doesn't HAVE to come with us, but I just assumed she would want to. Or is she mad at us too? You're definitely in our bed, but maybe I should check to make sure you're breathing.

Oops, yep, you're breathing, and now you're awake and a bit of a snarly dragon. I'm going to go … calm your temper.

Love,  
Harry


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang is on their way to Peru.

Monday August 3rd  
My life,

Now that we're on the plane headed toward Machu Picchu, I have time to sit down and write. Naturally, every time we all get onto our jet, it feels a bit like a party. Good thing Mr. Lott is used to us after all these years because I don't think *I* would be able to handle this raucous bunch if I hadn't personally created them.

Thank Merlin! I could KISS Saoirse! She's considering this entire trip as a unit study and has already calmed the majority of the kids down so that she can go over some of the basic things they've already learned about our destination.

River is sort of half listening to her as he (not so) secretly plays on his Magitablet. Orion is sitting up at perfect attention and listening as intently as he can. Although, I think I might have to spell his glasses impervious or something because he keeps pulling them off to make sure they're clean. Maybe he needs to go in and have his prescription updated? It's sort of weird to see a mini me wearing glasses, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised that one of our kids had your eyesight. At least he looks less dorky in his glasses than you did at that age. Matter of fact, YOU look sexy as fuck in your glasses ever since you let me take you shopping for new frames.

But as much as I do love you in your glasses, I also love that you finally gave in about a year ago and had the corrective surgery spells done. Now I get to stare into your eyes with nothing in the way of those gorgeous green orbs. I get hot just thinking about it! Especially with your hair pulled back into a braid that goes all the way down your back, mmm... And I'm actually staring over at you and so now you're looking at me in mild confusion, probably wondering what I'm thinking. OH! You caught on because you're suddenly giving me a flirty smirk back.

Viona, Eris, Hazel, Sammy, Pearl, and Daisy are practically sitting in each other's laps and taking notes as they discuss various things about the Incan culture. Siri, Zwei, and Donnie are asking questions about anything that crosses their minds. I'm so glad that Dudley and Donna's littlest one is only one and so, Dustin is at home with his parents instead of here with his brother and sister. Jaz is in your lap staring out the window. Which just leaves Elena.

She and Kisa (who arrived home looking rather rough again JUST in time to leave for our flight), are sitting in a 'corner' looking like there's a reason both of them are half passed out. Kisa has her head on Elena's shoulder and Elena is absently stroking Kisa's hair as she mumbles things to Phillip. Phillip is fairly excited to be on holiday with us. Sure, he's gone on holiday with his family, but I suppose it's different when a lad is 19, without parental supervision, and sitting next to a girl he apparently likes.

Why did I agree to bring him with again???

Oh! Right, because you wanted Mac to go and he had already begged his parents for permission before you even thought to ask him. He at least seems interested in the learning aspect and is sitting between River and Orion, his attention a sort of cross between theirs. He's paying more attention to Saoirse than River, but not quite as much as Orion is.

It seems that Rhys is making funny faces to try to distract ALL the kids!

I know we're being a bit unfair by only taking Roderick and Bianca with us, leaving their younger sibs at home (Especially since we have Donnie with us), and also the fact that we have Pearl but not her younger sister, but I think we reached the limit of kids we could conceivably keep an eye on.

And then there's that girl I don't recognize in the front - oh wait! That's Teddy. He's really laying it on thick, even going so far as to sit on your lap and pout prettily. I wonder what he's begging for?

I feel like I'm missing someone... Harry, Did we make a head count before we left? Did we forget anyone??? Where in the Merlin cursed hell is Pippa?!?! Oh wait, she's right behind me, as usual. DAMN! Ever since she decided that part of her job description was being silent until she needed to nag me about something, I just forget she's even in the room. She has probably watched us shag more than anyone else on the planet, and I honestly can't recall a time she's been in the room during it, haha. I guess I do just sort of not see her anymore unless I'm actively thinking about her.

Uh-oh, Kisa just fell over, but Elena's taking care of her, making her all nice and comfortable. I actually didn't have to let any of them out of the Ferris Wheel because Derek and Yesenia were perfectly capable of Apparating out when they'd had enough, and yes, Blaise sprouted wings and took off with Kisa. Still have no idea where he is, but Kisa obviously made it back.

No wait, Hermione just sent a group Insta-owl to both of us. It seems that Blaise did make it home about the same time Kisa did. He also looks wrecked, but is smiling in his sleep and looks rather peaceful, so maybe they reached some sort of agreement?

And now I'm getting an Insta-owl from Yesenia. She says she's going to bill me for an extra therapy session because she had a bit of one with Derek, but that they reached an agreement that he would donate to her cause. She also says that we should probably sanitize that Ferris car rather thoroughly.

Oh, it looks like Jasmine managed to fall asleep even with Teddy nearly squishing her as you held her. So, you're probably headed to the bedroom to lay her down. I think I'll sign off now and join you since I wasn't really talking about anything important anyway.

We don't have it all... but I know we've got, we've got la-la la-la love, we've got la-la la-la love, we've got la-la la-la la la-la la-la la la-la la-la love,  
Draco  
P.S. I know Miles is still in rehearsals as we speak, but maybe he'll be performing by the time we get back. We should go see him. Shouldn't we? Do you think he'd WANT us to go see him???

P.P.S. Salazar damnit! I had a Merlin buggering dream about that little girl having a sodding tea party with a bunch of toys! While it's not actually a nightmare, it still disturbs me, grr...

P.P.P.S Oh! I am forgetting someone! That Sign Language instructor I hired is overwhelmed by all the people and noise and is hiding in the loo, hahaha. Normally I'd probably check on her in case she's having air sickness or something, but my prick still thinks I'm a bloody teenager and need to find you this instant. If I haven't passed out when we're done and she's still hiding in the loo, I'll check on her then.

 

Tuesday August 4th  
To my fellow old man,

One day down, thirteen more to go. You know how much I love kids. You know that I am used to the constant hustle and bustle and hubbub of a giant group of chaotic children. And these nieces and nephews, might as well be nieces and nephews of ours, along with our own amazing children, are pretty much my favorite people on the planet. But maybe we should have brought a few of them on each trip and not tried to bring half of them in one go!

Technically I suppose it's two days down and fourteen to go, the trip itself is going to be fourteen days, but a day of travel on each end adds quite a bit to not only the timeline but onto my energy levels. We got in Monday evening and even with Pippa running the show and having room assignments already set it took two hours to get everyone where they needed to be. And then bedtime for the littler set was a bit crazy as well. Eventually we all got settled and even you managed to get to sleep at a reasonable time to get started on today as early as possible.

And by as early as possible I obviously mean as early as possible for a group our size that also contains you, Viona, and Eris.

I think Ori was a bit disappointed in our first day being completely about visually enjoying the space and wandering around like impressed tourists. But he, and possibly Mac, were the only ones. Our massive troupe was quite happy to just wander around taking in the beauty, the natural greenery around centuries old architecture was a gorgeous contrast. I pulled Ori and Mac aside and told them I understood they were interested in a bit more in depth than just wandering around with a group of more than thirty people, and if they could be patient I had already set up two tours for them, and possibly any of the other older kids who would be interested, with the hotel. They offer a Mystical Tour with a local Shaman and a Ritual for an offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth) that I thought looked just like them.

I thought Mac might cry when I told him about the Mystical Tour. I guess the Shaman who does the tour is legit, it's not just some hokey tourist trap, it's someone who's dedicated his life to the path. I know both Mac and Ori are well-behaved in general, but in case you were wondering why they seemed to be on their very best behavior today, that's why.

I think my favorite thing we did today was the Market of Pisac in the Sacred Valley. Watching our professional shopping Divas giggle over the costumes, everything beautiful and colorful and handcrafted, was so much fun. Ten years ago you and I came here hand in hand, we even got our very first travel souvenir here, and now we've brought our children. But something I wasn't aware of from last time, or I've forgotten it, is that while during the week there are all sorts of vendors selling their handicrafts, on Sunday there will be a huge Market with even more handmade items and food vendors, basically if you want something from Machu Picchu, it will be here or it doesn't exist! So guess who's coming back Sunday?

It's so nice that you were keeping an eye out for our large group. I could see you doing headcounts every few minutes. Did you know you were whispering and weren't just counting in your head? I swear, for the rest of my life I will regret showing you Home Alone. We don't have a Kevin, we're not leaving anyone behind. Do you think Muffy or any of her children would have allowed us to leave someone behind? "Yes Master Draco, I thought you meant to leave Sirius at home." That sounds like Muffy.

If they didn't already think they made the right choice, after sightseeing all day I know your parents are certain of their decision to fly themselves and our brothers and sisters separately. I'm pretty sure the new sign language tutor wants to join them on the flight home. Do you think Leah will last very long? I'm worried you may have hired one that scares easily. She seemed a bit overwhelmed with us? I'm sure it will be ok, there's a difference between being trapped on an airplane with twenty-eight other people, plus elves, plus the pilot, and teaching a large, but smaller than that, group of people in our oversized Manor.

Anyway, all the littlest kids are sound asleep. The medium kids are snuggled up in their beds with some telly to watch for a little bit to settle down. And the big kids who are actually adults but will always be kids to me are about to join us and the actual adults at the bar for a nightcap. My plan is to get you just drunk enough to sleep solidly and not dream about little girls having tea parties like Hannah got stuck in your head, but not so drunk that we can't wake you up and get you out the door for more sightseeing at a decent time tomorrow.

See you as soon as you FINALLY finish getting ready!

Oh wait, yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! We should absolutely go see Miles perform when we get back. I know he would be overjoyed to see us there. What? Do you think he'd be shy or embarrassed? You obviously don't know our Miles!

Love you,  
Harry

P.S. Teddy was originally going to go back to England with your parents and siblings instead of heading to Chichen Itza with us next week, he was trying to get me to convince Andi that he really needed to see both sites and not just Peru.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people try to ruin there day, and then Harry has a minor accident.

Wednesday August 5th  
My joy,

BUWAHAHAHAHAHA! I think we managed to horrify Elena and Kisa! They've both been around us enough to know that we can't keep our hands off each other and are quite sexually open. That said, they've never gone out drinking in a club with us before either, hahahaha!

I don't really know what or IF Phillip has done anything with either of them - he does have his own room, but it's not like we monitor the door all night - but he was very overtly friendly and handsy with both of them and they returned the blatant flirting. At the same time, all of them were dancing and flirting with others, clearly trying to pull.

Well, see, you and I are only approximately 10 years older than them, and so, most people assumed that we were just a large group of friends out having a lark. Thus, anyone who liked the look of us came over to flirt with us and see just how friendly we were. As it turns out, friendly enough to - as I said - horrify our girls! Ahahahahahahaha!

The two of us danced rather erotically with a delightful couple. They were also married gay men, but both dark haired with black eyes. Locals who are always happy to meet other gay couples. The dancing got heated enough that it culminated in a nice overnight stay. Our guests were thankfully early risers. I could hear them murmuring to you as they got dressed to leave, but obviously, I refused to wake up just then.

You quietly got ready to go about your day, coming over to kiss me before leaving our bedroom. I surprised you by snatching you back into bed with me and snogging the daylights out of you before I used your hand to please myself. Too bad you were already dressed. We could have frotted or you could have taken me so hard that I passed back out from it, mmm...

Happily, our day has been organized so that Saoirse and Rhys took all those who are serious about learning and also early risers out to go inspect every square inch of the amazing site, while you stayed behind to feed and ready the younger kids. I slept in a bit after my wonderful bout of way too early to wake up playing, and Pippa took Leah out shopping to help the poor woman get used to the fact that life as one of our employees was rather chaotic and not for the faint of heart, hahaha.

Leah returned looking much happier and more at peace right about the time that I was officially ready to go about my day. You and I were going to bring the littler kids and Viona and Eris - who naturally slept in after everyone else was gone - out to do the same sort of exploring that Saoirse and Rhys were guiding the others through, only less focused on education and more focused on just seeing what captured our interest.

As usual, we walked hand in hand and kissed each other approximately every two minutes. Just happy to still be so in love and have this amazingly beautiful family to show the world to. So, of course, as happens almost every time we are so obviously having a good time in public, someone had to try their best to ruin things for us.

"OH MY GOD! Do you SEE those disgusting homos over there?! They're KISSING and holding hands and acting like they're normal and just like everybody else!!!"

Squaring my shoulders and preparing to use all my best insults on him (actually it was a group of men between the ages of 18-25), I was surprised that I didn't even get a chance.

"OI! You SHUT YOUR MOUTH! Those are MY DADS you're trying to bully!!!"

"Yeah mate, you REALLY don't want to poke fun at them!" Kisa added in her dark but nevertheless cute Russian accent.

"Yeah? What're YOU gonna do about it?!"

I flinched. THAT was definitely the wrong question. Elena responded by punching him in the mouth. Kisa kicked him in the bollocks. Then things *really* got interesting as the two of them with a minor amount of help from Phillip set about flattening the entire group.

"Well, looks like my job here is done," I joked wryly as I pulled you close and kissed you far more deeply than really necessary in public.

Kisa was stepping on as many fingers as possible, grinding them into the ground to pathetic whimpers as she glared at the pile of young men. "I'm being generous. Take a moment to thank your lucky stars that you only had to deal with US... Then spend the rest of your lives giving offerings of gratitude to your GOD that you did not have to suffer the righteous anger of my nephew and his husband. After all, you're still ALIVE...."

"Unfortunately!" Elena growled, literally spitting on the ground next to them. "Also be grateful that we were taught to spare pathetic scum such as you! We well know that you were taught your backward and utterly STUPID beliefs by your equally backward and STUPID parents! But as you lay there whinging and moaning, take some time to think about what it was you did wrong, and how you can do better in the future!"

Kisa kicked a man that was now glaring at Elena. "And she DOESN'T mean learning to fight better, you arseholes!"

You buried your face in my neck and whispered: "I feel like I should probably stop them, but I'm just so bloody proud..."

I stroked your head and pressed kisses to your temple. I feel exactly the same.

The rest of our day was blissful - well, after we finished modifying some memories so that anyone who took offense to our girls defending us and the authorities all completely forgot about the incident. That said, is it bad that I'm disappointed I didn't get a chance to say or do anything?

Also, even after Phillip taking Krav Maga for several years, he never truly wanted to gain expertise with it, so he is at a competent but rather basic level. I'm rather inappropriately amused that he looks very subdued by our girls now, gulping apprehensively, and quite clearly making plans to NEVER piss them off, buwahahahaha. With any luck, they've completely scared him off!

You're the one I need, the way back home is always long, but when you're close to me, I'm holding on,  
Draco

P.S. I'm happy that a much calmer Leah took charge of Jasmine today and 'talked' to her in signs, describing everything they saw. It was adorable!

P.P.S. I'm so glad I had time before this trip to upgrade Bear's purse so that she has an entire yard to run around in there - it makes it so much easier to let her do her business. That way, I know that when she pops her head out of the purse, the only thing she probably wants is food or attention.

P.P.P.S. Don't worry, I made extra sure that Bear had a cooling charm on her at all times!!!

P.P.P.P.S What did you think about my translation device? It was the first time I'd gotten to use it in real world conditions, and while it worked beautifully, it did get a bit distracting around larger crowds...

 

Sunday August 9, 2009 Midafternoon

Don't Get Mad,

So how are you? I love you! You're fit and I think you're a fantastic shag. You are without a doubt the best father that has ever existed. And husbands? Not only are you the best, but you surpass other husbands so much that they can't even see you anymore.

So here's the deal. You made these awesome translators right? And they work so well. I have been wearing mine all week. But I think one of the warnings should be that wearing them for an extended time in crowds will give you a massive headache. Well this morning, everyone was ready to go see how much bigger and better and yummier the Market of Pisac was on a Sunday compared to the weekday. But I had been wearing that translator for so long that last night I came down with a massive migraine.

I woke up this morning hoping it would have gone away, but it had not. Your best headache potions were barely touching this thing. (Also, I KNOW they were headache potions!) And all of you sweethearts offered to just stay at or around the hotel and rest so I wouldn't have to miss anything. Even our divas were willing to forego the Market! We just have the sweetest children and godchildren and extra children and emotionally a grandchild. But I told you all that was super silly. I had to miss things anyway but you guys staying back with me just meant no one would buy me anything fun and everyone would miss it. So you all reluctantly left me behind to sleep it off.

I especially didn't want you guys to miss our last real day of sightseeing! Tomorrow we just have the morning, then Lucius is port-keying back with some of the kids who needed to be back really early, and Narcissa is flying back with some of the younger kids (not ours obviously, but Donnie is for sure missing Mama too much to stay the whole trip and Sammy needs to get back to go camping or something with Colm). The rest will be headed off to Mexico with us.

Roughly two hours after you all left, the migraine left in a sudden jolt. I don't know if the potions had finally teamed up and kicked in, or if the headache had an expiration date or what but I felt back to full capacity. I could have just waited for you all to get back, but you had only been gone for two hours. I have met all of you, even the children who aren't as big on shopping are still OUR children and shopping is in their blood. So I was sure that everyone would still be having a blast and I figured I could hurry and meet up with you.

I suppose the only way you wouldn't still be shopping would be if you ran into more homophobes and our attack teenagers caused a scene and then maybe you all got arrested. But I would bail them all the heck out of wherever they were jailed, because they are amazing and wonderful and so strong in their beliefs. I could just see those disgusting little pukes the other day, underestimating Lainie and Kisa because they're pretty and dainty. Ha! Fools! They got their arses handed to them so hard!

I do think it's a bit funny that Kisa made a big deal that they should be thankful they dealt with them instead of us. Ummm, I'm not sure if YOU were aware, but Kisa and Lainie are MUCH more terrifying than I am. Although they were probably right about you, you wouldn't have physically hurt them but your words do a hell of a lot of damage. That's some trauma it's hard to come back from.

I suppose overall I am glad that our girls stuck to their moral compass, but mostly just relieved we didn't get the authorities called on us.

Anyway, I figured without you and I walking around holding hands there really wouldn't be anything about our group that would attract any sort of notice outside of the fact that it's a group of the most beautiful people that have ever existed. With that I figured no one would have been arrested and I would have been right about you still shopping by the time I got there.

I wandered about a bit, I knew I would run into someone from our group eventually, there are so many of us! And then I saw this sweet little old lady not only selling these beautiful traditional hats, but she was even working on one while she waited for patrons. They were all beautiful, but the one she was working on had a lot more green than the other hats. And I know how much you love me wearing green. So I asked to try it on. And she let me, I was absolutely certain I was going to get it. Maybe surprise you with how handsome I looked when I found you.

But, um, well she hadn't completely finished it, and there was a piece of cloth hanging off of the brim. And, uh, ha, so she went to cut if off while I was still wearing it. And she accomplished cutting off the cloth! Did I mention she was very sweet and little and old? And apparently a bit blind. And she cut off my braid.

I obviously squealed, ran off, and found a discreet place to apparate back to the hotel. I managed to talk to the owner of the hotel who recommended a local hair stylist and now I uh. Well I have some really cool and fashionable short spiky hair now! Are you super excited to see my makeover?

Please still find me attractive,  
Your Harry

P.S. I could not be any happier with Leah, she has been a dream with Jasmine. This is going to be so good for her and our entire family. Good call on hiring her!

P.P.S. Seriously, please still find me attractive.

P.P.P.S. I love you.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco mourns the loss of Harry's braid.

Sunday August 9th  
Love of my life,

So I was walking along with our brood - or at least some of them. I had Jasmine in a carrier and the boys magi-invisi-leashed to me. Viona and the almost triplets and anyone else under the age of ten were IN SIGHT, but not leashed. Everyone else was roaming as they liked (my mind rationally able to accept that they've ALL had Krav Maga lessons and basic defensive spell lessons, even though my heart is still currently being influenced by our recent trauma and I irrationally want to lock them all in a safe little bubble).

Anyway, I was keeping an eye on them, helped out by Saoirse, Rhys, Pippa, my parents, and even Leah. Suddenly, my Magitablet made a noise to let me know I'd gotten a new email. (Incidentally, Theo is bugging me to combine the Magitablet with the Insta-owl Mobile. I think he's barmy! WHO would *ever* want so many functions built into one device??? They'd NEVER put the things down!) I was excited, hoping that you were letting me know that you felt better and were going to come find us. To my delight, I was right, but then...

I'm honestly grieving right now. I had to ask Leah to take Jasmine and my parents to take the boys while S+R watched all the others so that I could find a bit of privacy to nearly break down and cry. Salazar Harry! I know it's just hair. I KNOW it'll grow back, but I don't think you know just how much I loved your long hair. No matter how many times I petted it, and yanked on it when you were being a 'naughty' sub, or took the time to brush it out after Zwei would fall asleep after Siri had left our bed for good but before we got Jaz. Not just brush it out, but play with and fondle it, and then braid it. I know that logically you had to braid it yourself in the mornings or have Dibly do it, but I always pretended like I was the only one who ever unbraided, brushed, and rebraided your hair.

It was so soft! It had a permanent little kink in it from nearly always being braided, and that kink made it fluff up whenever it was being brushed. I would rub small handfuls of it across my cheek and breathe in that alluring scent that was a mix of the shampoo I make you use and the unique, aromatic, sometimes sweaty smell that's all you. The smell that I unconsciously snuggle up to on your pillow each morning when I wake up and you're already off and accomplishing more than I do in a week.

I just...

I'm not mad. I know it's not your fault. I know you occasionally hated your hair but mostly were proud of it and how handsome it made you look. How SEXY you looked - especially in leather! MERLIN! I'm getting hard just thinking about it!

Alright.

I think I've managed to calm down and come to terms with this. I'm going to come find you, and then I'm going to kiss you. If I do embarrassingly burst into tears, it's only because I tend to think of your hair as another one of my beloved babies and I'm still having that maddeningly frustrating baby fever. How long is that supposed to last anyway? I know you had it for three years until having Sirius, but yours wasn't the result of a traumatic experience. Yesenia promised mine would fade as I processed everything and came to terms with the fact that our kids were all safe and sound and nowhere near a war zone or danger.

But it hasn't.

Even when I hold Jasmine, I just can't help but be sad that she's the only one we've had so far that's basically on her own. By that, I mean that even Elena - who is arguably 'alone' in her age compared to the rest - she still had others she could play with. Such as Kisa. By the time Jasmine is old enough to truly play, ALL the other kids are going to be old enough that they probably won't want to. They'll want to play video games or watch big kid movies, and she'll want to watch Blue's Clues and go down the slide a hundred million times in a row. Sure, she'll have her own elf to play with, but she's not going to have a child her own age to keep her company.

But I do recognize that it's NOT a good idea to have yet ANOTHER kid just because I'm feeling a bit weepy at the moment. Don't assume that I need you to get me up the duff even though that's what I'm craving. Just... maybe hold me extra tight for a few minutes as I mourn your lovely hair, and then tell me to stop being so silly and help you find our extremely loud family.

I love you so much, and not even going bald could stop me!

Then if anything grows, while you pose, I'll oil you up and rub you down, and that's just one small fraction, of the main attraction, you need a friendly hand, oh I need action! Toucha toucha toucha touch me! I want to feel dirty, thrill me chill me fulfill me, creature of the night! Toucha toucha toucha touch me, I want be dirty, whip me beat me mistreat me, knock me up tonight!  
Draco  
P.S. Yeah, I'll admit, thinking of your sexy as fuck braid and leather jacket on your bike, or any other leather outfit, perhaps in our playroom, has gotten me hornier than hell!

P.P.S. Hmm... Maybe Theo has a point. I've said it myself many a time over the years, who would want to buy or use two devices when they can just have one. Damnit! I'm going to have to figure this bugger out, aren't I?

P.P.P.S. Don't be offended if I have to firecall Yesenia tonight...

 

Monday August 10th  
My Dragon,

There are so many thoughts floating through my head right now I can barely keep them straight (haha, can't keep anything straight!). I have no idea where to start with all of the things I want to say to you. No, I always know where to start...

I love you. More than I thought loving anyone was possible. With more love than I thought my heart could contain.

Now, on to things that possibly aren't quite as obvious. They should be, but based on your email I guess they aren't. Draco. I will NEVER, never ever ever, not once in our entire lives, ever be offended if you need to talk to Yesenia. Now that we're eight years out from your first delve into mind healing everything seems so much better, but that first year and a half we were married, with all the craziness that happened to us, I was desperate for you to take care of your own mental health. I wanted to fill every minute of our lives together with love because I was terrified that I would lose you. I promise you, I will always support your decision to talk with someone about your feelings. Even if I think the reasons you're upset are silly.

Which, by the way, I don't actually think this is a silly reason. I was really upset as well. I love our time together when you would brush and braid my hair. It was special. But my sadness was over how upset you were going to be. I loved my hair. But having it short for just the last twenty-four hours? My head feels lighter, showering was quicker, I wasn't as overheated in the sun, and I kinda like how it feels. I am sure that some day I will grow it out again, but would you be absolutely furious if I kept it short for just a little while?

If it helps, I did keep the braid!

Oh and I doubt this short thing will last all that long, I forgot about how much I love you yanking on it when I'm feeling all subby. Hmm. I suppose you will just have to put me on the leash more often. The top is a bit shaggier than the sides, so you could definitely get a solid handful if you needed to. And you remember how fast my hair grows when it's short. I thought about taking one of the potions that grows your hair quickly, but I've seen people who used it and the hair never quite grows right. Either it's thinner or the color is off. I think I will just let things take their natural course.

Oh, and I know how much you like the leather with my long braid look. But since the braid is gone what if I do that other thing you've tried to talk me into for years? And no, I don't mean shagging a woman, blech. I could grow out my beard. I wouldn't want much in the way of length, I like the beards that are close-cropped, but don't you think you'd like the leather with the short hair but a face full of black scruff?

So we're on the plane on our way to Chichen Itza. This may be a shorter flight than England to Peru, but it's not short. So we have plenty of time to relax, get some rest, and for me I have time to get some of my thoughts out while you and the rest of the adults watch the horde.

You seem to be getting better from our troubles in Iran. You've been coming to terms with some of the reasons you had baby fever. But you say the fever is not relenting. I have some concerns, and per usual, I am going to tell you them this way so you can process them however works for you.

If you want a baby simply to give Jaz a close sibling, that is not a reason to have a baby. Each child should feel as though they are wanted for themselves. Don't get me wrong, I love that we have a big family and our children will always have their siblings at their side. No loneliness for our babies. But we need to have children because there is a space in our lives that only that child in their unique way can fill.

If you want a baby to fulfill your emotional need for safety, we need to make sure that you're getting all the mind healing you need. Maybe you need more sessions. Maybe you just need more time. Maybe you need to ask Yesenia to adjust her methods to really point out what is hurting you.

If you want a baby to replace my hair, my hair will grow back and will be a lot less work and time and morning sickness than a pregnancy.

But if you legitimately want a baby. An actual baby to love and hold and add to our family? That's a discussion I am willing to have with you. Maybe when we get back home next week, we should have a joint session; you, me, Yesenia, and Katja. See if they're both willing to sign off on the both of us being healthy enough to adequately care for a pregnant spouse and another newborn.

Or we throw caution to the wind, I slam a potion, and ride the hell out of you until you scream.

Your call.

And then, completely unrelated to your email, but I noticed this before I locked myself in the room to write, but have you seen one of Leah's really cool methods for teaching Jaz sign? Jaz will need to learn to "read" when other people sign. So she needs to know what the signs look like from the viewers' perspective. But, she also needs to know how her own hands will look while signing and how it should look from the signing perspective. When you are holding Jaz she signs towards you. She has propped her up a bit (she's still just a little too wobbly to sit on her own just yet) and signs to her. But she also wears her facing out and signs directly in front of her face. I think it's so cool that she understands Jaz needs to see her language from every angle.

And just watching her this last week, I have already picked up a few words and phrases. I can't wait until I can talk to my daughter and know she understands what I'm telling her. She understands the most important thing, that her Daddy loves her, but we'll eventually be able to have long deep conversations just like I do with all of my children.

I'm so glad Jasmine picked us.

I suppose I have stranded you adults with the entire crazy group for long enough. I'm on my way.

Love you,  
Harry


	23. Chapter 23

Monday August 17th  
Imzadi,

Chichen Itza was so wonderful that the whole week just flew by! There was just so much to see and do that I'm not entirely sure that a week was long enough. But do you know what was my favorite part? I'm sure this won't come as a shock to you, but my favorite part was when we all relaxed in the spa.

The staff sure thought we were crazy, insisting that they set up their massage tables in one enormous room so that all of us could be massaged at the same time. But first, all of us in the mud bath was the perfect opportunity to finish up our chattering and calm down enough to actually be silent (more or less) for the massages.

Saoirse and Rhys are used to being naked in a tub with us, as is Pippa, but once again, poor Leah was a bit freaked out that we seemed to expect her to strip off in front of us. We didn't, it goes without saying that consent is key, but after giving her a choice and settling into the mud bath, she decided that it looked wonderful and that one couldn't see through mud anyway. So she joined us. By the time the massage was over, she'd seemed to reach a state of fuck modesty and was running around playing a game of tag with Elena, Kisa, Phillip, River, and Mac.

The younger kids were playing something that resembled Hide and Hex, and the golden and all too brief silence was utterly destroyed, but that was only to be expected. Naturally, Jasmine couldn't run around and play, so she was in my favorite wrap on my chest and facing/watching all the action. She was rather excited, repeatedly squirming and flinging her arms and legs out as if she was imagining herself running around with all the others.

Well, at least she was until you pulled her out of the wrap and promptly flung her up in the air. Harry, we've done this with SO MANY children over the years, and I know that you aren't going to accidentally drop her, but I can't lie, seeing that made my heart stop for a long moment, and then when it started beating again, it did so erratically. I felt as if my precious baby was in mortal peril and I needed to rescue her, only logically I knew that she wasn't. I had to pretend that I was suddenly starving so I had an excuse to leave the room and go ask the concierge what might be a good place to try for dinner. Nearly forgot my robe in my haste! hahaha!

Also no shock, my second favorite part of the trip was our date night when we went for a ride on our flying carpet, made love under the stars, and just lay there cuddled up for hours. My third favorite thing was all the shopping we did. I found a unique and interesting shop full of musical instruments. The hand drums in particular caught my eye and I bought a couple. Yeah sure, I HAVE tons of hand drums, but these were painted so beautifully. I just couldn't say no!

We're currently on the flight back home, and I'm obsessively counting and recounting to make sure we have everyone. Thank Salazar, we do! Wait... Where's Pippa?!?!

Phew! She's sitting right behind me again. Does she Disillusion herself whenever I'm not looking?

Anyway, Leah has Jaz in her lap and is just chatting with Saoirse, but also saying everything with her hands so that Jasmine can see it. That woman is BRILLIANT when it comes to immersion teaching our baby. It's making that fe- er, yes, you're right. We definitely need to have a joint session with our therapists.

But for now, none of the kids can go anywhere and there are plenty of adults to keep an eye on them, so I'm going to sign off and forcibly carry you to the bedroom if I have to. We're going to snuggle and thoroughly molest each other until my mind goes blank. Love you!

He wraps those hands around that pole, he licks those lips and off we go, he takes it off nice and slow, because that's porn star dancing,  
Draco  
P.S. I wasn't saying that you would be offended by me talking with Yesenia, but that you might get offended if I abandoned you to wrangling all the kids by yourself for an hour or so as I locked myself in our room.

 

Tuesday August 18th  
Hey Love,

You know, when I was reading your last email from yesterday's flight home, besides being distracted by remembering our delightfully sexy sky activities, I was really confused as to why you didn't even list Mac's huge empathic moment in your favorite things. No offense to anything on your list because all of your moments were indeed amazing and beautiful and fun and wonderful, but that moment was probably my number one. And that's when I remembered you were having a nice quiet morning with the little ones while I went with Mac, Ori, River, and Lainie on a meditative retreat into the ruins.

It was such a beautiful experience. And that was just on a personal level. There was some devoted meditation time. The views were breathtaking. And as we only had a group of six (Saoirse was interested in coming too) it was blessedly quiet. I really do love meditation, it has done wonders for my anxiety and my propensity to take on blame for things I did not cause. But, I am a bit restless as well and my mind started wandering and I stopped focusing on myself. I looked over at Mac and he had tears pouring down his face. Immediately concerned I looked closer and saw that he had the most serene expression on his face.

Mac was the last to come back to reality and when he did he opened his eyes with a sigh and said something I don't think I will ever forget for the rest of my life, "Oh. I felt - everything. The world's emotions were in my head. They weren't overwhelming, they were beautiful. I felt lifetimes of sadness, pain, and despair. Then I felt love, joy, and hope wrap themselves around those negative emotions, cushioning and uplifting them"

He took a deep breath, and I could feel myself tear up. Mac got the most brilliant smile on his face, "Life is a balance. I worry I know this more than most, and for the first time I could see that balance. Those things we perceive as negative keep us all from floating away to nothing, while the all important hope and love balance those when they try to drag our world down."

Watching my beloved little Mac have an epiphany, that moment in his life where he recognized the world for what it was and still thought it beautiful, was lifechanging for me. I didn't even experience it, I just witnessed his moment, and I felt something shift within myself. Remind me to pensieve that moment for you. The memory camera will not do it justice, you need to immerse yourself in the actual pensieve for this one. It will be worth it, I promise.

There have been so many moments in my life where I could feel things shift for myself; when I realized I was in love with you, when I knew helping children like myself was going to be a defining theme in my life, each time one of our children entered our lives and I felt everything shift and balance to welcome this new soul. I am so humbled to be there for such a massive shift for Mac. It was almost as moving as when Elena had her moment while we were building Unity Africa.

We had been there for what, three months? We had finished the building, hired all of the staff, and had already welcomed a half a dozen kids. Our kids were all there for everything. I wanted them to have their own childhoods even though we were creating these orphanages, so we never actually asked any of our children to take over specific jobs or tasks at Unity. That didn't stop them from helping out or asking what they could do, I just didn't want to make them obligated to take over adult jobs. And all of our kids have been amazing at pitching in and going above and beyond, but Lainie has always had that extra drive and spark to truly do something for these Kids.

She had taken over. It was to the point where I was planning to have a talk with her and tell her she was taking on too much responsibility. One night, past her bedtime, she was cuddled up with a scared toddler, you remember Amahle? I walked into the little dorm room, and there was our strong girl, our strong young woman, holding this tiny little thing in her arms. Amahle's hands were caught in Lainie's curls like she had calmed herself to sleep playing with them, and Lainie looked up at me with shining eyes and said, "Daddy, the last thing she whispered before she fell asleep was 'thank you angel.' Her life has been so hard that she thinks snuggling someone to sleep is the act of an angel." I could see the determination in her eyes to save as many Amahle's as she possibly could.

Whew, need to get my mind off of all these emotions. I am going to have bright red eyes for our joint therapy session. I know I will cry while we are in there, I don't need to start off looking bloodshot and sniffling!

I am writing this while waiting for you to finish getting ready for our appointment, I feel as though half my life is waiting for you to finish getting ready, so I am going to write down what I plan on saying while we're in there. By the time you read this you will have already heard me say it, but hopefully this can get me a bit calmer and make these things easier to say. I mentioned most of this to you in my last email, but there's a bit more.

First of all, I am very sorry that my throwing Jaz up in the air triggered some sort of panic for you. As you said, we've both done it innumerable times over the years so I didn't think anything of it. I may forget, because it is such a natural thing for me to do to a non-newborn baby, so forgive me please if I do. But I will try my hardest not to do so again. At least until you give me the all clear that you're ready for those kind of things to happen again.

Here's the thing, I do not want us to have another baby because we want Jaz to have a playmate.

I do not want us to have another baby because it will soothe your fears over our traumatic time in Iran.

I do not want us to have another baby to replace my hair. I'll take 'Weird sentences I never thought I would say" for 500 Alex!

I do not want us to have another baby because ten is a much better number than nine and we want it to be a nice even amount of children.

I do not want us to have another baby because of any reason other than we want to have another baby to love and care for and add to our enormous family.

But... I actually DO want another baby. I feel this empty spot in my heart that is telling me someone is missing. How can you possibly miss someone who doesn't exist? How do you miss someone when you're already a family of eleven-plus? I don't know, but I do. I want it so badly I ache for this missing little love. I wasn't going to say anything because of my intention on not making any life decisions until we are both mentally prepared to take a new step. I wasn't going to say anything because it seems crazy to want another child when our lives are already so full of love and children. But every time you talk about your baby fever, the ache in my chest starts throbbing.

I uh, may have been walking around with an "emergency fertility potion" at all times for months, just ready to drink it at a moment's notice if you say the word.

Alright Husband Mine, let's go talk to our brain fixers and see if we might both actually want and be ready for this.

I love you,  
Harry


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco has a bit of a break down...

Tuesday August 18th  
My other half,

Please just AK me now and put me out of my misery. I KNOW I KNOW, you are my husband and it's your privilege to see me at my most embarrassing, but that doesn't always mean I am comfortable being so embarrassingly emotional in front of others - even including you.

So, we were in our joint session with Yesenia and Katja, and things were going fine. We were discussing my relentless baby fever and whether or not it would be a good idea to give into it. Suddenly, we started fighting over WHO would get to be the one to carry the new baby, and that's when Katja asked the very reasonable question of why I have it in the first place as she wanted to hear the reason from my perspective rather than yours.

I took a deep breath to gather my thoughts and it felt like a damn broke. I started sobbing and wailing and probably not making a bit of coherent sense. I haven't truly cried like that since I broke down the first time.

And then, of course, I hated myself for being weak in front of a near stranger, so I curled up into the fetal position while sitting - head buried between my legs, arms trying to cover the whole mess up. And this stupid dream I had about doing laundry and everyone kept bringing me more and more until I wanted to scream came tumbling out, making me even more embarrassed. I don't even DO laundry!!!!

Long story that I just do not want to recap and relive short, Yesenia said no. This probably shouldn't be a surprise, but she feels that I'm just not ready to be making such a big life altering decision. So, she recommends waiting for at least a month while we discuss it to death, and then make a decision.

So, now I'm not just embarrassed but a little depressed. I'm currently in my closet eating B+J and stroking my Komboloi. I might almost be ready to talk to you.

Actually, maybe I should just go to the bathroom and cast shaving charms at my head until I'm nice and bald. Won't I look good bald? And you're right, it's just hair. Worst case scenario, I just let it grow back.

And speaking of growing hair: you're growing a beard and it's this little, well groomed enhancement to your face. I can't stop kissing it. What do you think, is it time for me to start cultivating my old man beard? I bet given enough time, I could grow one even longer than Dumbledore's was. I bet I would look very dignified with a long and flowing beard.

Yeah... I think I'll go look at myself in the bathroom mirror and see what will look the best via a few glamour spells.

Love you so much I can hardly breathe,  
Draco  
P.S. would you mind terribly if I Obliviated your Mind Healer?

 

Wednesday August 19th  
My One True Love,

I am about to make a bunch of arguments that I didn't think I would have to make at all, and even if I had I don't think anyone could have guessed that they would be made simultaneously.

No, Draco Malfoy, you should NOT shave your head bald. Like, at all. I don't know if you're trying to throw my argument back at me that it will grow back, but there is a difference between me having LESS hair and you having NO hair. And I didn't do mine on purpose! And I am growing a beard to help distract you from the loss of hair. I could play to your logic, but having been married to you for a decade I think I will go a different route. What if you shave your head and find out your head is shaped oddly or that you have a huge mark on your head you never knew about? What if you shave your head and when it starts to grow back you end up being one of those people where it never grows back the same? You could end up with darker hair, or it could grow back thinner or curly. Ooooh, what if it grows back red Draco, hmmm? What if it grows back red?

Please don't grow a flowing old man beard. I don't personally want you to grow one at all. It is your face (and I suppose it's your head if you want to get technical) and you know I will love and support you and find you attractive no matter what. If you HAD to do a beard, I would prefer a well groomed, close cropped one. But beards are for people like me, moderately attractive I suppose. I am pretty sure it would be a crime against nature to cover up your face. Do you want a smiting Draco? Hmm, I don't think smiting is the right word. Do you want to be smote? Smited? Yeah, do you want to be smited?

Oh! I know! If you don't touch your hair or cover up your face I will give you beard-burn anywhere you'd like for as long as you'd like. Wouldn't that be nice darling? I could rough up your gorgeous arse with my face and then kiss every single pinked inch of it in apology.

I would offer to do all the laundry but I don't do that either. Can you imagine the look on Muffy's face if I tried to tell her I was going to do the laundry? I'd be smited! I'm surprised you even know laundry is something to do. I assumed one of your ancestors had cursed the word itself so it couldn't be known by a Malfoy heir. I still can't believe there's nothing you or your father could do to lift the kitchen restrictions on the Manor kitchens.

Oh, completely unrelated to our current conversation, but now I've got myself wondering. This is probably something I should have found out years ago. I can't believe I'm not even thinking of this until now, River is thirteen for crying out loud! We both know that none of our children will ever want for anything, but which of them are heirs to which lines? I know the Malfoy line requires a male and a blood child. So, is River the heir because he's the firstborn of your blood? Or was there some sort of clause of marriage, or in name? His last name was Lewis until a year ago, when he finally decided he wanted his name to match the rest of his siblings'. So would it be River or Orion? Or am I confused and there isn't a gender restriction and it's down to River or Eris since she was born first?

Anyway, no you may not AK yourself, and because I know you love a good legally binding loophole, you may also not find someone to do the AK for you, and you may not have you or anyone else do anything that would cause your death in either a direct or indirect way. Whew, I think I've covered all of my bases. As you know, Katja is bound by the oaths of her profession not to reveal anything she has learned in a session. And because I know it was a sticking point with you when you were negotiating with Yesenia, we pay Katja well for her services. Like, really well. A lot. I actually pay her more than you pay Yesenia if you want real honesty. Which also means there will be no Katja obliviations.

I'm a bit disappointed that our healers don't think we're ready for another baby. But I'm really glad we got their opinions before we made a rash decision. Not that I think we would have necessarily regretted it, but any child of ours deserves to have us at full health and ready to take on their care to be the best parents we can be. We just can't promise that to a new child right now, so it's time to hold off. But whenever we get the go-ahead I am ready and waiting with a fertility potion, I can just drink it down in one go.

I also have many arguments for why I should be the one to carry this baby. Some of my reasons are very well thought out and logical. Some of them are selfish. Some of them are absolutely ridiculous.

First, there are many many many things you are better at than I am. Potions. Chess. Business. Topping. But, my base magic levels are higher than yours. And with both of my pregnancies and both of yours, I have been better at maintaining my magic levels throughout the pregnancy. Your health is more important to me than the possibility of having more children, so my logical and selfish thoughts on this are that me being the one to become pregnant is a better idea.

Secondly, I am such a good bottom. Or do you not think I'm a good bottom? If I were good, you'd want to be the one to be on top and therefor not the pregnant one, so I assume what you're saying is that I'm no good in the sack anymore and you think I don't deserve your cock.

Oh oh oh, and also … this is the most ridiculous reason. I almost didn't put it, but I figured in a list of reasons that included me guilt tripping you into saying I'm a good little bottom I was just going to go full on crazy-pants. I absolutely love all of our children. They are the most beautiful people I've ever seen in my life. Their skin tones and their hair colors, and all of their uniquely beautiful eyes just fill my entire world. But we have a really really low ratio of blonde to brunette. We have seven brunette/black-haired babies and only two blondies. And I've been the one to carry both blondies. So if you want to make sure that Orion and Sirius don't feel like such outliers in their own family, it would be the kind thing for them for me to carry their little brother or sister.

And remember when I was pregnant with Siri and you found that obnoxious t-shirt store and got that horribly tacky shirt that said "Score!" but the O was a cartoon picture of a sperm? And no matter how well I hid it you kept finding it and wearing it. Only time in your damn life you wore something so casual, it was so embarrassing. Obviously you couldn't keep wearing it after I had Siri, but if I were the one to become pregnant you could totally wear it again! And this time we'd be at home so you could wear it in front of Lucius to horrify him.

Oh, and another reason; pleeeeeeaaaaaase! Please please please please please!

Alright, we need to head over to Unity for movie night, I am about to barge into your bathroom time. There had better be hair on your head and none on your face!

Love,  
Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am having so much fun while writing our most recent story arc. In it, Draco is being rather shady, and so he writes an evasive email to Harry, but then *I* as an Author go behind his back and rat him out to Chrissie so that Harry knows to be suspicious - all without letting Chrissie know the actual plot yet, hee hee hee ^_^
> 
> Note: Generally, we do like to keep our individual arcs a bit of a secret from each other so we can genuinely react to the information presented and not 'script' it, and because of this, with the iffiness Draco's projecting, Chrissie is ready to come kick my ass on Harry's behalf, LMAO XD
> 
> Lastly, I'm going to challenge Chrissie to come up with a plot to out do mine, lol ^_^
> 
> Oh, no wait, LAST, the laundry dream was actually Chrissie's, as was the bald thing as she threatened to 'accidentally' shave Draco bald if I didn't hurry up and reply after a three day wait, lol XD


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco didn't shave his head, but...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm so excited and antsy at the moment, I'm posting *again* ^_^

Wednesday August 19th  
Oi mutt!

Was it really necessary to tackle me to the bathroom floor??? All I was doing was trimming my hair with a precise cutting charm - since I realized it had gotten rather longer than I like. I mean don't get me wrong, it's just about that length where I can pull it back into a pony and that would look rather hot, but we agreed a long time ago that me with long hair looked a bit TOO much like my father. So I was just fixing that situation.

But YOU seemed to think that I was preparing to shave my head bald already. I hadn't gotten to that yet because I hadn't performed all the glamour charms necessary to see how I'd look. But not only did you tackle me to the floor wailing that I am forbidden to shave my head bald (EXCUSE ME??? Who's the Master in this relationship o.O - and also, who's the one who insisted I be the Master? Hrmph!), but you ALSO pinned my hands above my head and...

Alright, I can't even pretend to be upset about being held down and snogged within an inch of my life before you licked every centimeter of my body and scratched my arse with your sexy beard. MMM... There's this lingering mild burning sensation that feels fairly erotic. I could be persuaded to let you do this to me once a day. Perhaps twice.

So, moving onto your list of reasonable reasons why you should carry the baby - IF we ever decide to have another. And while I can't argue with any one in particular (especially the bottoming one, you are such a good bottom!), I think maybe you aren't quite understanding the problem.

I don't have baby fever because I want to create a new person. And I don't have it because I want to hold a brand new baby in my arms. Those are just beautiful bonuses. I have it because I want to FEEL the wobbles and the kicking and even the hiccups! I want to FEEL the child growing inside me. I want to be able to close my eyes and focus on the life in there and commune with the spirit that could become literally anything. I want to cherish and nurture something so tiny and fragile, and be the thing that grows it until it's a little less tiny and fragile and ready to meet the world. And honestly, I don't really even want that part. I want it to stay in there forever and never come out into this world that can be so damn horrible at times.

I just...

Yeah, I can now see why Yesenia thinks I'm not quite ready to make such a decision. I - grr! I've had WAY too much therapy over the years if I can go so far as to use the same words as Yesenia would. Ugh! But... I suppose the reason I have baby fever is not because I want a brand new baby - I could just go adopt another if I wanted that. It's because I physically want to BE the safe little bubble that protects and nurtures the baby.

Which is why, IF we do reach a point where we are both level headed and want another, *I'M* going to carry it if I have to tie you to the bed and spermjack you as many times as it takes to succeed!.

Oh! Looks like all the popcorn and other snacks are made and everyone is starting to gather around. Better sign off and close my laptop.

I am just seven hours old, truly beautiful to behold, and somebody should be told, my libido hasn't been controlled, now the only thing I've come to trust, is an orgasmic rush of lust, rose tint my world, keep me safe from my trouble and pain,  
Draco  
P.S. It's NOT that I don't trust her to be professional, it's that she SAW me being all blubbery!

P.P.S. You mean I'm underpaying Yesenia???

P.P.P.S. The way it works is that Orion is my first legitimate son, thus he inherits the Manor, and if anything happens to him, it would go to Sirius. Then Draco Junior. Then Eris, and then River - in that order. And if they all tragically died at the same time due to a disease or a plane crash or something, it would go to Gavin. Unless one or all of them had kids by that point, but I don't really want to go into specifics on that at the moment.

P.P.P.P.S. How dare you threaten me with hypothetical ginger hair! I CANNOT have ginger hair!!!

P.P.P.P.P.S. I *may* have wondered what I would look like with reddish hair after reading your email, and *might* have stepped into the loo a few minutes ago to see what I would look like with a nice respectable temporary magenta color hex. It may have accidentally come out more 'fire engine red' colored, and then I may have also added a bit of orange and yellow to the tips just for shits and giggles.

 

Friday August 21, 2009

Master,

I'm so confused; was it necessary to bodily take you to the floor in an action that ended with getting to thoroughly snog you and then be allowed to lick every inch of your body? Do you even hear yourself? Is it necessary to tackle my husband and have my way with him on the bathroom floor? You'd think you were new to this marriage.

I do sincerely apologize about trying to give you a command. Yes, you're the Master, yes I am the one who requested you to be the Master, and I am the happiest sub with the most generous and loving Master there is. Please accept my apology. I love, adore, and worship you. Could there be a better Master than one who is willing to let me rub my face all over him at least once, maybe twice, per day?

Gotta give 1999 Harry a real pat on the back. Best. Husband. Chooser. Ever. Go back in time and tell Harry at Grimmauld, "Listen to 1999 Harry, he KNOWS what he is doing!"

I think our arguments for why each of us should carry our potential future child are completely valid. But I think they also really show why we should wait until we're both thoroughly ready and for the right reasons. You know as well as I do that I am an utter sucker for you. In general, I like arguing or debating with you. I wouldn't have married someone I'd spent six plus years fighting with if I didn't like the thrill of the disagreement and the adrenaline that comes with good competition with a worthy opponent. But when it comes down to it, I would move the world for you, and if you truly want to be the one to be pregnant, that's what we'll do.

Even if it IS my turn.

I didn't realize how much of it was about the pregnancy itself for you. Knowing your body was a warm, loving, breathing shield to protect this tiny life. Every time I think I have you all figured out, you surprise me with a new layer. Ten years of marriage and I have never once been bored. So ten down and what, at least a hundred more, to go? And speaking of not being bored, the "red"-head I have apparently been married to the last few days. I feel like maybe you were trying to trick me into telling you to shave your head bald. But honestly, you know how hot I think it is when you have bright colors in your hair. Remember that time you did the blue tips? And you were all dressed up in your posh clothes while I knelt naked at your feet. And I polished your shoes while you wore them. You, impeccably dressed, bright blue standing out on your gorgeous hair, shoes so shiny you could see yourself in them, and me naked and covered in shoe polish smudges.

We have the best sex life!

I'd offer to do that again tonight, with or without the blue tips, but we have plans. Plans we need to leave for pretty soon actually. As good as you looked with the reds and oranges and yellows, I think you're thrilled it wore off for tonight. We're going to see Miles perform! We used to see the performances given at home. And I've put make-up on that sweet face more times than I can count. But for some reason we've never had a chance, or maybe we've been too nervous that we weren't wanted at a performance, but tonight we are headed to see OUR Miles headline his own show in London!

Sammy should be here any minute, the kids are all having a pajama party here. I know Miles' offer from his new employer was fantastic and too good to pass up, but I have the feeling that the biggest seller was knowing that Sammy would have this huge family full of … cousins? Aunts and Uncles? Friends? Meh, whatever, so Sammy could have this family.

I should go check and make sure everything...

-

Wow, it's usually you who gets so distracted while typing that you forget you're writing one or forget to hit send. But I got distracted when Sammy got here. I got the kids settled in. And ended up singing some songs and helping pick out the best movie to watch. I got so distracted that you were completely ready to go and for once I had to go get ready while YOU waited for ME! Luckily you had realized this and set out my clothes for me so getting ready was pretty quick for me.

I have been just dying keeping Miles' surprise for you a secret. I have known since he got the offer to come to London that he wanted me to bring you to see him perform. You were his first ever support, the first person to tell him he could be all sides of himself. That he could define himself and his life however he wanted to. When you asked me if I thought he'd want us to go see him I laughed so hard I almost dropped my laptop. Yes, he most definitely wanted it.

Now, you may be the musician between the two of us, but that is just raw talent and a perfect ear for music. I am the real aficionado of all things dramatically musical. I would have been thrilled to go see this show even if I didn't thoroughly love their headliner like he was one of my own sons … or daughters when she's feeling this way. I was enjoying myself so thoroughly that the surprise Miles had for you had slipped my mind by the end of the night.

Almost the end.

Miles strutted her way to the mic, and began to speak. That rough voice that she's worked so hard to perfect over the years, feminine but gruff. Like a musician who's sung the blues so long and so well from the heart that you can hear it in every sound. "I'd like to thank everyone for coming tonight. I know you all came for the show, and not to hear me get all emotional. But as you can see, I am in charge of this microphone so strap in darlings." You had a big smile but seemed a bit confused as to what was happening.

"Before I was a Queen, I was just a princess hiding under a drab uniform. My parents were lost to me when I was very young, and the man who thought he was raising me, was a poor substitute. And when I was sixteen years old, I met these two men who became fathers to me. Who taught me it was ok to be whoever I was. And y'all KNOW I was a star. My very first experience at being allowed to be the Queen you see tonight, no allowed isn't the right word, *encouraged* to be a Queen, was with one of these men. And he is here tonight. He's unfortunately not wearing a dress like he did that day for me, but I can see his husband Harry has at least managed to talk him into a stunning smoky eye! Can you all welcome up to the stage, my dad, Draco!"

You looked at me with those big, gorgeous, silver (and yes, stunningly smoky) eyes. "Oi mutt, you knew about this didn't you?" And I of course did. I assume when you finally come to bed after saying goodnight to all the big kids who are STILL awake despite how late it is, that I will get my punishment. Oh no!

It will be worth every moment, because watching you walk up to that stage and have Miles hug you so tightly, hearing the crowd cheer in support of you for being an amazing support for our Miles, was everything I had hoped it would be.

"Draco seeing me in full Queen mode was the first time anyone had seen me this way. I will never forget that day, so I thought it would be perfect, and again I have the stage so you will all just sit there and enjoy, to sing the same song we did that very day. Hit it!"

If I hadn't seen the true surprise on your face I would have thought you were in on it the whole time. That music started playing, and the two of you launched into "I Touch Myself" like you had been practicing for weeks!

Thank you for the wonderful date night with you. Thank you for being the man you are. I love you with everything I am.

Your Mutt,  
Harry


	26. Chapter 26

Saturday August 22nd  
My own,

After our night, I should be dead to the world! First, we watched Miles - the Divine Ms. M - positively KILL IT during his performance. To be honest, just watching him made me want to get up and sing and dance too. So then he invited me up on stage. I was so bloody shocked that I thought I was dreaming!

But I didn't let that stop me!

I Touch Myself is always fun and really a great 'warm up.' Of course the crowd demanded an encore. I hate to sound vain, but I *am* rather fit.

So, when Miles winked flirtily at the musicians, they started to play the music to [If You Seek Amy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVT0tLDoib0). I have to admit that this is a song that I'm not entirely familiar with, but I had no trouble remembering the chorus. So we turned it into a bit of a duet with Miles singing the verses as I danced, and then he danced while I sang the chorus: "Love me hate me, say what you want about me, but all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy. Love me hate me, say what you want about me, but can't you see what I see? All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy."

We ended with a sort of tango while singing the: "La-la-la-lala-la-la."

Despite being in front of a crowd of complete strangers, I clearly had fun because they definitely all wanted to shag me. And Miles. It's quite a rush. No wonder he does that as often as possible.

Which means that the first possible moment we could, we had to pop up to our play room and have some of the most hardcore sex I can recall having. Recently. Merlin! It was that hot and sweaty, rough, almost a fight that ended in mind blowing orgasms. Mmm...

Apparently seeing me shake it on stage for a crowd activated your aggressive and possessive side because you were almost in the mood to dominate me. And I don't mean literal sub/dom dynamics, but the need to just take what you want from me that makes me so hot my toes curl! Fuck! I'm getting hard again just thinking about it!

I might actually get a chance to shag you again before I go to bed because - as I was saying to begin with - after we shagged to the point where I should have passed out (and I am pretty sure I did for a least a minute or two), our darling Jasmine decided that she needed me that second, making me feel wide awake and alert as I uncontrollably apparated right to her. I have to figure out if she is literally pulling me to her or if she's just sending out some sort of signal that my magic just can't ignore.

Anyway, so, I picked her up and fed her, dancing around a bit because she just loves that. That's when River popped into the room to see if I was still awake.

"Hey dad, everyone's going to stay up watching movies, so can I stay up too?"

"Define everyone," I insisted. I didn't particularly have a problem with him staying up, but I didn't want him to tell me that the rest of the kids were staying up when he really just wanted to stay up by himself - or in other words, I wanted to make sure he wasn't lying to me.

"Erm, well, Elena and Kisa. Plus Elise," River informed me.

This was far from everyone, but still enough people that I didn't consider it a lie. However, now I was concerned for another reason. "What sort of movies?" After all, Elena and Kisa ARE adults... NOT that I think they'd watch anything pornographic when they had minors in the room.

"Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, Around the World in 80 Days, possibly Rush Hour 1 and 2 - if we're all still awake."

I stopped dancing and stared at him intently. "You mean to say that you are all planning to have a Jackie Chan movie marathon *without* me???"

He shrugged. "I don't think we were specifically planning to have it without you, those are just the movies that we could all agree on."

"Me and Jaz are definitely going to come watch too, because if we're all still awake after 80 Days, I suggest that we watch Drunken Master - it's HILARIOUS!!!"

And so, if you wake up and I'm not in bed, you can find me out with the oldest kids in the entertainment room. Actually, I took the opportunity to write this when we all took a break to get drinks and refill our snacks (no one wanted to wake up the elves) and so, that's why I say I should be dead to the world, but I'm clearly wide awake and practicing kung fu moves with the kids while we watch some of the best movies ever made. Antonio and Phillip both showed up - as did Viona - so it's a bit of a party. Naturally, Jasmine just loves it, hahaha!

You're like a drug that's killing me, I'd cut you out entirely, but I get so high when I'm inside you, Oh! Baby I'm preying on you tonight, hunt you down eat you alive, just like animals, animals, like animals-mals,  
Draco  
P.S. If my parents get upset that Eliza was up all night with us, I was in bed and you are my alibi!

 

Saturday August 22nd  
Sleepy Love,

It sounds as though you and half of the children pulled an all-nighter. So I suppose I will see you in time for dinner this evening, maybe a quick hug before I head to bed and you stare at the wall since you won't be able to sleep tonight after having slept all day.

You are my partner, my Master, my everything. I made a lot of vows to you when we married. And I made more vows to you when you gave me my collar on our honeymoon. I remember pledging you my magic, heart, loyalty, and life. When you put my beautiful collar around my neck, both the first time and after we got it back from my assault, I promised to trust you would make the best decisions for my body, my mind, and most certainly for my sexual needs. But. Not one single vow had a thing to do with lying to Narcissa Malfoy nee Black for you. I would have thrown you and the kids so far under the bus you may have been fine and just ended up on the other side.

You must be out of your mind if you think I was going to be your alibi. Would I be your alibi if you murdered someone? Yes, I think you know that by now. Hell, if it doesn't work and you go to Azkaban, I will break you out of there and you, me, and the kids will spend the rest of our days on a tropical island somewhere with a fidelius on it. I refuse to live without you. But I think you'll remember that I was almost sorted Slytherin, I have a healthy dose of self-preservation. You're not taking me down with you when Narcissa goes for you! Every man for himself!

I wonder what's going to happen with Della and Gavin's sorting this fall. I was a bit surprised when Eliza sorted Slytherin. She just doesn't strike me as being shrewd, cunning or ambitious, but maybe her sweet little Hufflepuff personality is what she shows on the outside. No one was surprised with Sebastian sorted Slytherin. I am almost completely certain Della will join her siblings. But I really do wonder about Gavin. I think he will end up Ravenclaw. He's certainly a healthy happy child, he had so many years and an amazingly supportive family to recover from his early life, but he never got rid of that quiet nature, love of reading, and the ability to observe his surroundings. I know your parents are probably hoping to end up going five for five, but I don't think they're going to get it.

Anyway, even if I were willing to lie about last night, I hadn't read your email before I walked into the room for breakfast. It was just your parents and me, along with Siri, Zwei, and Jaz (Muffy had brought her back to bed with me at some point in the middle of the night). I had slept in a bit longer this morning due to our late night out and then our even later night reacquainting ourselves with the playroom when we got home. I had a bit of a giggle and asked, "Wow, I really must have slept in, am I actually the last one to breakfast this morning?"

Your mum did that haughty eyebrow raise that you must have gotten from her, "No you are far from the last. It seems a group of the older children - including your husband, my oldest - stayed up well past their bedtimes and are currently asleep in a pile of limbs in the entertainment room. Do you know anything about that Harry James?"

"No ma'am, I've been in my bed all night where I belong!" I am an accomplished world traveler. I own multiple businesses. I am on a first-name basis with many world leaders. And I snitched like a first-year trying to get someone else in trouble even though I was out past curfew to see them do the thing that kept them out after curfew.

After breakfast, I spent a few hours with Leah, and the three littles that weren't sound asleep, working on signing. I think I'm getting the hang of it slowly but surely. It will take me a bit of time to really master it I'm sure, but we have a bit of time before our six month old is really communicating in full signing sentences anyway. She and I are learning together. Leah mentioned that the best way for me to become really fluent and comfortable is to sign as I speak even if Jaz isn't with me. Every time I say something that I have the BSL word for, I need to be using the sign.

But Siri and Zwei have taken to sign like they were born to communicate that way. I'm actually a bit concerned that they will pick it up before any of us and use it as a "secret" language to be even more mischievous and sneakier than they already are. They are just so clever! The best part of the two of them picking it up so quickly is having two more people nearby ready and willing to speak to Jaz through sign so she can be immersed in her language right away. Oh and the two of them came up with a little sign for Jaz's name. They could spell out the entirety of Jasmine, but according to Leah many within the deaf community come up with smaller personal signs for someone's name. Usually the person themselves chooses it, but our little peanut isn't quite able to pick out her own sign. The BSL sign for the letter J is to draw a J on the palm of the left hand, from the middle finger down and then the upswing towards the thumb. The Z is flattening the four fingers together on the right hand, and touching the tip to the midpoint of the left palm, similar to the sports sign for "time-out." Siri and Zwei have decided that until Jaz is old enough to decide her own sign, they were going to refer to "their Jazzie" by doing the J and Z in quick succession.

Their Jazzie! I about melted when they said that. It was so matter of fact. Like there was just no argument, she belongs to them. I thought they were just being silly and loving so I tried joking around, "Oh you boys, you know she's a little bit mine but mostly Daddy's!"

Zwei stared me down with an intense stare with those green eyes of his. I think I know what all of the marauders felt when my mum stared them down after their pranks and schemes. "No MumDaddy, she loves you and Daddy. She loves all of us. But she came in our family for Siri and me."

I had absolutely no response to that. So I distracted everyone by dragging everyone to the kitchens so we could bake some biscuits. (Take your right hand, turn it into a bit of a claw, and tap the left elbow three times … biscuit)

Points to the middle of my chest. Cross my hands over my heart. Points to you.  
Harry


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco sort of regrets his all nightery.

Saturday August 22nd  
Ugh, my head!

I feel like I got bladdered last night even though I didn't drink more than a glass or two spread out throughout the night. Of wine, to be clear, not the hard stuff. But I think the reason my head is pounding is simply that I was awake all night watching movies (with or without the little bit of wine), and then only slept a few hours today, waking right about my normal time, so that I'd be able to sleep tonight.

I took a hangover potion to see if that was the cause of my headache, and it didn't help, so then I took a regular headache potion and... Ahhhh! Yep, that helped!

So, I'm sorry I asked you to lie to my mother for me. I think I was perhaps not thinking clearly due to being rather tired at the time. Normally, I'd know better than to even ask, haha.

Thankfully for me, my mother wasn't actually upset. She felt that Eliza was old enough to stay up with her family - especially since it taught the valuable lesson of having to function on very little sleep the next day since my mother DID NOT let her sleep in more than a few hours. Much like me.

Also, the only reason Sebastian didn't join us (since he was apparently ALSO awake, and that's apparently his habit) was that he much preferred to stay in his room and study up on potions. You know, at this point, he's probably better at them than I am!

Anyway, we had a wonderful dinner with the entire family. It's probably a good thing our dining room is so large! My parents, my siblings, our brood including Miles and Sammy, Kisa, and us plus Antonio and Phillip (since they were still here from the movie marathon) equals 16 people at one family dinner. Even so, I daresay that we were more civilized and orderly than any simple dinner at the Weasleys!

And no, that's not meant to be an insult or disparaging.

My favorite part of the night might just be when I was looking around for more wine and spotted a bottle in the almost exact center of the table. "Oi Zwei!" I called out to get his attention. "Can you check to see if there's any wine left in that bottle?"

Draco Junior has heard us call him that a couple of times before and seems to like the nickname every bit as much as - if not more than - we do. He smiled and grabbed to bottle to take a look. Meanwhile, my father was positively affronted.

"Zwei??? What sort of name is that?! And what's wrong with the perfectly regal name he has?!"

"Oh grampy, hush! I like it!" Zwei exclaimed as he shook the bottle (egads! Have I not taught him how to properly treat wine???) determined that it was empty(phew!), and set it back down on the table.

Harrumphing indignantly, but looking rather amused nonetheless, my father said: "Well, I suppose that if you like it, that's all that matters."

In any case, it's that time of night when you normally go to bed, and Jasmine falls asleep until she's ready for a night feeding or two, and since I'm still rather exhausted, I'm coming to bed with the two of you. We'll have the not exactly rare, but not very frequent either experience of snuggling up as we fall asleep. I'm quite looking forward to it!

Now I've had the time of my life, no I never felt like this before, yes I swear, it's the truth, and I owe it all to you,  
Draco

P.S. Have I made you watch Drunken Master? I could watch it at least once a week! Oh, and not Jackie Chan related, but also freaking hilarious is Kung Fu Hustle. We should watch it with the kids the next time we as a family - as opposed to with all of Unity House - wants to snuggle up and watch a movie.

 

Sunday August 23rd  
My Dragon,

Have you made me watch Drunken Master? You've made me watch it at least twice. And I don't even like those kinds of movies! Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. When we watch movies I don't like it just means I get to stare at you the whole time. I see your eyes light up with laughter. Also, when we're alone, it means I can touch you as much as I want while you're distracted. I just can't believe you would ask me if I'd seen it.

Give me a musical any day. Or an epic fantasy adventure! Ooh, that's what we should watch during a family snuggle movie date! Let's rewatch The Lord of the Rings trilogy! Ok, sorry, we will watch your Kung Fu Hustle first. But the time after that it will be nine hours of epic journey!

Also, blonde Orlando Bloom.

Oh Grampy Lulu, "What's wrong with the perfectly regal name he has?" I know you come by your snobbery quite naturally. There's certainly nothing wrong with the name Draco, it is a lovely name. But giving a little boy a nickname is not taking away the snootiness of his given name! I'm really glad Zwei likes his nickname. I was just teasing originally, I ran out of obnoxious additions to his name and decided to be silly in another direction. Instead he ended up with a really fun and unique nickname. Sometimes things just work out.

I'm used to you talking in your sleep. You do it fairly often. Especially after being exhausted from staying up too late. But usually after you've spent hours and hours watching Jackie Chan movies, I hear a lot of "Hiya! Hah! Take that!"s. But last night there was a lot of chatter about ballet. Plié and jeté and arabesque. I haven't heard that many ballet terms since Elena was obsessed with ballet while we were living in Russia.

She's been into dance for the entire time I've known her. And she's so good at it. I love that she was able to really learn and study so many different types of dance. From the bright and fun South African tribal dances, to the elegant Japanese fan dancing. I am so glad she got to learn so many different types of the dancing she loves. I still am partial to the Spanish dances for her, I can still picture her at ten years old, swirling around in her flamenco dress while her curls flew around her.

Oh, Kisa just came crashing into the floo, I didn't even know she had left. I'm going to go find out what's going on.

Love,  
Harry


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is excited, Kisa is pissed off, and Harry is a little panicked.

Monday August 24th  
Ooo! Harry!

I'm so excited!

So there I was, a bit disgruntled because Kisa came bursting into our room shouting that I'd better tell you to back off before she backed you off permanently. With barely a look and a nod, we agreed that I would handle this. You slipped away as Kisa flopped herself onto our bed and sobbed.

Fuck! I seriously need to Insta-owl Blaise and tell him to hide in the deepest hole in Earth! Even if Kisa doesn't murder him directly, if the merest *whisper* of this deluge of tears gets back to Grandmama, Blaise will be torn apart so slowly and fed to various animals while he watches that it'll be months before he's actually allowed to die! And I'm rather fond of him and don't wish him to suffer like that!

Anyway, stroking Kisa's shoulder length blonde hair, I made soothing sounds of sympathy until she calmed down a little. Not enough to stop crying, but enough to at least be a little coherent as she wailed.

"Merlin damnit! I hate him so much! NO! Not just hate! LOATHE! I loathe him more than the worst woman abuser on Earth! I can't STAND him! I just want to stab him repeatedly in the heart and all over the rest of his body until he's no longer my bloody buggering problem! And then I want to snog him and shag him and tie him to my bed so that he can never even so much as LOOK at another person for the rest of his life! Why in the Merlin cursed HELL do I have to love him so bloody damn much?!?! It feels like I can't BREATHE without him!!!"

"Oh Kisa..." I murmured, still doing my best to comfort her.

She stopped burying her face in the blanket over my lap and looked me in the eye. "Draco, I need you to petrify him and then feed him to a meat grinder for me because I can't do it myself. I TRIED!!! I was holding his stunned body over a fire pit, ready to toss him in and I couldn't!!! I felt like my heart was going to twist itself into a pretzel until it burst!"

"Er.... Exactly where is Blaise right now?" I asked in concern.

"I Apparated him to the front door of his lovers' house, and then threw him on the bloody steps!"

Sighing in relief, I resumed stroking her hair, which I had inadvertently stopped in my alarm.

"Listen, I can understand loving someone and hating them at the same time. I went through that for years before I could admit that the hate might have actually been love the entire time. Take it from me, you'll be a LOT happier if you stop fighting how you feel and just give in."

This was clearly the wrong thing to say.

"OH?!?!?! So you think I should be a happy little SLAVE for him?! Just give in and let whatever part of his magical biology that has so much control over me just dictate and dominate me for the rest of my life?!"

"I didn't mean it like that," I hastily tried to clarify. "All I meant is that fighting it just makes everything worse. Why not try to come up with a solution that works for both of you?"

She pushed me over angrily. "YOU told him to stop trying to be a creepy Veela and focus on dating me - like a normal couple would! But the problem with that is that I can't even LOOK at him without lust taking over and forcing me to grab him and drag him to the nearest bed! And then after we've shagged until we pass out from exhaustion, my mind clears up and I get so bloody FURIOUS at him! How in the buggering hell are we supposed to date when I can't THINK straight around him?!?!?!"

"Well, I imagine that you keep going through the same stages: Lust, shagging, fury, escape. It seems to me that you're not letting yourself be around him long enough to get used to and build up an immunity to him. You're not letting the bond settle down and relax. I think that it's the bond and not Blaise himself that's making you feel like that. IT wants you under some sort of mind control so that you'll stay with your mate, and when you've been around him just long enough for the bond to relax, you start fighting it again and it has to start over."

"So what am I supposed to do??? I CAN'T break the bond, I'VE TRIED!!!"

"Oh love... Why not try working through the anger until you stop wanting to murder him? The next time you find your mind free of the lust, let yourself be angry but STAY with him. Try talking to him. Talk about stupid things that don't matter. Ask him what his favorite movie is. Eat a meal with him. See if you can remain calm long enough for him to trust that if he introduces his children to you, you won't turn into a crazy shrew," I advised.

She had sort of stopped crying in order to yell at some point, but now a few silent tears leaked from her eyes. "But that's working toward a relationship that I just don't want yet! I'm only 19, remember? I had planned to work my way through half the population of Russia before settling down! AND what if I do it? What if I form a solid relationship with him that includes being part of his kids' lives and his lovers' lives, and hell! HAVE kids with him - which is a real possibility because neither of us can think about ANYTHING, much less bloody protection spells! Then what??? I still have a whole life in Russia I have to go back to at some point. I'm still the only heir to a family that secretly rules a larger portion of Russia then anyone wants to admit to, and that's every bit as much of me as this bond apparently is. I CAN'T just give it up! And even if I could, I don't want to, so where does that leave us if I DO commit to him?"

"I don't know the answers to your questions, love," I told her honestly. "But clearly, fighting this isn't working, and I'm not going to murder my best friend and deprive his children of a father, just so you can be free of a bond. The only thing I do know is that even if Blaise did die, you won't be happy. I suspect that you'd just go insane until you either died of a broken heart, or killed yourself to be with him again."

She bit her lip in thought. "Fuck... I think I DO remember reading something like that in a book about Veelas at some point..."

With Kisa seemingly calm and settled for the time being, I was beginning to wonder how I could politely abandon her while I went to the loo and then ordered Muffy to bring me breakfast. THAT'S when the thing I'm so excited about happened!

You know how when we started up Unity Japan, I became OBSESSED with manga and anime to the point where I learned Japanese and insisted that all the kids (that could speak at the time) learn it too? Well, it must also be obvious based on my massive collection that I've very much kept up with that obsession. Thus, today, when a delivery owl from your hybrid post office arrived with a package containing all the latest manga and anime from Japan, I was already giddy.

BUT! It gets better! My absolute favorite Anime series - The Slayers - FINALLY came out with a new season!!!!! Salazar! I could just squeal! Wait, I am squealing! I'm going to hunt down as many of our kids as I can and INSIST that they watch this with me!

And I hate how much I love you, boy, I can't stand how much I need you, and I hate that I love you SOOOOOOOOOOO!  
Draco  
P.S. I don't actually hate it, it's just a little annoying sometimes when I find myself thinking or doing things I never thought I'd do, and it all because of how much I love you.

P.P.S. Oh yeah, my dreams... Well, I had a dream in which an incredibly sad little girl named Penny/Louise is frustrated because she's being required to learn how to ballet like an expert and she doesn't even particularly LIKE to dance. I feel bad for her!

 

Tuesday August 25th  
Hey Love,

I am just sitting here in the garden, and holding a wiggly little Jaz in my lap. We were watching some BSL videos, but she got bored and tried eating my hands while I attempted the signs. I figured that was her way of letting me know she'd had enough of that activity. I wonder if she's about to cut a tooth or two, she's been extra drooly and putting even more things in her mouth than usual. She's currently sitting next to me, watching me type intently, and chewing on the corner of her Grandma Molly blankie.

I just can't get over how much I love her. How beautiful she is. And how much she seems to really be aware of, especially considering she's one sense short. As opposed to me, who's just short. I keep trying to get her to do the sign for "Daddy" and she pulls her hands away and gives me big smiles. I am pretty sure she's messing with me. I can't believe she's already almost seven months old. She's got those sweet little baby rolls on her wrists. And those chubby little cheekies. I think she's going to crawl soon and early like her big sister Eris did. She's got eight older siblings she needs to keep up with, she just wants to be able to run around with them already.

You know what we haven't done since we've brought Jaz home? Family pictures! I know we've taken about a million and one candids of Jaz, and plenty with her siblings, and I have gotten so many sweet pictures of you and her together. But I think it's about time we call Julia and see if she can squeeze us into her jam packed schedule. Can you believe she's taken what started out as a small business and turned it into the art she's commissioned to create? I suppose when Kingsley hired her to photograph his wedding it was only a matter of time before the photographer to the Minister of Magic became THE premier photographer for anyone who's anyone in wizarding society.

Oh, long thought chain you don't really need to follow … but talking about Kingsley made me think of the ministry, made me think of the Aurors, made me think of this:

When Hannah came to our house a few weeks ago to talk to you about the missing girl, I decided to do a bit of my own investigating. Even if I hadn't been scared and sad for her, listening to you talk in your sleep about being forced to dance is heartbreaking. I've even woken up a few times to see you moving your hands oddly and saying something about braiding things? It's weird.

Anyway, I thought that maybe there was a missing or killed child that was into dance. It seems almost too obvious, but this seems like a classic "grieving parent snaps and tries to replace lost child" case. So I took the description you gave and looked around to see if there had been an older, unsolved either abduction or murder. But before I could get to that I came across two very weird wizard kidnappings. I probably wouldn't have thought anything of them, since this missing girl seems to be muggle, but they were so similar and so weird that I had to keep looking.

In 1980, a young witch named Moira Lakeland went missing. She was nine years old at the time. The description matched Penni, a pretty honey-toned brunette, with hazel eyes. Now, her father was a muggle born and was killed during the first wizarding war. So again, I almost skipped over her case, because with a dead father, who would be the creepy guy forcing her to be Louise? Also, her name wasn't Louise.

But. She was reported missing by her mother, and unfortunately she wasn't found and they closed the case. With her father being muggleborn, and it being the height of Voldemort's first reign, the Aurors assumed she had been taken by death eaters.

Here's where it gets weird. In 1985, they found a young lady wandering Diagon Alley in nothing but a nightgown. She had been badly obliviated and had no personal memories. She knew how to walk and talk and eat, but knew nothing about herself. Eventually they were able to connect her to the missing child from 1980 and when they checked magical signature found it was Moira. And to this day, they have no evidence and she has no memories of where she was during those five years.

When I found that, I decided to see if there were any more unsolved cases (which by the way, there were so many. War is hell, we lost so much magic and innocence). Come to find out, right at the end of 1997, another girl with golden brown hair, this time with amber eyes, and this time a 10 year old, went missing much the same way. She was taken from her home and not heard from again. She was actually a muggleborn, so she was taken from her home in the muggle world. Again, what Aurors there were told her parents to prepare for the worst. People were going missing left and right, they had no resources to look for a missing child that was most likely taken by death eaters.

And again, a girl matching her description was found obliviated of all memories and wandering around Hogsmeade in 2001.

I think we should contact Hannah and , …

Holy hell! Jazmine is gone! Our baby she's gone. She was in my lap and then she just vanished.

H


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaz has skills!

Tuesday August 25th  
Sent via Insta-owl

Erm, Harry? WHY did you reverse Apparate or banish or whatever you did our baby to me without coming with her? Was she upsetting you or something and you needed some space? She seems a little fussy to me, but not so bad as to be banished...

 

Tuesday August 25th  
Also via Insta-owl  
Oh my Merlin. My heart! I didn’t banish her. She was being lovely and then she was just gone. I may have panicked a tiny amount.

I’ll be right there, I need to see with my own eyes that she’s safe and whole.

I may need to give her lots of kisses as well!

 

Wednesday August 26th  
My brilliant man!

After you suggested that we contact Hannah, I took some time to think about my dreams a bit more, and I realized that there might be details in them that I didn't see when I was actively trying to spy on her. So, I used my memory camera to print up video clips of the dreams, and I'm right, there *is* a bit more detail that - while of no use to ME - might be recognizable to trained professionals.

So, with that in mind, I definitely invited Hannah over and she'll be here in about an hour. She has to tie up the paperwork on a different case first.

In the meantime, I'm so sorry! I mean I believed you that you weren't the one responsible for Jaz somehow Apparating herself to me yesterday, but I'm not sure I believed that SHE was capable of it until you popped into the room and took her from me to snuggle, blubber, and kiss her about a hundred times, and she responded by Apparating right back into my arms.

Then she beat her fist against my chest, and that made me wonder if she was hungry. Sure enough, the moment Muffy brought her a bottle, Jaz drank it down and fell asleep. Must have been wanting a nap too. Most surprising of all was when she Apparated FROM my arms to the bed!

So, now that it's a new day and she's taking a much resisted nap, we have some time before Hannah arrives, I'm about to find you wherever you are in our closet and drag you to our playroom for a bit of light spanking and maybe some torture.

Love you!  
Draco


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is quite embarrassed.

Wednesday August 26th  
Draco,

You know, I really thought that I had hit a point in my life where nothing could embarrass me. We have played with most of our friends. Even those that either I refuse to play with (like Ginny) or that are just not interested in venturing outside of their own monogamous relationship (like George and Angelina), have seen us get excessively gropey. And they've all been out at a club at or near us and seen me slither under the table and heard you gasp for a few minutes. After the indecent dancing with the locals in Peru, even our oldest child knows we are on the wild side. Side note: remind me to obliviate her.

But DI Giles being apparated by Muffy into our playroom? That would have been bad enough. If she had popped in mid-shag that would have been one thing. Instead, you were taking your sweet time torturing me, even longer than usual. I was riding the adrenaline high and had no idea how long you had been spanking me, but apparently it was over the hour you said it would be.

You often bend me over and give me warm up spankings, and my usual maintenance spankings. And every once in a while when I have been a very good boy, I get to be arse up over your lap, you reddening my arse while I can feel you hardening up against my hip. But you knew this was going to be a nice lengthy session that we'd both need a bit of stamina for. So I was strapped to my very well loved spanking bench. My arse was bright red, and you had gotten to the point where you were fingering me open, with the occasional pinch or bite to my poor abused bum. You were at three fingers, and just starting to add a fourth when I heard an apparition pop and a loudly shouted "Eep!"

Yes, the view Hannah sees is you with almost your entire hand in my hole, a bright read arse pointed at her, my cock dangling and drooling and giving its best attempt to cum while being bound up tightly in a ring. Of course nothing phases you, "Oh, it seems that time got away from me, I suppose we'll have to finish this later. Give me just a moment won't you Hannah?" All posh and in no hurry like she had simply popped in while you were finishing a cuppa.

And I figured this meant you were going to start over later. No, you left the ring on, and quickly summoned a thick plug, "I don't want all my hard work to go to waste," pushing it home. You unstrapped me, checked my circulation, and only then did you summon our robes. And to make matters even more embarrassing for me, we sat in the playroom for our discussion, because as you said "we're already here and the seating in here is gloriously comfortable." Great, let's sit and discuss something serious and important while I can still see my little puddle of precum under the spanking bench!

You gave her the copies of the video memories, told her some of the details that stood out to you. Once I was able to form coherent sentences, I gave her the information I had found concerning the other two missing children cases. I also mentioned the things I had heard you muttering while you dreamt. She took all of the information we had, the name and contact information of the aurors that had been involved in the previous cases, and has plans to go through everything tonight. She's hoping she'll have leads or some information tomorrow and will let us know if she finds anything.

Eventually we had gotten through all of the information, discussed the case for a bit, but we had moved on to regular catching up conversation right around the time Jaz woke up from her apparently much needed nap. Minus the embarrassment and the talk of kidnappings, it really was a nice visit.

But you are currently putting Jaz to bed. I, on the other hand, am waiting impatiently in our playroom for you to finish. I have been sitting on my bruised arse, my cock still in its ring, and every time I shift this plug seems to hone in on my prostate. You had better get up here soon!

All of my love,  
Harry

 

Thursday August 27th  
My love,

My favorite person in the world to torture; it drives me WILD to think about you plugged and ringed and sore and embarrassed while sitting and having a lovely chat with Hannah. You might recall that once upon a time ago, I used to whisper all the naughtiest details of our sex life to her so that we'd both be exceedingly horny as we made out on a cozy picnic blanket during our pretend dating.

Well, it seems she used to think that I was blessed with a creative imagination and a *regular* sex life, but after seeing our extensive playroom including our prodigious horde of toys, she now quite believes every word I said to her, haha! She even admitted to me that she didn't believe *anyone* outside of a porn would do the whole 'work up to fisting the anus' thing. Part of her is deeply fascinated by the prospect and wishes she had waited just a bit longer before arriving.

The deeply ingrained gracious host in me naturally invited her back to see the conclusion, but she declined, stating that she not only had a lot of work to do, but was so hot and bothered by the bit she saw (and she admits that she was also embarrassed bordering on mortified to witness something so intimate) that she'll probably have to rush home for a quickie before returning to her office.

Speaking of her having quickies. It seems that the serious boyfriend she had way back when we went undercover and pretended to date only lasted about a year after that, and since then, she's had a string of serious relationships that have all ended because none of them could handle being with a woman who is so very dedicated to her (occasionally dangerous) work. But now she's been with her current boyfriend for nearly three years and he's gathered up the courage to ask her to marry him. So, we're invited to the engagement party on Friday September 11th.

And then, just in case you missed it hanging on the important notice board on our wall, Greg and Millie have finally set a date for their wedding - the 26th of September. They don't really have a lot of people to invite, so it's going to be a rather small affair.

But don't worry, as his best men, all we have to do is show up, look good, and not lose the rings. Pansy and Daphne - as her Maids of Honor - are helping her plan the whole thing out. Which means that it will be beautiful. Millie herself is reputedly carving the ceremonial arch they're going to be standing under as they say their vows. And their son and daughter are going to be surprisingly adorable as flower children.

I think the thing that is going to be the most beautiful part, is the fact that they're having the ceremony in the back yard of the newly restored Goyle Estate. His family fortune had fallen alarmingly low over the years - as had hers, matter of fact - and so it seemed like he might actually have to sell his estate back before he gained a steady job. And you wonder WHY he named you as his best man too! If not for you (well, both of us) dragging him around the world and paying him quite well to build things, he would have lost his family inheritance.

But now, he has enough money to not only restore it to its former glory, but also keep it in good repair for quite some time to come. Don't be surprised if he is suddenly overcome by emotion during or after the ceremony - while thinking about how lucky he is - and ends up kissing you out of sheer gratitude, hahaha!

But anyway, after putting Jasmine to sleep, I thoroughly wore myself out shagging you in every way possible in our playroom. So, now that I've recapped our day, I think I should be able to sleep. Probably like the dead, hahaha!

Good night and sweet dreams my little embarrassed yet kinky mutt,  
Draco  
P.S. Never mind. It seems Jaz is awake and ready to party again. It's probably a good thing I am naturally a night owl anyway! If my littlest love wants to dance, then dance we shall!


	31. Chapter 31

Thursday August 27th  
My favorite person in the world to be tortured by,

Ok fine, sitting there having that chat with Hannah while plugged, ringed, sore, embarrassed, horny, frustrated, whatever, was a little hot. You know how I am, the embarrassment adds to the horniness which turns around and adds to the embarrassment which adds to the horniness. It's a never-ending cycle of frustration and needing you. But you didn't finish after she left! No, we had things to do in the afternoon. Dinner at home. Heading off to Unity for movie night. The entire time I am hysterical with need and embarrassment! I have no idea what movie we ended up watching I was so out of it!

With Hogwarts and Traditions starting next week, Unity has been a bit of chaos the last few days, and this upcoming weekend is likely to be more of the same. I know your parents were way ahead of the pack and certainly didn't wait until the last weekend to make sure Eliza, Sebastian, Gavin, and Della had all of their school supplies, but things at Unity have to run a bit differently. We want to wait as late as possible so we don't have to go again if we get more children before the school starts. And in case a child is adopted before school starts, it's something the new parents want to do with their child.

I got to bring one soon to be first-year to get his wand at Ollivanders! He was just as vague, dreamy, and crazy as he always has been. I really wonder how much of that is an act he puts on for the little kids. The first time I met him he told me Voldemort did great things, terrible, but great. Really? Maybe don't tell the little boy that his parents' murderer did great things! I don't care if he did something truly amazing and wonderful, like discovered a cure for lycanthropy, I'm still not the person you talk to about his greatness. Weirdo.

Nathaniel got his wand (ash and dragon heartstring) on only the fourth try. Quite a bit less than when we took Lainie, and certainly less than our River. I swear it took almost twenty-five attempts for our girl. The problem of course, was that the wand that chose her was made of Beech, which would be perfect for someone wise beyond their years or rich in life experience. Seeing as she was giggly and wound up when we finally took her in, Ollivander didn't seem to notice that she's lived lifetimes of experience before she was able to become the bright and bubbly girl we love and adore.

And what was the final count on wand attempts for River? Sixty-four? I honestly thought we were going to have to take him somewhere else for his wand. That would have been horrifying. "Sorry Ollivander, I know your family has been making wands since the beginning of time, but we're going to have to go elsewhere." Again, I think he was thrown by the bright happy face of my River, and didn't take into account the early exposure to death that my sweet boy had. He spent so long wrapped up with his mother while she died, it certainly didn't surprise me, but it apparently surprised Ollivander, that his core was thestral hair.

And don't think I didn't notice you giving him a large tip and thanking him with a bit more zeal than you would normally thank someone for providing a service you paid for. Feeling a bit thankful that his testimony kept you from having to be broken out of Azkaban by your crazed husband were we?

Once all of the Unity Kids are settled into their back to school routine I can really throw myself into helping out with Best Man duties for Greg! I still cannot believe he wants me to stand up there with him. I love him. He's so wonderful. He's been just the absolute best Godfather to Viona as we could have asked for. But sometimes I still feel like they're YOUR friends and just put up with the guy you married. I know it's not true, I have their friendship and have for years, but there's always that tiny part of me that wonders why anyone would like me if they weren't forced into it. Ugh, remind me to talk one of our kids into biting Vernon and Petunia at Dudley and Donna's Christmas get-together this year!

And, I know I know, the ladies seem to have everything all planned out and are working together on wedding prep, but do you think they'd be offended if I offered my services as well? I just love weddings, and planning weddings, and dancing at weddings. It's ok if they don't want me to help I suppose, I don't need to place myself where I'm not wanted. But people start talking dress style and color schemes and my brain wants to PLAN!

Have you heard anything from Hannah today? I'm just curious if anything we gave her helped. I hope they find this little girl soon!

Love you,  
Harry

 

Thursday August 27th  
My brilliant husband,

Something you've said a couple of times - to both me and Hannah - has really stuck out to her. The part where you (probably just throwing out whatever ideas came to the top of your head) said something about it sounding like a classic parent losing a child and trying to replace them.

So, here's what we know for certain - IF my vision and dreams can be taken as the truth: The criminal is in his 70s and he's trying to replace his lost daughter Louise - who was a ballet dancer.

We can *guess* that she died around age 14 - IF the cases you found are related and he's been taking lookalikes and keeping them from as close to the *golden age* of her life up until she died (or perhaps when the replacement grows old enough that she no longer looks like his memories of his daughter).

In any case, we have an age range of approximately 8-14. We also have a name, and we KNOW that he has magic, and so she probably did too. Even if she was a squib, she should be listed in the birth records for the magical community. Hopefully.

So... Hannah and Auror Bletchly and I are going to spend all of today, if necessary, combing through as many records as we can, hoping to find a girl named Louise who died early. The part that makes this rather tricky is that her death could have happened anywhere, and thus, the record of it might be in France or Africa - for example - OR it might never have been reported in the first place. This was a time when families - even muggle ones but especially pureblood ones - still occasionally buried their dead in the family graveyard and never bothered to report the death anywhere other than on the gravestone. Sometimes, even the birth wasn't necessarily recorded, and it wasn't to do with anything shady, just families believing that the authorities had no business sticking their noses where they didn't belong.

I'm not saying that it was right or wrong - as I can understand why the Malfoy family would keep highly detailed records of OUR family, but ALSO why we might want to hide or obscure those records from others. Such as muggles.

Anyway, my point is that we're going to look but we all realize that it might be a record that doesn't actually exist. Our hope is that we can find *something* that will point us in the right direction, and if so, that we'll eventually find this little girl. Preferably before her memories have been erased and she's been tossed out on the street.

So... that's what I'm doing today. And probably tomorrow.

Love you but too busy to come up with a quote or a lyric to tickle your fancy with,  
Draco

P.S. If we lose track of time and I end up not coming home in time for bed, give Jasmine and all the other kids kisses from me.

-

Sent around 9pm via Insta-owl:  
Oi Harry, I bet you're panicking right about now. Don't know who was holding her, but clearly Jaz was missing me because she's now in my arms. I'll feed her a bottle with one hand while I try to finish up the records I'm searching through with the other. But hopefully having a baby in my hands will help us all remember to quit the search before midnight, hahaha!


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco and company make an iota of progress on their case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the last chapter wasn't quite entertaining enough, so I'm posting this one relatively quickly thereafter, but it's the last one for today, so take your time and enjoy it slowly, lol ^_^

Friday August 28, 2009

My love,

Thank you for the immediate insta-owl when Jaz popped herself over to you. But I did assume that's what happened and didn't panic quite as badly as I did the first time. I had that immediate heart attack moment, but within three or four seconds my brain put together the most likely scenario. I grabbed my insta-owl to ask you to confirm my suspicions, and by the time I found it you had already sent your message.

It scared the pants off of your father though! He had been holding her, making silly faces at her. Letting her grab great big chunks of his hair to chew on, he sure is a sucker for his grandchildren isn't he? And she had started getting sleepy, but he didn't quite feel like relinquishing her yet, so he just kept holding her while talking to me about some of his business ventures. I assume he was trying to bore everyone to sleep at that point. He was mid-rant about some ministry regulation making waves for one of his companies and "pop" she was just gone. He screamed so loudly I'm surprised you didn't hear it from where you were all working!

I'm sorry you haven't found anything in the records yet. Well, I assume you haven't, I was asleep by the time you came to bed, which I only know happened because I woke up in the middle of the night and you were in bed. And this morning you were up and gone before even I was awake. If I hadn't seen you in bed in the middle of the night I would have just assumed you worked through the night.

I know that right now this case is your priority. And I definitely don't think you're wrong. There is a scared little girl somewhere who needs to go home to her mum and dad. But tomorrow night your mum is having a mandatory family dinner. All of your siblings are off to Hogwarts Tuesday and she wants to have the entire family together before they leave. I think it's important that Penny is found and that the kidnapper is found before he can make any more replacement Louises, but it's also important to me that my husband isn't murdered by his own mother. So if you can make sure that happens I would appreciate it.

Oh! Not sure if you're remembering your dreams, but you were doing the weird hand motions and mumbling in your sleep again last night. I couldn't make out much but I definitely heard you say something along the lines of something not being long enough.

Let me know if you guys find anything, but it's about time I head back to Unity and help out. We're packing Kids' trunks today. Settling nerves. Calming Kids who are too wound up to function.

You all should take a break at some point today, bring Hannah and Bletchley here for lunch or dinner. I'm cooking both meals today (with some help from the little Kids) so it will be delicious and we'll get the bonus of at least a few hugs and kisses from you before you bury yourself in more research.

I'd rather be kissing you than missing you,  
Harry

P.S. After he got over his heart attack, I promised Lucius that I would drink him under the table next weekend so he doesn't have to think about missing his kids so much.

 

Friday August 28th  
Louise Fletcher,

I think that's the little girl who died and left a father so stricken with grief that he keeps trying to replace her. On October 7th 1979, a death certificate for Louise Fletcher was filed by St. Mungo's. Her cause of death was listed as an accident resulting in almost instant death - which explains why no one was able to heal her before it was too late. She was 13 years old at the time.

We have to do a bit more digging to see if she is the correct Louise though. The first thing we did was contact McGonagall to see if the girl had ever attended Hogwarts, but she hadn't. We also have to dig through more records to see if we can find her birth certificate and discover who her parents are.

Remind me to work with Hermione on a sort of magical indexing system. Oh sure, it's easy enough for the Archive Witch to summon the record you need if you know what you are looking for, but if you DON'T, then it takes a lot of painstaking manual searching, sigh...

That said, lunch was lovely. I insisted that Auror Bletchley and Hannah come back to the Manor, and maybe they were simply hungry, or maybe it's because I promised a nice spread, but they agreed. We arrived to chaos as normal.

Eliza, Della, Gavin, Viona, Eri, Ori, and Haz were running around playing something that resembled a cross between tag and hide and hex - so... Hex tag? Apparently our kids have either taught their aunts and uncles a bit of the wandless skills they first learned in Africa and have been practicing ever since (I LOVE that Saoirse has insisted that they develop that skill to the fullest) or Saoirse has decided to teach them directly. There were also a few toy wands in use - casting Aguamentis and the like.

Sebastian was sitting in a plush chair in the corner inside an impressive shield reading a book on (surprise surprise) potions, while Snape was lurking in a portrait at his back muttering things like: "The author of that book was a blithering idiot! If you stirred the potion that many times, it would blow up! How in the Merlin cursed hell did this drivel get published!?!"

Elena and Kisa were extremely busy ignoring everyone else as they tried their best to fight each other to the death. I love that whenever Elena spends more than a day or two with Kisa, she ends up improving her Krav Maga skills a good tenfold. I'm also grateful that the younger kids don't speak Russian yet - to my knowledge - as Kisa and Elena both were shouting insults at each other that nearly made me blush in their crude creativity.

River was carefully pitching baseballs to Siri and Zwei, who were taking turns batting them out the window - which River promptly summoned to pitch again. Remus and Romulus were wrestling around the floor at their feet, and Bear was yapping at them as she ran circles around them - occasionally leaping in and nipping one before jumping back to relative safety.

My parents were more than likely enjoying a bit of quiet on the opposite side of the Manor, which just left you holding Jaz as you twirled her around and threw her up in the air. Thankfully, whatever thing inside me that panicked a bit at that has faded because I was able to watch you do this without problem.

Jaz must have spotted me from midair because she Apparated into my arms and gave me the biggest giggly looking smile. I held her up so that I could rub noses with her and give her a bunch of kisses.

"Draco! You came home after all!" You exclaimed happily before running over to hug me as if I'd been gone for weeks rather than hours. As you were snogging the bloody hell out of me, I heard Eris squeal happily.

"Daddy, look! I learned how to cast the Dragon Slave!!!"

This made me push you away in alarm. "Wait, what?! Seriously?! Please tell me you haven't tried casting that IN THE HOUSE?!?!?!"

Laughing evilly, Eris held her hands out and promptly made a large red ball of energy appear. I nearly panicked at that. "That's not even a real spell! How in Salazar's malodorous sphincter is that possible?! DON'T CAST THAT IN THE HOUSE!!!"

As her ball was growing in size, I heard Orion roar out: "KA... MAY... HA... MAY..."

Rather wildly, I turned to you. "WHY ARE OUR CHILDREN TRYING TO MURDER US ALL?!?!"

To my shock, you simply starting laughing.

Eri shouted: "DRAGON SLAVE!" at the exact same time as Ori roared out the final: "HAAAA!!!"

Massive amounts of energy burst forth from both of them, flowing out the window and destroying everything in their paths - or so I thought until I realized that nothing had happened. Extremely confused, I arched a brow at you. You were now bent nearly in half and roaring with laughter at the panic on my face.

"It's light magic!" You managed to gasp out between laughs. "A bit like magical fireworks!"

I pressed a hand to my chest in relief.

"They've been doing that all morning," Viona informed me as she strutted regally to my side and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "I nearly murdered Eri because I woke up to her hovering over me in our bed with a massive energy ball in her hands aimed right at me. She's only still alive because I haven't learned the Avada Kedavra yet!"

"And you never will," I stated, pointing at her sternly.

"Alright, everyone settle down and come eat lunch," you suggested very firmly. Muffy and Dibly popped into the room carrying trays loaded with the roasted pheasants you'd made. I kissed you because I love when you cook the things I hunt with my owls. There was some calamari, steamed veggies, rice, and crackers with caviar and paté.

In Japanese, River asked Viona to pass the shoyu, also in Japanese, she asked him to pass the calamari. Without thinking, I switched to Japanese to ask why they didn't just summon what they wanted, and River explained that my mother and Saoirse had agreed that they all had to practice their non magical table manners. The conversation continued in Japanese for about a minute before I realized that Sebastian was still sitting by himself in the corner.

"Oi! Sebastian, take your nose out of that book and put it down long enough to come eat!" I commanded.

Sebastian glared at me. "I'm not hungry."

"Don't make me call our mother," I warned him.

"I'm NOT hungry!!!" He growled.

"Fine, but don't blame me if mum decides you need to be grounded for not socializing with the rest of the family and eating a proper meal," I muttered.

Sighing in aggravation, Sebastian set his book aside and stormed over to the table. "Why can't I have my own lab already?!?! Then I can just lock myself in and work on potions as much as I like!"

"I suspect that's why mum won't let you have a lab," I informed him with a soft laugh.

"Don't forget!" Eliza sang out rather gleefully. "I have dance practice after lunch, which means that YOU have dance practice!"

Sebastian groaned and rolled his head around on his shoulders. "WHY do I have to do something so inane???"

Eliza smirked at him a bit evilly. "Because if you don't, you'll do nothing but sit and read books until all your muscles atrophy and you waste away to nothing!!!" She sang that in a cheery and nearly operatic voice.

"I hate you so much!" Sebastian growled at her darkly.

"I love you too," Eliza sang in return.

Sebastian then stopped talking completely to stare at Gavin. I'm almost certain they were communicating in their silent language. Gavin started chuckling softly, more or less confirming my suspicions.

"It's Friday, so I have a date with Blaise," Kisa reminded me. Then she growled. "And I'm going to try staying with him all of next week, as you suggested."

I reached over and squeezed her hand. "I wish you luck, love."

"I hope you two finally work things out," you added with an encouraging smile.

"I'm going out dancing with Antonio and Phillip," Elena informed us. "So best not to wait up for me."

We both sighed a bit, less than thrilled to hear that, but resigned to it as well.

Orion grinned at me. "Gavin and Della heard me gushing about Dragon Ball, so we're going to watch every episode of the series, and then move onto Dragon Ball Z, and then - "

"That'll take days!" I blurted out in alarm, wondering if they planned to sleep during this marathon.

"That's what I was saying, if we have time to watch all of that this weekend, then I'm going to show them your anime collection and see if there's anything else they might want to watch," Ori said.

"Oh... I recommend Inuyasha," I murmured.

"YESS!!!" Eris hissed. "You'll LOVE Inuyasha!"

You grinned at me. "If most of our kids plan to be watching anime, I say it's the perfect time to leave the littles with their elves and go out dancing ourselves tonight."

"Brilliant, as always," I agreed, leaning over to kiss you. "But before that, I do still need to look through some files. However, I was thinking that the moment we all finish our meal, you and I should take Hannah and Bletchley out running. I think we could all use a bit of exercise to clear our minds."

"Yes!" Hannah cheered happily. "I LOVE your running track!"

"I hate running," Bletchley grumbled. "But you're not wrong about me needing a bit of exercise to clear my head."

A thought occurred to me that made me look at you curiously. "Did I give Pippa the week off? If she'd been helping us with those bloody files, we might have had the whole buggering archive sorted by now!"

"You did, remember? Her sister just had a baby and Pippa wanted to stay with her and help out for a while," you reminded me with a smirk and a kiss.

"Crap! That's rather inconvenient timing for me, but I suppose that I'll have to get by without her. … Diiiiid she happen to leave my schedule here? I have this nagging feeling I'm forgetting something."

Chuckling, you merely shrugged. After we were done eating, we went out running as suggested, and then I brought Jaz with me to look through more records. No luck so far, sigh...

But now that I'm done recapping my day and Jaz is asleep, I'm going to crawl into bed with you and pass out. Sorry I missed dancing tonight, but we'll definitely do it tomorrow. Love you!

True love, you're the one I'm dreaming of, your heart fits me like a glove, and I'm gonna be, true blue, baby I love you, 'cuz it's true love, oh baby, true love, oh baby, true love,  
Draco  
P.S. I was dreaming last night about Penny trying to make a rope to escape with, except it wasn't long enough. She was definitely frustrated, but as a muggle, didn't realize that there are more than likely wards on the windows to prevent escape no matter how long the ropes get, poor girl. Still, I like her fighting spirit!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I about killed myself laughing over the mental image of a Dragon Slave and a Kamehameha Wave being cast at the same time and right next to each other, lmao! ESPECIALLY if it was real, and Hannah and Bletchley have no idea why Draco is freaking out, lolololol ^_^
> 
> Some other minor things that may or may not interest you. For this story arc, I had no idea what to use for the little girl's names, so I just went with Penny and Louise - which IS my sister's name, lol. Louise Fletcher is a quick reference to an actress that I've sort of liked whenever I saw her, lol. And there's a date mentioned that just so happens to be my birthday, lol XD


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Donna help Draco and friends look through some dull files.

aturday August 29th  
My Draco,

I was very confused when I opened your email. I thought you were addressing the email to Louise Fletcher. Geez Draco, we've been married for ten years and you don't know my name? Or gender?

I know we were supposed to go dancing last night and you didn't make it back in time. And you said we should go tonight to make up for it. But I just got an insta-owl message from Miles asking if we would mind Sammy coming and spending the weekend with us. Actually a bit more than the weekend. He has his usual Saturday night show tonight, but then he doesn't have to perform again until Tuesday. So he would come get her from us Wednesday morning.

I said of course because I always want her here, but when I found out why he wanted her to come my answer was an even more emphatic yes! Apparently Colm is going to go see him perform tonight, and when the show is done for the night they are going to spend a couple of days together to see if they can make a relationship work. Love was never their problem. Their problem was youth, immaturity, and the emotional complications that come from a planned/unplanned pregnancy and a young adult who had never been allowed to explore himself, his sexuality, and his gender identity. Lots of internalized homophobia and transphobia Miles had to come to terms with. Miles had to love himself before he could really love anyone else.

But now they are both emotionally healthy, living on the same continent, and pretty quickly realizing that their childhood relationship, combined with eight years of being a really good co-parenting team, has brought them to this place where they are pretty sure their feelings never went away. I have such high hopes for them!

I suppose it's just as well that TortureGarden was rescheduled for a different date. I can't imagine we would have been able to fit it in with family dinner (DO NOT FORGET!) tonight and watching our Sammy and been able to go. Although if you want to actually torture me tonight when all of the kids are in bed I wouldn't be too terribly upset about it!

I bet the TortureGarden thing is why you feel as though you're forgetting something that Pippa isn't here to remind you of. Since in your mind it was supposed to be this weekend and now we aren't going. The timing worked out well for the plans, but it's also good since you're so focused on the abduction case. Can you imagine trying to have fun in such an extreme kink party while the case research just sits in the back of your mind?

Speaking of research, you know who might actually be quite a bit of help, and might enjoy getting out of the house and speaking to adults for a change? Donna. Remember how much research she did with you and Hermione to look up her ancestry? Going through old tomes to find her connection to the Peverell family. And I know it's so far back that we aren't actually related at all, but I find it hilarious that my cousin married my "cousin"! Do you want me to shoot her a message and see if she'd be interested in helping out? I'm not sure if Dudley is on call this weekend, but if he is she could always drop Daisy, Donnie, and Dustin off here.

Oh, and I tried messaging Hermione about a magical index, as well as to ask if she had any advice for you guys in finding the specific information you're looking for. And she gave me a very un-Hermione "I'm not feeling well, sorry." I offered her research and the opportunity to create a magical filing system and she's too ill? I'm a little worried one of my best friends is dying! She was writing grant proposals when she was in labor with Veronica for crying out loud!

Um, darling, you're glad our kids don't speak Russian? Sweetheart. Who's Hazel's best friend? Yeah, Haz speaks Russian. Fluently. You may want to have a talk with her about what she may or may not have heard coming out of Lainie and Kisa's mouths.

Maybe I should message Ron and see if 'Mione needs anything.

Love you,  
Harry

P.S. If we're only a week and a half out of our first joint therapy session and you're already comfortable with me tossing Jaz in the air, maybe it won't be long until we're emotionally ready for you to get me pregnant!

P.P.S. Where should we go next? Our first trip was tropical, beachy, relaxation. Our second was emotional and educational. What's next on the agenda for our year of healing?

P.P.P.S. I know we have some busy weekends coming up, but with our travels and Charlie's pregnancy it has been FOREVER since we've had a playdate. Should we see if Charlie is as interested in playtime as I am?

 

Saturday August 29th  
Mi Amor,

As usual, you continue to amaze me with your brilliance. When I told Hannah and Bletchley that I had an extra person to go dry eyed looking at records with us, they were happy. When I told them that we may as well bring all the files to the Manor so that we can *also* be waited on by my elves while we looked, Hannah threw her arms around me and hugged me so tightly that I think she realigned my spine - in a good way. Bletchly straight up kissed me and told me that so long as they knew how to make that fancy coffee I tend to bring him whenever I want to butter him up, he wouldn't mind if we did this in a tent in the middle of the Sahara.

Oh sure, he SAYS that, but I doubt he realizes that it can get so hot there that even cooling charms on the tent don't help that much. In any case, we came back to the Manor to find that Donna had already arrived with her three.

The older kids were all watching Dragon Ball in the entertainment room - except for Kisa and Elena. Elena was either still off cavorting or in her bed sleeping off a fun night, and Kisa is at Blaise's house for the entire next week. They probably haven't even reached the end of the marathon shagging they tend to do, haha.

The younger kids who didn't want to watch so much TV all at once were outside in the park under the supervision of my parents - including Dustin, who is about 18 months now and more than happy to be a ball of energy in the park, trying to keep up with the big kids. Saoirse and Rhys were still visiting their own kids and grandkids, and you were more than likely baking in the kitchen - a special desert for our family dinner tonight.

I have no idea who had Jasmine, but it seems as if she sensed me enter the house because she Apparated into my arms the moment I sat down. "Well hello there, my love. Muffy! Bring us a lovely tea service, and also let Harry or whoever is now alarmed to be missing Jaz know that I have her."

"Yes Master," Muffy's voice replied from thin air.

"I'm sure glad that none of my kids could do that!" Donna exclaimed, holding her hands out in a silent request to hold Jaz. I handed her over, but before I did, I levitated our baby in front of me a moment so that she could see both my hands.

"Jasmine, love, this is Cousin Donna, remember? Please let her hold you a few minutes, alright?" I signed as I spoke, knowing that she probably didn't quite understand either yet.

Leah ran into the room just as Donna was cooing at our baby. "OH GOD!!! THERE SHE IS!!! I WAS SO WORRIED!!! I THOUGHT SHE'D VANISHED!!!"

Muffy popped into the room holding a full tea service - including coffee for Bletchley. "Master, Muffy has brought the tea. Miss Leah, Master Draco says that you are not to worry, he has baby Mistress Jasmine."

"Thanks ever so!!!" Leah roared at her.

"I suppose I should have ordered her to tell you that BEFORE bringing us tea," I murmured a bit sheepishly, also feeling rather inappropriately amused. I tried to hide my smirk by taking a sip of tea.

Donna just barely had time to kiss Jasmine's cheek before she Apparated herself back into my arms and promptly tried to chew on my hand. I held her up and shook my head. "Leah could have fed you. You didn't need to come to me. Muffy, bring me a bottle."

"Begging your pardon, Master, but all of the milk you brought home with you has been used up, and there's none left in stasis from your ancestors either," Muffy informed me, twisting her hands nervously.

"What? I thought I told Pippa to hire... right. She's not here at the moment. Hmm... Donna? How would you like to make a bit of extra money? You still nurse Dustin, right?"

"Well, yes, but I HAVE been trying to wean him," she replied a bit hesitantly.

"We had hired a few women who had lost their babies during the war to come in to Unity House Iran and feed as many of the orphans as they could. Those women provided us with quite a bit of milk for Jasmine, but it seems we're out now. I'd be willing to pay you if you pumped your extra and gave it to us," I offered.

"How much?" She asked shrewdly.

"Name your price. I'd much rather pay far too much for real human milk for my baby than have to transition her to formula," I explained. "Not that I don't feel it's a perfectly adequate option, just, well, I have the money, so why not give my baby the very best?"

Donna smiled at me fondly. "Well, in that case, I have no problems pumping as I wean my babe and selling the milk to you. You're going to regret letting me name my own price though!"

I stared her down with a look wondering how dense she was. "Chances are you can't even think of an amount I couldn't afford."

She blinked at me a few times before nodding slowly. "Good to know..." She then insisted on an amount that could easily pay her mortgage each month if necessary, but sort of proved me right in that she wasn't able to think big enough.

"Muggle money, right? I think I actually have that on me from the last time we went shopping in London," I murmured as I shifted Jasmine so that I could use one hand to open my carry all watch and summon the requested amount out of it. "Satisfied?" I asked as I handed it over.

"Er...…. You think she'll nurse?" Donna asked, surprised that I'd just NOT argue at all.

"I think so. She did nurse from the various women hired to feed the babies at Unity Iran, and so, unless she's completely forgotten how, she should be wiling."

Donna took Jasmine again and pulled out her right breast to offer the baby. Jasmine latched on, looking confused at first - probably because it HAD been a while since she was fed directly from a breast - but the moment she realized that she was receiving an abundance of milk, she settled in and enjoyed her meal.

"Well, looks like I won't be needed for a while," Leah lamented, both out loud and via sign language.

"Good, sit and help us," I ordered.

"Er... Alright," she agreed with a shrug. "What're we doing?"

Hannah explained things to her as she spread the files out over the table - now that we'd all had a bit of initial refreshment.

You popped into the room and sat on my lap. "Oh good! I was hoping that you were home since Muffy popped into the kitchen to prepare tea. My apple fritters are fresh out of the oven, so I brought some to share, but the cherry cheesecake is for tonight's dinner"

I kissed you. "You spoil me!"

You kissed me in return. "YOU spoil ME!" You argued with a grin.

"Help us look through these bloody records?"

"Sure," you replied with a shrug. "What am I looking for?"

"Currently, a birth certificate for Louise Fletcher," Hannah replied, handing you a stack. "But also, *anything* that mentions her.

"Did you think to ask Rowe if she could look the record up through St. Mungo's?" You asked.

"Not Rowe specifically. We asked through official channels and are waiting for response," I answered.

Bletchley sighed morosely. "Besides, we have a copy of all the records right here, and so, we'll probably find it before anyone else has a chance to go looking."

As you were dutifully looking through your pile, I chewed on my lip in thought, unconsciously kissing the back of your neck every couple of seconds. "Hmm... you know, I think you may have a point. Even though we HAVE copies of all the hospital records and newspapers, it'll take us DAYS to sort through them all! Hmm..."

I pulled out my Insta-owl Mobile and called up Rowe - thankful that she'd not only gotten one of her own at some point (apparently St. Mungo's insists on them for their entire staff because they don't interfere with the Healing spells and whatnot like actual muggle mobiles can - and vice versa). She answered with a tone of amusement.

"Draco Malfoy! To what do I owe this call? Are you planning to give me another year's worth of spa treatments? Or are one of you pregnant again?"

"Nope not pregnant. Yet. Anyway, wait, would you LIKE another year's worth of spa treatments?' I wondered.

"Of course I would!" She exclaimed.

"Excellent!" I exclaimed devilishly. "I'll be happy to give them to you. Now, on a completely unrelated topic, I'm helping an Auror and a muggle detective try to solve a case in which a muggle girl was kidnapped by what we believe is a wizard. Would you happen to remember offhand a little girl named Louise Fletcher that died on October 7th 1979?"

"Oh, erm... not off the top of my head. I was in my residency that year, so I probably wouldn't have had a chance to work on the girl if she was rushed in," Rowe murmured, clearly thinking it over.

I sighed. "That's too bad. We're trying to find out when she was born and who her parents are."

"Oh, that's easy enough! All the hospital records have been scanned into the magicomputer database so that we can access patient records when we need to. Saves us having to carry tons of files around. NOW, all we need are magitablets. One moment - er... HOW is this going to help you?"

"Oh, well, we think her father might have some information we need. We just don't know for sure her father's name," I explained.

"Oh... I see... well, according to my records, Louise Fletcher was born March 25th 1966. Oh dear, she was only 13 when she died - of a tragic accident, according to my records," Rowe informed me.

"That part we knew," I told her as I wrote the information down. "What's her father's name?"

"It says that her parents are Lloyd and Regna Fletcher," Rowe replied. "Do you think it would help your investigation to know that poor Louise had been treated a few times over the years for minor injuries that are common for athletic children. Based on the amount of leg strains and sprains, I'd bet she was a dancer of some sort. In fact, she'd had a fairly bad sprained ankle about a week before her death."

'Yes, that helps, thank you!" I gushed happily, writing the information down so fast that I'm certain it ended up an illegible scribble. "Pippa! Buy a voucher for -"

"Pippa's still off, remember?" You reminded me, turning to kiss me with an amused smirk.

"DAMN HER!" I roared in dismay.

"If that's all, love, I'll chat with you later," Rowe stated before hanging up.

"Excellent!" Hannah cheered jubilantly. "Now all we need to do is find Lloyd Fletcher and figure out where he lives!"

Bletchley sighed in aggravation as he summoned up all the records that we were currently looking through. "While I am delighted by this progress, it now means that I have to bring all of this back to the Ministry and request any records we might have listing addresses. You might recall that we magic folk are a distrustful lot and don't always report such things to the Ministry."

"Especially after the whole Voldemort trying to take over fiasco," you muttered wryly.

I held up a finger asking him to wait as I kissed you for simply being in my lap. "Actually... I have an idea..." Using my Insta-owl Mobile again, I called your post office.

A man with a voice so deep he almost sounded alien answered, and I recognized him as one of your managers. "Thank you for calling Magi-Muggle post, how may I help you today?"

"Hello Breyers, Draco Malfoy calling -"

"Mr. Malfoy! Is there a problem? Did we miss a quarterly meeting?!"

"No no, nothing like that. I was simply wondering if you have an address for a Mr. Lloyd Fletcher on file."

"Oh, erm... lemme check... oh, yep, it seems that he loves to order things from a muggle company called Ballet Unlimited, and takes advantage of our ability to have those packages delivered here so that we can send them to him via our owl service."

"Lovely! Can I have that address?"

"Erm... Don't we have a privacy policy stating that I can't just give such information out?" Breyers asked nervously.

"Yes, but my husband owns the post office. He could just come in, access the magicomputers, and obtain the information himself," I pointed out.

"He could…" Breyers agreed, still reluctant. I admire his loyalty to our customers.

You took the phone from me. "Hi there, Harry here. Could you please save me a trip and give me that information?"

"Well, since you're the one asking, I suppose I can't refuse," I could vaguely hear him say through the speaker against your ear.

You wrote it down and then thanked him profusely, getting caught up in a rather long (and probably boring) conversation with him while I kissed you, took the paper, and handed it to Bletchley.

"FUCK!" Bletchley swore in awe. "We need information specialists in the Ministry like that!"

"That's not a bad idea," I agreed with a smug grin.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm going to have to take all of this in and see about organizing a raid or some sort of official visit from the Auror Department. Which means that it'll probably have to wait until Monday."

Hannah grabbed his shoulders and shook him enthusiastically. "Cheer up! We're nearly there!"

Considering that it had been a few weeks since she first received the case, I'm sure this was the best news she could have short of literally recovering Penny and returning her to her parents.

Just then, Bear started attacking my trouser leg. "Oh! Looks like Bear wants to go outside. I suppose since we're all done here - for now - I'll take her out, and then you and I -" I paused to kiss you. "Can go running or maybe dancing in the Ballroom."

"Definitely!" You agreed with a grin.

I picked Bear up and brought her out while you finished up that conversation with Breyers and entertained our guests. I got so caught up in petting and feeding our peafowl that I completely forgot everything else. Thus, you must have sat and chatted with Hannah and Donna after Bletchley left. But eventually (did you try to Insta-owl me before remembering you had mine? Hahaha!), you found me in the meadow and dragged me to the Onsen so that you could eat some gilly weed and breath under water for an hour.

To my delight, this meant that you had plans with your mouth that required the ability to breathe out the side of your neck. You really took your time too, working me up slowly and teasing me for ages before finally sucking on it properly. I was getting so bloody close that my toes were literally curling and I was crying out rather obscenely.

"What are you doing?" Zwei asked curiously.

"Why is mumdad underwater with his head in your lap?" Siri added.

My eyes flew open as I literally shrieked in surprise and alarm. I yanked you up by your woefully short hair so that you were sitting on my lap facing them.

"Oh, erm, hi boys. Did you need something?" You asked, somehow less flustered than me.

"We wanted to swim in the Onsen," Siri explained.

"Oh... Well... only if you call your house elves to keep an eye on you while we go, erm... check on Jasmine," you bargained.

"Deal!" They agreed happily.

You apparated us to our play room and comforted me as I nearly died of embarrassment. But eventually, we finished what we'd started. But unfortunately, no nap for us. We had important things to do.

So naturally, now that it's past my bed time, you're passed out in bed and I'm partying with our baby girl. She's insisting that we dance, so I'm going to sign off and bring her to the ballroom.

It's going down, I'm yelling timber, you better move, you better dance, let's make a night, you won't remember, I'll be the one, you won't forget, ooooooooo,  
Draco

P.S. Good thing you remembered that we needed to finish playing before dinner!!!! Mother would have murdered us both!


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco helps the Ministry and Hannah recover Penny. Harry tries his best not to worry.

Monday August 31, 2009

My Brave Husband,

I've been doing my best all morning to keep myself occupied. Keep my mind off of what you're doing. Try to do anything to make the time fly faster. But it just keeps dragging on, and my brain keeps remembering. You left early this morning to finalize plans with the Aurors and Hannah to raid Lloyd Fletcher's address on file with the post office. And then you're planning on watching the raid.

I've done these raids before, so I know you will be away from all of the action … unlike the time you chased the serial killer through that warehouse … but I am still so nervous. I'm sure I will have plenty to talk about with Katja during my session tomorrow night! Ha! Maybe I should call her now and ask if we could have a longer session than normal.

The other thing I have to talk with her about is my own intense baby fever. Honestly, I have been so wrapped up in Jasmine. Her babyhood. Her extra needs for her hearing or lack thereof. How long it's been since we've actually had a baby in the house. And finding out our generation deep stash of breastmilk in stasis is gone! But once you mentioned having baby fever, and I went through the logistics of having another, it's like my brain went into overdrive and has decided this needs to happen and it needs to happen now. It feels like all the other times I've had intense baby fever, but I suppose I'm worried that it's not real. That maybe I'm using it the way I'm planning our travels, in an attempt to have something fun and wonderful that will drown out the trauma in my head.

I'm glad Donna was willing and able to "donate" to our cause. I love you so much Draco. You know they've been struggling financially a bit. She stays at home, and Dudley is still in the early stages of building his career. Three children, one parent working, no family money … they're ok but the extra income is I'm sure going to really help relieve that stress. And you, you great sappy man, challenging her to overcharge you for the milk? You devious man. You want to appear to just be a snobby rich man who has so much money just lying around. You just don't want people to see that your real plan was to figure out a way to get some money to Dudley and Donna without it looking like charity.

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your secret soft side.

I'm really happy that this purchase of milk is going to be someone with a living child looking to make a bit of income. Hiring the women who had lost their babies in Iran was heartwrenching. I can't imagine the horror of nursing a child, a child who is growing and healthy (relatively) while knowing you had lost your own child. But I also think it gave those women a sense of purpose. It gave their bodies a way to recover from their own trauma. And it gave them a source of income in an area where the economy is in peril.

Oh! I know you remember Kamaria, the nursing mum who worked her way so far into our hearts that we used her name for Jasmine's middle name. But I think I forgot to mention I got a message from Unity Iran last week while you were holed up with your research crew. Apparently Kamaria, after spending almost a year nursing the babies at Unity, fell in love and is adopting one of the babies. The little one came in after we left, so we never met little Parisa, but the letter came with a picture of Kamaria and Parisa together on the day their adoption went through. I know a new baby will never replace the child she lost, but I hope this is a big step towards healing the hole left in her heart.

For future reference, I have just started warning anyone who holds Jaz to not become alarmed if she pops out of their arms. I figure it's happened so often and to so many different people holding her, that it just made sense to prewarn instead of calming them down after they became hysterical. You may want to start warning anyone you hand her to as well.

It's a bit like Viona all over again, Jaz is so attuned to you. I know better at this point than to really be jealous. But I can't close off the feelings completely, I guess I'm just really looking forward to her hitting a point where she's as close to me as she is to you. Knowing it happened with Vivi helps remind me that it will happen.

That was such a beautiful time in my life. One of my very favorite memories. When I was pregnant with Siri, we were living in Canada, and the winter was brutal! Viona was a baby herself when Eri, Ori, and Haz were babies, so she didn't remember any of the pregnancy and she didn't really remember them as babies. But she was four when I carried Siri. She would seek me out constantly and the two of us, well I suppose the three of us, would wrap ourselves up in Grandma Molly blankets, sip hot cocoa, and she would tell my belly stories for hours. I had always hated winters, it's too cold, there's not as much to do outside, I can't garden … but that winter I really fell in love with the season.

Well, I spent all morning playing with Jaz while the older kids were in lessons with Saoirse. I wrote this after she went down for her nap. This email kept me mildly distracted from worrying about you. I'm hoping an afternoon of running the kids ragged at the Manor Park will fill out the rest of my day.

Come home safe to me,  
Harry

 

Monday August 31st  
My incredibly forgiving husband,

So, the good news is that we've rescued Penny and taken Fletcher into custody. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I was simply watching events unfold from a safe little bubble in the command tent.

What's that? You're not buying it? What would make you think that *I* would do anything dangerous to rescue a little girl???

Alright fine! I can never lie to you!

So...….. Well, I *may* have had a tiny bit more to do than sit in a tent and wait for the raid to be over.

First of all, keep in mind that Lloyd Fletcher is 68 years old and we WERE able to look his Hogwarts records up, so we knew that he's actually rather shit at magic. In fact, it seems like the only thing he was ever really good at was making and strengthening wards. And Obliviation, for some strange reason. Thus, the important part was that Robards and Bletchley were able to calculate the odds of him posing a serious threat to us, and they came up with about a 25 percent chance.

Second of all, yes, there was always a chance that he could be supplementing his shit magic with muggle weapons. So, this is actually where Hannah came in. She was in on the raid because the Aurors were technically helping HER out with her case. She brought in muggle protective vests to prevent death from muggle weapons, and then Robards decided that she was going to be paired with an Auror good at shield spells. She was asked who she wanted to be partnered with (Robards assumed that she'd pick Bletchley), and she picked me.

This frankly threw Robards (and Bletchley, hahaha) for a loop. They were looking at me like I'd just grown two extra heads.

"I'll give you that he's a good man to have in interrogations and helping search through records, but this could potentially be a dangerous situation," Robards pointed out. "He's not trained for any of this."

Hannah shrugged. "I partnered with him once on an undercover mission to catch a murderer, and so I KNOW that he can keep a cool head in a chaotic situation - by the way, have you ever been to his place for lunch???"

Bletchley laughed at that. "I have! His kids nearly blew the place apart!"

"Exactly! Chaos!" Hannah agreed with a grin. "Besides, we've all agreed that this criminal is more than likely going to be using muggle weapons than magical ones, and either way, I'd rather have Draco at my back."

"But then we'd need to pair an Auror with you anyway," Robards pointed out, remaining firm.

"Bletchley, kindly cast a stinging hex at me," I murmured invitingly.

"Er... well alright," he agreed with an eager grin. I pulled Hannah to my side and kept an arm around her as I whispered in her ear, asking if she trusted me, which she nodded yes to. Bletchley cast the hex, and as expected, it bounced off the shield produced by my wedding ring and carry all watch.

You know, when you gave me that watch to wear instead of my ring when I was undercover, I didn't really think I would wear it all that often after the case was over. But then I had the brilliant idea of converting it to my carry all case, and now, I almost never take it off! Between the two pieces of jewelry, I am confident that I'm protected from everything short of an AK.

Hannah smirked at Robards. "See? I think he's worth two regular Aurors, to be honest."

"NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!!" A rookie cried out, deeply offended. "We train constantly to keep in the right shape for things like this! There's no way some spoiled rich boy has the physical capability to even keep up with us!"

Hannah stared him down for a moment before pointedly turning to Robards. "Permission to flatten his arse on the ground sir?"

He smirked, probably thinking that she was too short and petite to take down the rookie - who was about as tall and muscular as I am. "If you can."

"Oh I can, and I wouldn't even break a sweat!" Hannah assured him, before turning to grin at me. "But I'm going to have Draco do it to prove a point."

"By all means," Robards permitted, still rather amused.

With a shrug, I invited the rookie to attack me, and when he did, basically stepped slightly to the side to avoid the attack as I simultaneously tripped him with one leg and elbowed his back so that he went flipping over, landing on his back on the floor.

Hannah sat on his chest so that she could look him in the eye. "A good Detective - officer, Auror, whatever you want to call it - NEVER makes assumptions about anyone. I'm not insisting on Draco as a partner simply because he's my friend. He's my friend BECAUSE I've gotten to know him. I've been running with him on the track around his Manor. I've had tea with him while he gave his kids lessons in Krav Maga. I know he can protect himself, and thus - by extension - me. MORE IMPORANTLY, I also trust his ability to FIND Penny. Got it?!"

The rookie looked about to burst from embarrassment. He was too red and flustered to speak, so he simply nodded. I gave Hannah a hand up and she kissed my cheek.

"So, now that THAT'S sorted, what say we go rescue this little girl already???" She demanded eagerly.

"Right!" Robards agreed. "Everyone gear up!" As Hannah was helping me into my vest, Robards came over to talk to me. I thought he was going to warn me of dire consequences should I fuck up - as if I couldn't figure that out for myself - but I was wrong. "Er... where did you learn to do that?"

Smirking, I shrugged. "My grandmother's boyfriend taught me as a kid when I'd go visit her in Russia."

"Why have you kept in practice?"

I snorted in amusement. "Actually, I hadn't really. I have taught various kids over the years, but it was never my passion, but then when we went to Iran to start up a Unity House there, well, there were a LOT of kids - both magical and muggle - that NEEDED to be able to defend themselves, and I was the only one who could teach them. So I got back into the practice."

Robards flinched. "Iran is dangerously close to an active war zone."

I nodded a bit sadly. "Yes, it is..."

He sighed gravely. "I don't envy the things you must have seen." Then he shocked me by patting me on the back. "You continue to surprise me, Malfoy. Good man."

I rolled my eyes. "It's only a surprise because you make certain assumptions when you hear the name Malfoy."

"Alright, that's fair," Robards admitted, watching as Hannah handed me the baggie containing the lock of Penny's hair. I cast a Point Me spell on it, and then hung the baggie around my neck like a locket so that the soft beam of light would lead me to the little girl.

As soon as everyone was ready, we Apparated to the designated point. Then each team spread out around the perimeter, careful not to trigger the wards and alert Lloyd to our presence. A good look at the baggie around my neck proved that Penny was in fact inside the house. Once in position, the team in plain clothes was given the go ahead to enter the wards and knock on the door.

Lloyd opened the door, clearly suspicious and curious as to why he suddenly had visitors. They gave him his caution and took him into custody. Once he was secure - seriously confused, but secure - Robards gave the go ahead for the rest of us to proceed.

"And remember! This man is a master of wards! Just because he is in custody, doesn't mean this place is safe!"

Hand in hand, Hannah and I slowly followed the light guiding us to Penny. In Hannah's right hand, she held a muggle gun with the safety on, which she used as trained to ensure that the area around us was clear of unknown accomplices. In my left hand, I held my wand - since I was not so good at wandless magic with that hand.

The other teams of Aurors were also doing an excellent job of making sure that there were no other threats in the house. We could hear soft bangs and other strange noises as wards were tripped or deactivated. What felt like hours passed as we slowly crept along, but it was really a few minutes before we were upstairs, closing in on the final room.

Before I finish up the recount, keep in mind that this was a rather big house. NOT so big as the Manor - I actually shudder to think of how many ways someone could escape the Manor if someone was coming in like this, looking for kidnapped children. In any case, this was a long rectangular house that could probably house our entire family comfortably - if a bit snugly. It had two stories plus a basement, and each room on all levels had to be thoroughly checked and secured before we could proceed.

So, when we closed in on the last possible room she could be in, we were all understandably excited. Not only was it the last place to look, but the light from the baggie of hair was pointing directly at it.

A group of six or eight of us crowded around outside the door, but Hannah had the sense to tell the others to back off because there was no need to terrify the poor girl. She also knew that I had the most experience with kids (ironic, huh?) so - after opening the door and ensuring that there was no threats inside the room, she let me go in first and approach the bed. It was disorienting at first - how much the room looked exactly as I had seen it in my vision - but I persevered.

"I'm not feeling good enough to dance today," a little girl groaned pathetically. I recognized at once the tone of someone trying to milk something for as much sympathy as possible.

"Penny?" I asked softly.

She flung the blanket off her face and looked at me in a combination of shock and wariness. "Who're you?"

"My name is Draco and this is my friend Hannah. She's a police officer asked by your parents to find you and bring you home," I explained.

"You mean they're not dead after all???" She demanded, practically leaping out of bed and flinging herself into my arms to sob in relief.

I stroked her hair comfortingly. "Hush now, love. Let's get you out of here."

She tried to take a step back but winced as pain nearly made her stumble and fall. I realized that she must have a sprained ankle, so I scooped her into my arms and carried her out of the room. Once we were clear of the house, I kept a hold on her as we reported to Robards - who was keeping an eye on Lloyd Fletcher. It seems HE was loudly protesting the 'kidnapping' of his beloved daughter.

Penny buried her head against my shoulder and shudder lightly. I stroked her hair again and summoned a biscuit out of my carry all.

"Don't fret, love, you're safe. Here, I'd bet you'd love a biscuit. My husband Harry made them fresh yesterday, and he's thrilled kids all over the world with how good his biscuits are," I informed her, pressing a light kiss to her temple.

She smiled and took the biscuit as if certain someone was going to try stealing it before she could grab it. She then shoved a good half of it in her mouth before grinning at me. "Danfers arn 'loud empee carbs!" She said through her mouthful before shoving the rest of the biscuit in her mouth.

"I have plenty more," I assured her as I summoned another and gave it to her. "Sir, I'm afraid that Penny has a sprained ankle and would like to take her to St. Mungo's right away."

Robards shrugged. "That's up to DI Giles, she's technically the lead in this case. Our job is simply to take Mr. Fletcher into custody and ensure that he doesn't escape before we can charge him - not to mention figure out how to do this in cooperation with the muggle police - since we suspect he's done this to not just Penny, but at least two other magical little girls."

I looked at Hannah. "Of course we can take her in. So long as I stay with her, there should be no problems on my end."

Nodding, I Apparated them both to St. Mungo's, where we were lucky enough to be seen by Healer Rowe in less than five minutes. It was almost as easy as breathing for Rowe to heal her ankle and check her over for any other potential injuries. After promising to give Rowe the full story later on, she gave us clearance to take Penny away.

Which means that I Apparated the three of us to the Apparation point I'd had designated in Hannah's office. It took Hannah a few minutes to fill her boss in, and also start some paperwork as she called Penny's parents. But then it was just a matter of waiting for the no longer grieving parents to rush to the station to pick up their daughter.

The looks on their faces when they saw her... when they swamped her in a hard hug... when they burst into tears and kissed her while shaking her slightly to see if she was real - I'll never forget them as long as I live.

Harry, I feel as if something profound shifted inside me today. I think I felt a little bit of my recent trauma heal. It almost felt as if something literally filled a hole inside me that I hadn't realized was there.

I'm going to come home in a few minutes - after I finish up writing the parts I'm allowed to tell in an muggle official report, and then again in more detail for the Auror report - and I'm going to hug you and each of our kids so hard that you'll all be afraid that I'm never going to let go! I love you all so much!

You're giving me a million reasons, give me a million reasons, giving me a million reasons, about a millions reasons,  
Draco  
P.S. I can't wait for my session with Yesenia tomorrow!

P.P.S. Remember [that dance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_KFB2E_BB8) I forced you to learn back when we were being highly supportive of Miles and I was teaching him a few dances he didn't already know? Well, I'd love for you to wear that costume tonight and dance for me in our play room.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is lucky Harry didn't read his previous email first...

Tuesday September 1st  
My Lucky Husband,

Why are you so lucky you ask? You are lucky that I didn't have a chance to read your email before you got home to us yesterday. I was busy rampaging the park with all of our children. Oh oh oh! And I was busy celebrating a major milestone with Jaz! She was taking her evening nap while I adrenalined all of my worry away. I was at the bottom of the slide, ready to catch Zwei and instead I ended up with an armful of baby. She apparated to me Draco! My baby girl was ready to join us and instead of waiting for Muffy to find her or for me to come check on her, she just popped off to her Daddy.

I know, it would have been you if you had been home, but I don't care, she apparated to me!

Anyway, I think you know exactly how you're lucky. I wasn't aware of how much you did on that raid before I gave in to your dance request. If I had known that you basically took lead on the damn thing I might have strapped YOU to my spanking bench to teach your naughty bum a lesson.

Instead, you got quite the evening if I do say so myself. Once all the children were tucked safe and sound in their beds, we headed off to the playroom. I wasn't sure what we were going to get up to, except I wanted to be extra special and extra good for you since I knew you had had a harrowing day (I just didn't know quite how harrowing). You asked for the dance and I got myself ready to perform it for you. I put on my belly dancing costume, deep purples and bright golds with gems and so much sparkle. The faux corset, and the shimmering gold veils.

You sat in your thronelike chair that you use when you're feeling particularly dominant or know that I need to feel particularly submissive. When I was finished getting ready, I started the music while I was still just outside the playroom. I slowly made my way into the room to stop at your feet. The music I chose was perfect for what I wanted to do. I wanted to make my way to you slowly, so you would have the time to inspect your property while it made its way towards you. And a slight break in the music just as I reached you. Again giving you the time to look your fill, as well as stroke your hands over anything that caught your eye.

You had worked your palms from my hips, up the muscles of my stomach, and had almost reached my nipples when the music came roaring back to life. The fast pace meant I barely got close enough for you to grope before I was twirling away again. This dance was meant to entice and tease. To get you frantic for me. The music building, my hips swirling, our hearts quickening, and your patience waning.

I ended the dance exactly as I had planned, on my knees at your feet. You let me stay there for a few moments so I could catch my breath. And I assume, so you could torture me. You stood slowly, in the posh way you have, slowly and gracefully like a true aristocrat who knows he can take his time because the world will wait for him.

"Undress me" came your royal command. I went to stand, thinking to start with your shirt until I heard, "from your knees pet." Oh things were starting off so well for me! I removed your shoes and socks, setting them to the side, and took off your trousers next. I couldn't help myself, I had to run my hands down your strong legs. The fine golden hair covering lean muscle. But I didn't linger too long, I had an order I was supposed to be following.

You took pity on me and sat again so I could remove your waistcoat and button down shirt. Once the chest that holds your heart, and your arms that hold me close, were bared you stood back up so I could strip you of your pants. I peeled the black silk down over your arse, releasing your gorgeous cock, so hard and ready for me. Again, I was presumptuous and gave the head a kiss while I was already so close.

"Not yet, you need to be a good boy before you get your reward." Merlin, your voice makes me melt. "Start with my toes, don't miss an inch Love." Ooh, I get to do one of my favorite things! I started with the toes of your left foot, kissing and licking my way up your foot, worshiping every inch of you, your calves, sucking little marks on the back of your knees, giving gentle bites to the inside of your thighs. Once I was so close to that divinely male part of you, you had me start again on the right side.

Working my way up those legs of yours, I finally made my way up again. And then, "such a good boy for me, my bottom half feels so lovely, I think I'll reward you." I was delirious, I was going to get to worship at the holiest of places. "I'll let you get up off your knees so you can make the top half of me feel just as lovely." Oh. I was that wonderful mix of disappointed that I wasn't getting what I wanted but feeling so perfectly owned and submissive because I wasn't getting what I wanted, and getting to worship this body I love at the same time.

I kissed each of your fingers, tenderly loving on the hands that hold my heart. Kissing the arms that wrap protectively around me. Kissing and licking and biting, strong shoulders, tight little nipples, firm abs from your own belly dancing, and finally there was no body part left unmapped aside from the one I'd been hungering for. "My sweet, darling boy, you've earned it, take what you want." Well I didn't need to be told twice! I immediately took you in my mouth, swallowing you down until my nose hit those golden curls of yours.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to play for very long before you told me to stop what I was doing and stand. "That's enough of you being covered up, even if there isn't much cover. You beautiful little slag of mine, undress and show me what's mine," Not wanting to rip my beautiful dancing costume is the only thing that kept me from just ripping it off.

"So beautiful, and all for me. Well, for me and anyone I feel like sharing that compact little body with. But for tonight I am going to selfishly keep you all to myself. Prepare yourself for me sweetheart." You had the lube ready to pour into my hands. "Turn love, I want to watch your pretty hole open up for me." I did. I started working a finger into myself, quickly adding a second finger, and then a third. I was whining and panting by this point, ready and desperate for my favorite thing to fill me up.

Eventually even you ran out of patience. Sitting back, you put your gorgeous hands on the arms of the chair and told me to ride you. I hopped up in your lap as quick as I could, grabbed your hard shaft, and sank down on it. It felt perfect, like coming home. Once fully seated, I immediately snapped to a hard and fast rhythm. The sound of my arse slapping your thighs was music to my ears. I knew better than to touch myself or my Master without his permission, so I kept my hands on my thighs until you told me to pull on my nipples for you.

I had set such a fast pace, and the entire time you looked posh and perfect. Lazily running your hands all over my body. It was such a fantastic mixture of emotions. The speed was fast, the fucking was hard, but your hands were soft and sweet and unhurried. Being the absolute best Master a sub could ask for, you seemed to know just when I hit the line between erotically frustrated and too frantic to really enjoy it. You grabbed my as yet untouched cock, pumped it twice, and commanded me in your husky sex-deep voice, to "Come for your Master!" So I did.

Now all I needed was for you to finish filling me. I kept up my motions, pushing through my haze of bliss. And then I was rewarded with you gripping my hips hard, releasing inside of me, and moaning "My Harry" into my ear. Yes, your Harry. Always your Harry.

I smiled sleepily at you, and you seemed to be smothering your own yawn, so we cleaned up and headed to our bed. Where I fell asleep in the strong arms of my husband who came home safe to me.

Mmhmm, yeah, until I find out today that you could have very easily NOT come home safe to me!

I am so thankful and happy that Penny was found safe and relatively unharmed. Knowing that seeing her reunion with her parents healed something inside of you means everything to me. Knowing someone dangerous has been taken off the streets and a little girl was reunited with her parents soothes my aching heart and soul. And I know that with all of your training, your sheer magical power, your brilliant mind, and your ability to keep calm within chaos, that I should trust you to keep yourself safe.

But you took the most important thing in my life and walked it willingly into danger today. I understand why. I don't even think you did the wrong thing. But I think I deserved a dance and worship session more than you did last night!

I am going to be a bit selfish and make you pay for your behavior. So, because you rushed headlong into danger, and made me worry sick about you, I am going to pick our next trip and you have no say in it!

Therefor, the day after Hannah's engagement party we are headed to Monaco. Last trip was a bit over the top with two destinations and bringing half of our nieces and nephews. So this trip is going to be just us and our children. Well, obviously bringing our support staff and our house elves. But no extras!

Don't get me wrong, I love them all and I am glad we finally live close enough to spend so much time together. But I need my "little" family all to myself. Because I am a selfish arsehole. I will admit it. Don't worry, we'll be back in time for you to prep with your ritual crew for the equinox.

Well, you're off playing with the kids so I could "rest" a bit. I didn't need a rest, I just needed to purge my thoughts a bit.

This morning was a bit tough, saying goodbye to Eliza, Sebastian, Gavin, and Della at King's Cross. It seems silly to be so sad, they can come home as many weekends as they'd like, we will see them at the equinox ritual, we'll see them at Greg and Millie's wedding. But there's something so sad and yet so happy about seeing kids off to start a new school year of learning. Again my selfishness is coming out, but I am so thankful that River has no interest in going to Hogwarts. I like that I will have all of you to myself for the next year.

So I am glad I cleared my head and heart a bit. It helped me narrow down what I'm really wanting to focus on for my session with Katja tonight. Hopefully you'll be just as focused for your own session with Yesenia. And I think your parents will really enjoy having their grandkids to themselves this evening, it'll be a nice distraction from missing their own kids.

Ooh, something smells delicious! I'll see you at the dinner table!

Love, Your Harry

 

Tuesday September 1st  
Beloved,

This is going to be a fairly short recap. See, aside from sending my siblings off to Hogwarts, playing with our kids a bit, and then having dinner together, there really wasn't much going on today. Naturally, after dinner, we each had appointments with our Mind Healers. Also naturally, we don't really talk about that.

But I will tell you that while Yesenia is happy with my progress, she STILL thinks that we should avoid making a decision about my baby fever until it's been a month (since our joint appointment). She's also positively delighted that I gave her a raise. Lastly, after the session was over and we were just chatting, she reported that though it was still a bit too soon to tell, she thinks Derek's donation was a success.

In a side note, apparently, they've been having friend dinners because Derek wants to at least be friends with the woman he donated sperm to. Yesenia takes the opportunity to Mind Heal him a bit (at my expense, haha), and while she won't give me details, she thinks that after a bit of friendly therapy, he'll eventually be ready to settle down and start a real family of his own.

And that's it for now. I'm writing this from Yesenia's office because I received an Insta-owl to do some business tonight, and I'm headed off to do that now. I have no idea when I'll be home. Love you!

I'm alive, for you I'm awake, because of you I'm alive, I told you I'm awake, swallowing you, I'm alive,  
Draco


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is not best pleased.

Wednesday September 2nd  
Good morning my love,

Well, it's morning to me, I assume by the time you roll your rear end out of bed it will be well into the afternoon. So that's cool.

I know how much you love a good recap, and I haven't talked to you since we went our separate ways for our mind healing sessions last night. So, here's a really cool recap.

Last night, I tried staying up until you got home, hoping I could get at least a nice frot to sleep even if we didn't have enough energy for much else. Alas, I was unable to stay up that late. Oh well, I suppose I can go without for a night. And if history serves, I might not have to go the whole night because you will often wake me up delightfully when you eventually come to bed. Last night was not one of those nights.

Instead, you came to bed quietly enough to not wake me up. But you did thump me in the chest to wake me up when it was time for Jaz's night feeding. That would normally please me so much. You never let me help out with her at night, it's your time. I could have used a nicer wakeup than a punch to the chest, but beggars can't be choosers right? Yeah, and while I fed our little beauty, I looked over at your sleeping self. I love watching you sleep.

It wasn't until I was running my hands through your hair that I realized not only had you not taken a shower after your "business" but your hair was quite sweaty. Huh, all of you was a bit sweaty. Not that you're ever stinky but I couldn't believe I didn't notice the smell of stale sweat. Oh, that's right, I wouldn't have noticed that smell as it was buried under a delightful perfume scent.

How's that for a fairly short recap?

Anyway, I love you, I trust you, but I'm gonna need an explanation. I won't go sleep in the Ivory Room or anything tonight, after a decade together I know there's some completely reasonable explanation. But my brash Gryffindor self is going to need a quick explanation before he blows things out of proportion.

I hate blowing things out of proportion, I'd rather just happily blow things.

Fix this my love,  
Harry

P.S. Jasmine is even sweeter than usual in the middle of the night. She's an amazing dancer. I think as penance for whatever put you in my bed sweaty and stinking of perfume, I should get all of her nighttime feedings and dance numbers!

P.P.S. I love you!

 

Wednesday September 2nd  
Oh Harry,

There's nothing to be concerned about. The perfume smell probably came from Yesenia as I hugged her goodbye.

Tonight was an absolutely lovely movie night. We watched Kiki's Delivery Service. I have mixed feelings about the movie because on the one hand I love Kiki and her courage and spirit and determination to do the right thing for her, but on the other, it's not necessarily the best portrayal of wizardkind. Also, I can't really imagine telling our kids they have to get out and go find their own way in the world on their 13th birthday, but that said, I also know that if there WAS such a law in our world, our kids would totally survive and succeed at everything they tried.

I'm so excited for Torture Garden coming up this weekend! I know we've already bought our costumes for it, but I'm thinking maybe we should go shopping tomorrow for something to wear to Hannah's engagement party next weekend.

And before I forget, Monaco sounds lovely. I don't think I've ever been there, and the only thing I can really remember about it off hand is that an actress once married the reigning Prince. I wonder if they ruled well after that? Maybe we'll find out.

But as for tonight, I feel as though you are right - I should have danced for and pampered you the other night. So, to make up for it, I'll do anything you want me too. Love you!

Because your kiss is on my list of the best things in life,  
Draco  
P.S. Alright, I'll admit it, I took Siri and Zwei out riding those dirk bikes you gave them for their birthday (now that I have one of my own) and they're rather fun. Definitely a lot less alarming than I thought they'd be. You are the best father for our children ever, I'm glad I chose you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I was cackling in glee because in my current arc, I was going behind Draco's back to rat him out to Harry? Well, this is the beginning of that arc. The note I sent to Chrissie after I sent her this email was: "Keep in mind that Yesenia does not wear perfume because some of her patients react badly to strong smells..."
> 
> And I have to admit that Chrissie responded with my all time FAVORITE response: "Hmm, Draco, what the hell, yo?!"
> 
> BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ^_^


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes out to lunch with Hermione, and Kisa pops in and wakes Draco up most unpleasantly.

Thursday September 3rd  
Draco,

I am so glad you're loving the dirt bikes. I wasn't sure how you would feel about Siri and Zwei having them after your freak out over River riding my motorcycle. I thought I'd be able to butter you up and talk you into falling in love with dirt bikes if I made sure there was one for you as well. And what better color scheme for your bike than a blue and gold? I didn't realize you had taken them out on them, let me know next time and I'll come watch. I'll bet they got filthy and loved every minute of it. Unlike you who probably loved the biking but did not love the dirt.

I didn't get myself one, I figured my motorcycle was enough. But if you think this is something you are really into, I could probably be talked into getting one for myself to join you. And obviously getting one for any of the other kids that express an interest. I can just picture Viona and Eris turning it into a massive competition.

Thank you for letting me have my way last night. I think you're very aware that I was only teasing about deserving a night for just me. Dancing for you and worshiping your body and taking my pleasure in your lap while you guided and directed me? Yeah, it covers all of my subby little needs, it was delightfully for me! But last night was something I had been interested in for quite a while. And we almost got to do a bit of it the other day before Siri and Zwei did the whole "coitus interruptus" thing.

But while I certainly loved pleasuring you under the water, I was wondering how it would feel if we were both submerged and I could see your face and watch your gorgeous hair swirling around your face while we made love. So after I told you my plan, we popped over to the pool. Each taking a portion of gillyweed, we proceeded to go underwater for some serious shagging. I actually cast a denial spell on myself while you took me, because as soon as you were done I wanted to swap roles. Filling you while the water moved around us, moving against our skin, it was beautiful. Your hair while we're underwater, with only the moonlight to make it glow, is a captivating sight.

I love you.

Oh! I was going to say something about Kiki; I kind of like having our wizarding children watch movies that muggles have made about the wizarding world. I think it can open up a really good dialogue for an important conversation to have with them. The wizarding world has so many misconceptions about muggles, luckily our children actually know quite a few muggles who are just wonderful so I'm not horribly concerned about their view. But I think watching something muggles made be so off about us can lead us to talking about the idea of "If they get that much wrong about us, what are we getting wrong about them?"

I have to head off in a minute here, Hermione asked if I'd like to get lunch today, so when you wake up to a houseful of kids and no me, that's where I am. I shouldn't be gone too long. Don't let anyone burn the Manor down while I'm gone!

Yours,  
Harry

 

Thursday September 3rd  
Dearest Harry,

Want to hear how my morning has gone so far (since you're not home to hear me complain directly)?

You do? Great!

So, there I was, sleeping all snuggly in my bed when Kisa burst into the room shrieking and wailing like a banshee.

"She's Merlin Buggering pregnant!!! That damn bitch is pregnant!!! What the fuck am I supposed to do now?!?!"

"Kisa?" I asked blearily, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"And worse! We were FINALLY getting along! And then she pops in, crying like a bloody baby, and tells him that she's pregnant. No one knows yet if it's his or that weasel's, but it doesn't really matter, because even if it's NOT his, she's his committed lover, so it's still his!!! I could just MURDER her!!!"

"Calm down, Kisa," I begged, prudently sending Muffy for tea, biscuits, and ice cream. "Are you saying that Hermione is pregnant?"

She finally stopped throwing things around the room and flung herself across our bed so that she could sob in my lap. "YES!!! And I could see it on his face how happy he was to hear it. He bloody swept her into his arms and twirled her in a damn circle! He doesn't actually want me, it's just some twisted magical accident that makes him think he does!"

I stroked her hair, noticing that she definitely took advantage of the chocolate biscuits the moment Muffy set the tray on the bed. "Oh, my love, I know him and he does want you, despite the magical bond. Why do you think he should have to choose between you?"

She glared murderously at me. "BECAUSE!!! The ONLY way this will ever work out between us is if he chooses me and moves to Russia with me!"

I couldn't help but be amused and smirked at her. "I thought you DIDN'T want him to be in an official relationship with you - that you wanted to sow your wild oats first."

"I DID!!! But then I found out that I'M BLOODY PREGNANT and I don't know what to DO!!! I can't just tear him away from his family, but I fucking WANT him to be there for me!!!

I gaped at her in astonishment for a moment, and then for a few minutes more. I have to admit, I had no bloody idea how to respond to that. But this seemed to confirm whatever she was thinking, because she nodded.

"See? You don't know what to do either, so what am *I* supposed to do???"

Sighing, I poured her a cup of tea, and then poured one for me. "Well, I suppose the only thing we can do is figure this out together."

"I swear, Draco, if you bloody tell him, I'm going to have you disappeared! Or her! Don't tell her either! I don't want ANY of them thinking that I think Blaise needs to drop all of them and be with me, but..."

I stroked her hair again when she hesitated. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Is it so wrong of me to be mad? I had hope for a couple of days there that we could figure things out together, and then maybe I could tell him AFTER we'd figured things out, and we might even go crazy and live happily ever after, but now she's pregnant and has ruined it ALL!!! … I just... I'm a little... scared..." She whispered that last word so softly that I almost didn't hear it.

I did the only thing I could and hugged her tight. "I promise I won't tell him. The news should come from you, whenever you decide the time is right to tell him. No pressure."

Hiccuping and still crying just a little, she nodded and buried her face in my chest. After that, we ate biscuits and ice cream as we drank our tea. Now I'm thinking I know why Hermione asked you to go out to lunch with her. MAYBE after we know the whole story, the two of us MIGHT be able to come up with a way to fix things for our loved ones.

Hopefully.

Love you,  
Draco  
P.S. I didn't freak out over River, I was freaking out over ELENA learning to drive your bike, but by all accounts, she's doing really well with it. I'll just have to take your word for it though.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is brilliant!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bad news is that I'm awake 4 or 5 hours earlier than I want to be/should be. The good news is that I have nothing better to do, so I'm posting, lol :-)

Thursday September 3rd  
My love,

I'm so sorry you had such a rough time. My time with a hormonal, hysterical, happy yet terrified Hermione was a delight.

First of all …. Ho. Lee. Shite. I am glad Hermione told me she was pregnant when I was already sitting down because otherwise it would have knocked me on my ass. Honestly the only thing that could have shocked me more is if I were to find out Kisa is pregnant as well. Oh wait.

Long story short, I have a plan to fix everything. The only stipulation is that everyone has to do exactly as I say. That should work well right? Ok, new plan, we trick everyone into not only doing everything my way but let them think it was their idea. Better?

I honestly have no idea how Hermione ended up pregnant. It's one of those things that has to be fate. The first time Hermione got pregnant, I blamed Weasley genetics and young people who didn't quite realize how important the contraceptive spells were. When she got pregnant with Veronica and subsequently Anastacia, they were planned pregnancies. They were so well planned, Hermione knew exactly when she could get pregnant for minimal time off from her job and optimal time between siblings according to all of her readings. But, I was under the impression that they were done. Possibly forever, but definitely 100%, hell no, no babies at all from anyone, until Blaise figured out what was happening with Kisa. Baby Embargo if you will. So they have been SO careful.

And it seemed perfect, two "Weasley" babies (even though we don't actually know except for Rod being redheaded makes it a bit obvious) and then two "Zabini" babies (again, they don't know for sure and they don't seem to care). I get that it doesn't matter to them, and it doesn't matter to me either, but let's all be honest with ourselves … Rod and Staci are Weasleys with Rod's red hair and Staci's Weasley nose, while Bee and Ronni are Zabinis. Seriously, Veronica might as well be Blaise with a curly wig!

They have been not only using contraceptive spells but if Ron's incessant whining is anything to go by, she's been making them wear Muggle condoms on top of the spell-work. This baby WANTS to be born!

Ok, my thoughts are all over the place, so let me know if I say something that doesn't make sense, or let me know if you need clarification. However, step one, we have Kisa talk with Luna. We can trick her into it somehow or we can just recommend it by saying Luna is living a poly lifestyle and might be able to offer some insights. At the very least she will let Kisa rant and rave without feeling as though she needs to curb what she says because she might offend you by talk of murdering your childhood friend.

Ok, here's where it starts winding around a bit, so do you remember how we were at Unity Africa for freaking ever, and Canada forever minus a day or two? But then we went to do Russia and were only there for less than eight months? Well part of that was obviously that we were getting better at it the more we put together. But the team that asked us to create Unity House didn't seem to think they needed a Traditions. That's fine, they know their country better than we do. But a few weeks ago I got a letter from the Headmaster of Koldovstoretz (Russia's Hogwarts) saying he had been in contact with McGonagall for years and found out some interesting information.

So now that Traditions has been open for ten years, they are really starting to see some data come out that shows if Traditions has truly made a difference. It's hard to get a clear picture, because scores and job placement after graduation could have gone up simply because we were no longer in a war. But even when compared with test scores before Voldemort's rise to power and scores during the time between his first and second rises, OWL and NEWT scores have increased each year and job placement is at an all time high for students who aren't pursuing further education in apprenticeships or something like it. And students continuing on to further education is also on the rise.

So, despite the original backers of Unity Russia not thinking a Traditions Russia was necessary, it seems as though there is talk of opening one. Now, I am not willing to go build a Traditions, I don't care how unlike Iran Russia may be. For anytime in the near future anyway. Maybe they can floo me in another five or ten years.

But, remember when you asked me about talking with Hermione about updating some sort of magical filing system for records? When I brought it to her attention, you would have thought I was there to tell her she had won a million galleons she was so excited. Apparently, she loves Traditions but it's getting to be a bit boring for her. She said to me, "I feel as though I'm stuck in a rut and not learning or growing. I like where I am, but that doesn't mean I want to stay in the same spot forever." When an opportunity to try something new - but still well in her comfort zone - came up, she jumped at the opportunity.

It's too bad that we are unwilling to start up a Traditions in Russia, whoever will they find that has the job experience to efficiently run an entire school but also wanting to start all over with some new learning experience? If only there was a way to find someone who might be willing to move to Russia, perhaps with her lovers and children, to become Headmistress for a new educational environment!

I know you're picking up what I am laying down but to sum up. We talk Kisa into learning about a poly lifestyle from the poly-est person we know. We talk Russia into luring Hermione to their country with the incentive of educational challenges. And uh, we figure out a way to get George to expand WWW internationally and ask Ron to run a Russian division. And the last part of my plan that I haven't mentioned yet? We also talk Kisa up so much to Ron and 'Mione that they think she's amazing and just what their trio needs, they fall in love with her, she falls in love with them, poof they'll be a quartet by winter!

My plan includes international intrigue, an overly elaborate matchmaking plot, two oblivious morons, and two hormonal pregnant women.

Your brilliant husband,  
Harry

 

Thursday September 3rd  
My brilliant husband,

At this point, I've said it so often that I should probably have Molly embroider it on a jumper for you.

So here's what I did, I casually mentioned to ELENA that Luna might be the best person to offer a unique perspective on relationships to Kisa, and Elena immediately got excited and vowed to drag Kisa over to Luna's tonight. I have a feeling we won't see either of them until morning as the conversation itself is not likely to happen until after Luna has had a chance to play a bit.

But for the record, I don't think Kisa really has anything *against* polyamorous relationships. She's said a couple of times that she doesn't want to take Blaise away from his lovers, I just think she doesn't know how it would work to add her to his existing relationship if she plans to be in a different country most of the time.

Thus your other half of the plan is even more brilliant because NOW Blaise will more than likely be in Russia and near enough to visit - WAIT!!! I have a brilliant idea of my own! St. Petersburg and Moscow are relatively close to each other. Certainly within flooing or Apparating distance, and since Hermione is going to need a nice place to stay if (when) she accepts this job opportunity, why not have her stay with Grandmama?

I'm already writing an Insta-owl as we speak, explaining the situation (of Hermione having a job opportunity in Russia and how much I would be ever so grateful if Grandmama offered her and her family a place to stay, NOT anything to do with Blaise and Kisa because that's just signing my own death warrant) and really laying it on thick about how it would be an excellent opportunity for our family to let her stay in their Moscow home. Grandmama is a sucker for a good opportunity though, so this should work.

Oh... apparently I'm laying it on a bit TOO thick because Grandmama told me to shut it already. It's a brilliant idea and she doesn't need me to beg. That said, she can tell I have ulterior motives and if they end up inconveniencing her, I'll have to apologize appropriately. Not worried. Much. I'm certain that once Grandmama DOES find out the situation with Kisa, she'll agree with our plans.

Alright, so I guess the ball is back in your court. Are you going to tell Hermione about the job she just HAS to take, or are you simply going to decline and insist that the Russians bring it to her directly? THAT would at least seem like you had minimal influence in the situation.

Let's also invite our dear friends over for dinner - Sunday night, so we should be sufficiently recovered from Torture Garden. That way, she'll have the perfect opportunity to tell us her news and we can talk about any objections she might have and turn them into good reasons to go. Keep in mind that one of the best reasons for her to go is that Traditions just started for the year, so this will give her time to create an entirely new school at her own pace so that she can rest as needed for her pregnancy without having to worry about a whole school full of kids needing her to come in and keep the place running.

I'll even promise to help her interview and hire someone to replace her - although she might have a few candidates already, so that might not be as much of a problem as I think it might. Anything else you can think of that we need to come up with solutions for before Hermione comes for dinner on Sunday?

Because I'm happy, clap along if you know what happiness is to you, because I'm happy, clap along if you feel that's what you want to do,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's really Chrissie who is brilliant. I was perfectly content to just let Blaise and Kisa wallow in their misery and suffering, but Chrissie came up with this all on her own and I was like: I bow to your sheer brilliance ^_^


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gets a bit drunk with Lucius, and then Harry and Draco go to Torture Garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!! This chapter contains descriptions of extra marital playing around (with strangers) and somewhat hardcore Kink. If you are not comfortable with this, you can safely skip all of Draco's email - although the beginning part prior to them arriving at TG might be worth a laugh :-)

Friday, September 4th  
Draco,

Hey love, just thought I'd drop you a quick message to let you know what I've done about our plans.

I think having Elena bring Kisa to Luna was a great plan. Apparently they went over to Luna's yesterday and haven't been home since. I got an insta-owl from Lainie saying they were staying overnight so I wasn't worried about them. She's so sweet, she knows she's an adult and doesn't "need" to tell us she's staying out. But she also knows her Dads are worriers and drops us a message. I love her.

I knew Kisa wasn't against poly relationships. Before she and Blaise became a for sure mating bond, she never once expressed any issue with their triad. She's always been polite (well, as polite as Kisa gets) with Luna and her group. I just thought this conversation may change her from being "fine" with polyamory to seeing its benefits.

Maybe we should invite Pansy to dinner as well. See if she has the time to come for a quick visit. It's been years since she's played with the triad, but she used to be able to go on and on for hours about Hermione's oral skills. I tried tuning most of it out, but maybe a reminder that Hermione knows her way around the feminine body might be a push in the right direction.

I also contacted my Russian Traditions committee and told them I think I had a potential solution for them. I talked up Hermione as the current Headmistress but I also mentioned that she wasn't just a Headmistress in charge of running our Traditions, but integral in the creation of it from the ground up. They didn't make any commitment, I think they wanted to talk about it amongst themselves, but I have no doubts that they will be extending an offer to her soon.

As soon as they speak with her and she makes her decision we can start the process for her replacement at Traditions. We don't need someone quite as experienced as 'Mione because they'd be taking over an efficiently run school already in progress. Between Hermione, you, and Viona, I have every faith in your abilities to find the best person for the job.

Gotta run, off to spend the evening with your father. Don't worry, you shouldn't get any drunken rambling email, I've matured too much for such nonsense.

Love you,  
Harry

\---------------------------------------------------------

Hello Dearest Sir Master Husband Guy,

Cheerio!

My dear friend Lucius and I have been having a right jolly evening. We have been drinking the pretty red stuff. What? Oh, Lucius assures me it is called Port.

Port Port Port.

Did you know it is very sad when your children all leave the house? Your paternal parent feels very lonely even with our miniature army on the premesis primisis permisis um, at his house. Some day River will grow up and leave the house, and Viona and the almost triplets will go to Hogwarts, and then eventually Siri and Zwei will go to Hogwarts and before you know it our sweet Jasmine will go as well and then they will all be adults and they will leave us and it will just be you and me and Lucius and Narcissa knocking around in this giant manor. What if our babies never come back and visit us and we die alone and no one finds us for days?

Shut up Luly, I'm not crying, you're crying! You great blubbering baby!

Wait. This is the Malfoy estate. And it's pretty. And there are lots of rooms. And a pool! Maybe our babies will live here forever. And then they will move their own families here, and all of their children. And our siblings will do the same. Oh dear Merlin, what if they all move back and we end up with fifty people living here? The Manor is not big enough for that! We need to build an addition.

Lulu agrees with me, he's contacting a contractor to write up a contract to build more Manor. It just makes good business sense.

So because someday it will just be us and your parents until the rest of them move back in with us. I think we should become the bestest of friends with them. I mean, I know Luscious and I are super duper best mates forever, but we really need to find some common interests. So guess what? I called Pippi, Pippa, Pippi, so uh the lady who keeps our schedule not the little girl with the braids. So I called her and said "Pepper, I'm going to need two extra tickets to torture garden tomorrow. I know you already got two for my Master and I, but his Mummy and Daddy are coming too." and she's going to buy them.

When I wake up feeling delightfully happy tomorrow morning after a night of such fun with Lou, I think I am going to take him and your mum to shop for costumes! Do you want to come with? I know how much you love costumes!

Anyway, I love you, and you should come find me. I have hidden a plug somewhere on my body and you should come find it! It's like sexy plug hide and seek.

I lovest though forever-eth,  
Your Harry James Malfoy

 

Saturday September 5th  
Harry!

You invited my parents?!?! I... Alright, I can deal with this...

But seriously, do you know what *I* had to do to get tickets to this? I sincerely do NOT want to know what Pippa had to do to get a pair of tickets at the last minute. I'm actually rather impressed that she got them and should probably give her a massive bonus.

Alright, so… I understand that you are not quite so pissed as you were when you invited my parents and brought them out shopping. That you're actually in costume and waiting for me to finish getting into mine. But I sort of have to work myself into this a bit because while I have very little shame about letting the world see all my bits - even including my parents - this is a bit different in that my bits are being specifically arranged to look as sexy as possible. As are theirs...

Okay, I can do this. I CAN do this...

Alright, it's time to go meet up with the rest of you...

-

Oh, our night!

Sometimes I really have to wonder how we haven't shagged ourselves to death a long time ago. Surely it's not normal to have this kind of stamina! Then again, we *do* have denial spells...

To start with, we had a rather awkward moment when we met up with my parents in the front parlor. Elena and Kisa were both highly amused and a bit horrified to see us, but we had to make sure they were home and could help keep an eye on the rest - especially Jasmine, who we both kissed goodbye before leaving.

My father was wearing a full gimp suit in white. He also had a collar on with a leash. My mother was *clearly* planning to dominate him quite thoroughly tonight, possibly as much as the time she apparently forced him to orally please a werewolf. I do hope you didn't brag about the time I got around to doing the same to you (and took a curious turn myself) when you were drinking with my father.

Oh who am I kidding? You probably didn't even wait to get drunk before bragging about that!

Anyway...

My mother was wearing a red vinyl waist cincher and matching very lacy bra that left little to the imagination. Her knickers, erm, well, I had to avoid looking directly at them because even though I have seen her naked, I do not want to think about any part of her in fetishwear. The tiny glimpse I allowed myself assured me that she is still very beautiful and likely going to be well sought after tonight.

You were nearly the opposite of my father, wearing only a tiny scrap of latex that claims to be a sort of underwear. Plus my favorite dragonfly harness, your collar, and a real gold chain leash. It's charmed to return to my carry all watch if we should happen to take it off or anyone tries to steal it.

As for me, I was actually - unsurprisingly - taking full advantage of the opportunity to be as creative as possible. Thus I was wearing the blue painted on my otherwise mostly naked skin demon costume, only slightly less complex as I wanted to be able to remove the 'trousers' (really it's more of a latex modesty piece) when needed and NOT have jarringly white skin ruining the effect. So everything under the trousers was 'painted' blue (with magic) in keeping with the costume. I suppose it might not be the best idea to have a blue prick when the time comes to play around a bit, but who knows, maybe it'll be the thing that makes them all flock to me.

Clearly ready, we all Apparated to the designated point. I'm assuming that the fact that there IS a designated point means that we might run into at least one other witch or wizard at some point. That said, it's a big party, so maybe we'll get lost in different crowds. Shrugs.

When we arrived, we performed a bit of subtle magic to allow us to skip directly to the front of the queue without angering anyone. I think you might be right in that walking from the Apparation point to the venue was rather fun in and of itself. It seems that people in the area are used to seeing guests headed to a TG party, but still, we were a sexy looking group and caught eyes.

After passing BOTH costume checks, we were inside the massive St. Matthew's Church - which had been converted into a three story club called Mass. Perhaps since this might possibly be the first time (hopefully) that my parents have been to such a place (I really don't want to know if it's not their first time), but they stuck with us for a bit. We migrated to the burlesque room and watched a performer named Suri Sumatra titillate in a lacy pair of knickers and black flower bra.

At some point, a few other couples came over to ask my mother questions about my father's submissiveness that I did not want to hear the answers to, so I gave her a kiss on the cheek and left them to their own devices - confident that they could protect themselves from unwanted attention if necessary.

Thus, now on our own, we wandered around a bit to take in the sheer brilliance of the place - and watch people playing around in corners, on stages, and in the loos. Eventually, we found the dungeon...

Well now, I KNEW this was the room for us. The only real question was whether you would want to be on a cross, in a cage, or on a spanking bench? I chose the bench because I figured that it would be easier to 'force' you to perform extra services on people in relative comfort than if you were in a cage or on a cross.

I set just two rules for potential playmates to follow. First, while anyone could spank after asking for my permission, only men could ask for any sort of oral favors - and of course, no one was allowed to kiss you on the lips. Secondly, even though I KNOW that you do quite like the spankings to be hard - even on your bollocks - no one was allowed to break skin or go what I determined to be too hard. Yes, as I said, you probably would have loved it, but I wanted to be certain that you wouldn't get severely damaged within the first five minutes and have to be healed or go home.

I just so happened to pick a bench for you that was right next to a plush massage table. This turned out to be perfect because when people came over to us, it was usually in pairs. The dominant of the pair would want to take a turn spanking you. A lot of the submissives asked about the dragonfly harness and other forms of rope bondage. Which means that I was rather busy tying people up and forcing them to reward me for the pleasure by blowing me - using the table to help with all of that.

One couple that came over to us was a male Dom and a female Sub. The Dom wanted to give you a bit of a break from the spanking and instead asked if he could do something called sounding to you. I - always extremely concerned with your health and safety - had to have him explain it to me thoroughly and assure me that you would be safe and not hurt.

So, he explained that he wanted to use a little metal rod on you - specifically by gently inserting it into your urethra and massaging your prostate from the inside. He was quite the expert and also explained that there's a rather sharp bend in the urethra right before the prostate and that it takes infinite patience for both the sounder and the soundee to let the metal rod do it's job of navigating that bend without force or injury.

Once he explained everything to me and showed me that he had thoroughly sterilized his sounders and sealed them in plastic so that they couldn't be contaminated, and also had packets of specially sterilized lube to use, I thought this over for a few minutes. To be honest, I was extremely intrigued. You gave me that look that told me you trusted me to make the decision for you, and knew that I would put an immediate stop to it if anything felt wrong.

So, we moved you to the massage table and had you get as comfortable as possible while still in your harness. Your tiny latex knickers were removed via handy zipper, and you were told to relax as much as you could. I'm dead certain you tensed up nervously for a moment, but the Dom was actually a smooth talker, able to soothe your nerves fairly quickly.

As I watched in fascination, his Sub was ordered to give me an almost lazy blowjob. This meant she was basically being given something to do to prevent her boredom while her Dom played with a new playmate. She certainly must have a lot of practice at it because I felt only stimulated enough to remain hard and happy without actually working toward any sort of orgasm as I watched you.

Once ready, the Dom slowly and carefully inserted the well lubed steel rod into you. It was a little bigger than I thought it would be with a distinct bulb at the end to prevent it from going farther than necessary. Apparently it getting lost in there isn't really a concern, but a lot of first timers are squeamish about the idea, so the Dom uses ones with bulbs for a bit of added reassurance. The thickness of the rod was 5mm, and was at least 8 inches long - which turned out to be longer than needed for your urethra.

I watched, my eyes utterly glued to your gorgeous penis as the rod slowly sank all on it's own. This is apparently the key to successful sounding: don't force it and let the weight of the rod do the work for you. It naturally stops at the bend before the prostate, and our friend the experienced sounder let you have all the time you needed to adjust to this strange and unique feeling. Once you indicated that you were ready to move on, he chose a excruciatingly slow form of torture (for me) by very gently removing it most of the way, adding lube, and letting it 'fall' back into you several times in a row.

That man has the patience of a Saint!

Then, once you seemed to be very happy with that - I'm told that even without stimulating the prostate, the urethra is extremely sensitive and can be fun to play with. Anyway, he very gently and carefully manipulated the angle of your shaft so that he could coax the sound to safely go past that bend and reach your prostate. I could tell when it found the right spot because you inhaled an incredulous gasp and started making the most deliciously erotic mewling noises.

With infinite care, he made the tiniest movements, looking a bit like he was actually fucking your hole with the sound, but with little to no force. Your breathing took a very interesting turn and it took surprisingly little time for your to reach your orgasm. The Sub pleasing me paused to look up and erotically inform me as she swirled her tongue around my glans: "Just as he starts to shoot his load, my Master will slowly pull the sound from him and that will add just a little bit more to the experience, and altogether, it'll blow his mind."

Judging by the sound of your cry, she was right. Also, it looked like more ejaculate than normal. You must have really liked it. Now I sort of wish I'd asked for a go, but there was already a long queue waiting to go next, so I decided to forego that for the moment. Maybe I'll order you to do that to me in the safety of our playroom.

We were advised that you should really empty your bladder as soon as possible to ensure that nothing could remain and cause an infection. Interestingly, with the sound in your urethra, some of your ejaculate may have actually gone into your bladder, which isn't a problem, but could make your urine look milky.

Surprisingly, someone overheard us being advised to bring you to the loo as soon as you could stand on your shaky legs, and positively *begged* to, erm… have a golden shower. Well... It's no skin off our noses, right? So, I obligingly ordered you to go over to the designated area and give said shower. It took you a minute or so to get past your embarrassment, but once you looked over to see me giving you a look of pure challenge, you found that you were up to the task after all, haha.

After that, we had a few hours of our 'usual' playing - you using your mouth to make men oh so happy and me shagging anything that looked good for a bit of fun. But also, I used the massage table to use our violet wand on anyone that wanted it. In between the erotic torture, I taught people how to do various bondage ties.

At one point, when I was smirking at the fact that you were now suspended from the ceiling and being spanked by a woman who kept stopping to caress and kiss your gloriously rosy arse, I happened to be balls deep in a woman that was determined to have all her holes filled as much as possible (which is a bit of an interesting logistics challenge). An older woman strutted over to us and grabbed my face so that I had no choice but to pay attention to her.

She looked gorgeous in a sheer golden lace catsuit and smirked at me knowingly. "Just a moment of your time, luv. The Domme in the red waist cincher and her thoroughly worn out gimp would like you to know that they are going home and you're not to worry about them."

I felt a moment of distinct horror crawl up and down my spine and did my best to NOT look around to see if they were standing off to the side watching me. "Right. Thanks. Let them know they have absolutely NO need to wait up for us."

She cackled with glee. "Oh trust me, we're going to be so very busy!"

"Alright. Good. Thanks. Go on now!" I insisted, the mood nearly killed.

But not quite.

When I was ready to climax, a silver haired Goddess (or possibly God. Gender was a bit indeterminate. Shrugs) volunteered to swallow it down for me so that it didn't go to waste in a condom. Well alright, if you insist!

As I settled myself into a sturdy chair with nice arm supports as if I were a King sitting on my throne, I grinned at you. That's when a couple came over to ask if you had ever been figged before. Well, my memory was a bit fuzzy at that moment because I was nearly shagged out, but I couldn't recall. So, I thought, what the hell, why not? It's only 3AM and we've got a few more hours to kill.

The massage table came in handy once again, after I'd lowered you from your bondage, released you, and then tied you face down to the table. You actually looked very close to subspace, so I took the time to make sure you'd had something refreshing to drink (a nutritive potion in a nice lemon lime flavor), and a bit of chocolate. But nothing too much as a full stomach during this marathon could end badly.

Then your untouched hole (I was ironically being a bit possessive tonight and didn't give anyone the pleasure of shagging you) was teased with a freshly prepared finger of ginger. It was carved to form a soft blunt point with smooth sides and a definite base. When the teasing wound us both up rather nicely (anticipation can be such a wonderful thing at times), the ginger was inserted and left to do it's work.

Now I'm not complaining as I definitely had more than my fair share of fun, but it seems like you got to try all the interesting things! The beauty of this little technique is that it does all the work, and the rest of us were allowed to simply sit back and watch your flushed and increasingly desperate face. Apparently, the sensation turns nice fairly quickly, but in a torturous way. Much like my beloved violet wand, I imagine.

But on its own, it's not really enough to get you off, so when you got to the 'optimal point,' you were untied and carefully flipped over so that he could milk you with his mouth. I could tell that you were definitely done - shagged out - after that.

Which just means that we finished up the night in a 'ballroom' dancing in a way that was more leaning on each other and snuggling than any REAL dancing. And the kissing! Sweet Salazar's slaggy mother! The kissing alone nearly made me spray the floor!

But eventually, the night was over and those of us still lingering in the club were gently but firmly evicted from the premises. Which is a good thing because we were both dead on out feet! So, of course, I couldn't sleep until I recapped our night, sigh.

But I've finished now and can barely see I'm so tired. If you absolutely MUST wake me for any reason, it had better be for a dire emergency and accomplished by a hard shaft up my arse before I've regained any sort of consciousness. Love you so much that it takes my breath away!

Spank my booty, come on and spank my booty, spank my booty, spank my booty real good,  
Draco  
P.S. Mmm… It's been a while since *I've* had a good spanking. If you're not up for it, invite someone over to do it for you and if there's anything else you want to see me 'forced' to do, that would be a good time, don't you think?


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco has more business and Harry's a little concerned. Although, everything is going according to plan ^_^

Monday September 7th  
My Co-Conspirator,

Everything's going to plan! Dinner last night was perfect. I don't think anyone suspects a thing.

Bwahahahaha!

Okay, I don't think I'm quite build for maniacal laughter. Maybe a sidekick chuckle?

If we had only invited Hermione, Ron, Blaise, and Kisa, it would have been obvious what we were trying to accomplish. Or if our precise plan wasn't obvious, the fact that we had an ulterior motive would have been. But a full circle dinner would have been so many people that the key players in this scheme would have easily been able to avoid each other, which wouldn't have worked with our plans. I don't know how much worrying you did, but I've been turning all the different combinations in my head for days. But I think the people we had made sense and were perfect for our plans.

Obviously the four in question were invited, but again we didn't want the children to act as a buffer. That's where Molly came into play. I just happened to suggest to her that the two sets of parents could really use a night to themselves and all of a sudden, what do you know, Grandma Molly issues an invitation for the Granger-Weasley-Zabini kids and the Malfoy kids to have a fun evening of board games at the Burrow. I shouldn't have been surprised by the way Arthur took to tabletop games after that Meet 'n Greet night all those years ago, but he is really into it!

Thankfully, Pansy was available on short notice to come for dinner. She left Pearl and Paige at home with their Dad, or the house elves, or their nanny staff. I don't know, there are so many people there! For as "few" children as Pansy has, she has just as big of a support staff as we do with our nine! And if we didn't have Jaz, we wouldn't have needed Leah and we would actually have one less staff member than Pansy!

And huh what do you know, while Lainie and Kisa were at Luna's they issued an invitation to their group. Only Luna and Rolf were available, which I suppose is just as well. I don't know their boyfriend and girlfriends as well. They seem nice enough, but if I was going to be all devious I feel like I needed to be surrounded by people whose reactions I was familiar with.

The dinner itself went well, all the key players followed their scripts. Oh, hey, what do you know, Hermione was offered a job opportunity! In Russia! Can you even believe it? She seemed to be digging for a bit of information from me. "Harry, did you set this up? Are you trying to get rid of me?" Yeah, like I would try to get rid of Hermione Granger. Well, I mean I did push them in her direction, but certainly not to get rid of her. Even if this whole double baby thing hadn't happened, I wouldn't have tried to get rid of her. It just fell in our laps at the perfect time.

"Hermione, do you really think I would want to get rid of you? Or that I am that calculating? I knew they were looking to open up a Traditions since they tried to get me to head it up." At that point 'Mione looked like she was going to argue but I quickly pushed on, "My family needs this year to regroup emotionally, there is no way I was going to take it, I didn't even let them get to the point of making me an offer." That's when I started the giggling, "and it's not like I am in any way responsible for Traditions here! I told them that all I did was come up with the idea and hire you as Headmistress."

That seemed to appease her. I think it was just enough truth, because if she asks them directly and they tell her how much I talked her up, we can attribute that to me trying make my role look less important and not to some devious underhanded scheme to trick her into moving to Russia.

Haha! Except it is! I am so devious!

The pregnancies weren't made mention of. Which I assumed would happen. Hermione is feeling unsettled about her own, although much better now that she knows that Blaise was thrilled about it. And no one but you knows about Kisa's. Unless she's told Lainie, but I am most definitely pretending I have zero knowledge about any buns in any ovens. Blissfully oblivious, that's me.

And again, you'd think I had sent Luna and Pansy a list of what topics to bring up. It honestly wouldn't have gone better if I HAD scripted the thing. I don't even know how the subject came about but all of a sudden Luna was waxing poetic about their girlfriends and boyfriend bringing amazing things into their established relationship. I swear Luna went on for twenty minutes that she tends to have her head in the clouds, and Rolf has his wedged in a book, and somehow Hector manages to ground them both and draw them out of their shells … or clouds and books as it may be.

Which somehow segued perfectly into Pansy's performance. I honestly didn't even realize I was pushing the conversation in the right direction, I was just so intrigued by the idea of each person bringing something else to the relationship. For someone romantically monogamous as I am, the idea of needing more than just you is so strange, but I know better than to think what's perfect for me has to be right for everyone else. So I asked, "What do Hayley and Janna bring?"

Luna let out one of her breathy laughs, "You mean besides what they can do with their tongues?" Uhhhh, yeah, I definitely meant besides that.

Which caused Pansy to announce loudly, "No one is better at orally pleasing a woman than someone with a fanny of their own!" Which caused Luna and Hermione to loudly reply with a "Hear Hear!" and a clinking of their three glasses.

I think Pansy may have been taking her night away from the kids to new levels, because I am pretty sure she was quite pissed at this point. She started shouting across the table to 'Mione, "Remember the night after our first circle dinner here at the Manor? I swear you went down on me for at least three hours, I knew women were capable of multiple orgasms, but I had no idea I could actually have that many."

And Ron must have only been a drink or two behind Pansy as he started giggling like a lunatic, "Oi! I remember that. She made you squirt so much we thought we might as well create one of those Muggle things. What are they called? The Slippery Slides? Yeah, just take all that slick and schwooooo right across the floor!" He got all puffed up and proud looking and started gesturing towards Pansy, "Learned everything I know about pleasing a woman by watching Hermione in between that set of thighs, I did."

Apparently my shameless giggling drew a bit too much attention to me because Ron pointed at Blaise next and continued with, "And I learned everything I ever needed to know about pleasing a man by watching Harry between THAT set of thighs!"

Oh dear Merlin am I glad that Lainie decided to help out Molly and Arthur by going with her siblings to the Burrow. She already saw me in a vinyl strip of nothing on Saturday night, she doesn't need to know how well I handle Blaise's cock.

Although I suppose horrifying your children with your sexual deeds is a Malfoy tradition. One of the highlights of my evening, but a low point for both you and Lucius, was when your parents' overnight guest accidentally stumbled upon our group while looking for … I have no idea what she was looking for but she found us.

"Oh, you're the delightful couple from Torture Garden! I saw you take a sounding AND a few hours of spanking young man, aren't you just the sweetest little sub?" Damn, I thought she had been with your parents most of the night, I guess not. But hey, at least she wasn't there for the figging?

"And look at you blondie! Yer the spitting image of your dad. I didn't notice at the club due to the hood and all, but now that I've seen both of you, yeah you look just like him." I saw her get a terrifying twinkle in her eye, "I've had a set of twins before but never a father and son, you let me know if yer ever interested doll."

Annnnnd I don't think I am ever getting laid again after that offer. If your shivering and your facial expressions are anything to go by, I am pretty sure your bollocks pulled right back up inside of you.

Unless you're still in the mood for that spanking, you don't need bollocks for me to warm your arse. I don't need to outsource your spanking, I may not be a dom, I may be a sub at heart, but I can take charge when I need to. You can count on me my love.

But when you are back to feeling yourself we should absolutely look into adding to our toy collection. I know my birthday has already passed, but I could really use my own set of sounding rods. That was so scary but fucking hell was it amazing. And if I were completely bound and at your mercy while you sounded me? Oh fuck, I am hard as steel right now just thinking about it. Will you please please please sound my cock?

Ok, I need to come wake you up and have my way with you, if I don't take care of this soon I am going to explode.

Love you!  
Harry

 

Tuesday September 8th  
Harry, my love,

Just another quick note to remind you that after I see Yesenia tonight, I have a bit of business to attend to and might not be home before you go to bed. Love you and see you when I see you!

Feels so good being bad, there's no way I'm turning back... 'Cuz I may bad but I'm perfectly good at it, sex in the air, I don't care I love the smell of it, sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me,  
Draco  
P.S. I'll sound you if you sound me!

P.P.S I'm looking forward to that spanking!

 

Wednesday September 9th  
Draco,

Hey love. We just got back from movie night. Ponyo, Ponyo little fishie in the sea, Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo come back to meeeeee!

That is going to be stuck in my head for months!

I know you and our kids love their Japanimation. The time we spent in Japan was beautiful and wonderful. I also really loved being able to bring Viona to the location of her very first ever holiday locale. We were able to bring her to the place we were staying when we realized she was our forever daughter.

Anyway, you all fell in love with the anime and it's just not really my thing. Something about the mouth movement not matching the sound? I don't know, I will watch it with you guys but it's definitely not something I will turn on for myself. But every once in a while I can just fall into one. And Ponyo is definitely one of those that speaks to my heart.

I had a good session with Katja last night. Nothing really big or important came up. Just more of the opening myself up to allowing some of the hard memories through instead of trying to bury them. I hope your session with Yesenia went well. I love you.

Um, so your business meeting. You, uh, are you doing a lot of magic at these meetings? You had that "I've just really exerted my magical levels" scent, and you must have used a lot of magic because I could even smell it under the scent of perfume again. Oh, and it seems as though Yesenia must have decided to try a new shade of lipstick. I should probably tell her it needs a sealant of some sort because when she kissed your cheek it left quite the imprint.

So yeah, I guess we were busy today, but I'd really like to hear all about your business. Soon.

Love,  
Harry


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is being evasive and Harry is getting fed up.

Thursday September 10th  
My heart,

I'm so glad you loved Ponyo as I think it may be my new favorite movie. I don't know, there's just something about a child finding their forever person before they even really know what that means that just speaks to me. Plus, the massive amount of sea magic called into play was just gorgeous. I'm going to watch this movie with Jaz ALL the time!

Wait, maybe not... She might internalize the message that she does not need to respect her father... Yeah... better wait until she's MUCH older before watching that with her again, heh heh…

So there's good news, I'm meeting up with my Australian mates today to take a look at what they've done so far on our adventure park. It's going to be a blast once fully operational, but so far, I think they've only got a few rooms ready to go and the rest is still being constructed. I might even test things out a bit, depending on which rooms are operational at the moment.

As for the magic you smelled on me on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I have a bit of a confession to make. It's nothing to worry about, I simply got into a tiny duel. I was seeing to my business and a duel erupted, so I naturally had to use every trick in the book to ensure that I was the victor - which I was. That kiss mark you noticed - which sorry, I hadn't realized it was there or I would have wiped it off - but anyway, that must have come from the woman that kissed me in congratulations when I won the duel. But as you noticed, it was on my cheek. I did NOT let her do anything you would dislike.

I hope you know by now that I have no need to go behind your back and betray you because I KNOW that if I wanted a particular woman for a night of diversion, I'd just have to tell you and we'd turn it into a playdate of somesort. Please never worry about that.

Anyway, I'm off to inspect London's very own Choose Your Own Adventure Park. If I know my mates, there will probably be drinking involved after the fact, so if I'm late tonight, that's why.

Love you more than anything else in this whole world,  
Draco

 

Friday September 11th  
Malfoy,

I just had the loveliest evening. It was Hannah and Davis' engagement party. We were only engaged for a week before we got married, so we definitely didn't have an engagement party. The trio hasn't married. Pansy was married before we got together. Neville and Charlie just did an announcement at the Burrow. And Greg and Millie decided not to do an engagement party and just put all of their efforts into the wedding. So I've not been to a party like this before.

I'm so glad they had dancing. I danced with all of our kids at least once. Well, the ones that were there since Siri, Zwei, and Jaz were too little for this kind of party and stayed home with your parents. I got to sway in your arms. And we had so much yummy champagne. You must have had too much because all of a sudden you were excusing yourself to the loo. And not in one of those "wink, wink, nudge, nudge, meet me in the gents" kind of loo breaks. And before I knew it I was being told by the bride-to-be that you made your excuses to her and had an emergency business issue.

It's just too bad we don't have crystal phones. Or insta-owls. Good thing the person who was supposed to be enjoying her party was able to be your messenger.

You know, in our ten years of marriage I have only once doubted you Draco Lucius Malfoy. When you sent me away while you were grieving our first missed/lost pregnancy, I thought you were sending me away for good. Since the second you told me to come home, I have never had reason to wonder where you were or why. To wonder if we were alright. Our relationship is the bedrock that I have built my life upon. No matter what happened in my life, I could get through it with your hand in mine.

And then you say this, "I hope you know by now that I have no need to go behind your back and betray you because I KNOW that if I wanted a particular woman for a night of diversion, I'd just have to tell you and we'd turn it into a playdate of some sort. Please never worry about that." Why would I have worried about that? As long as we've been together, the thought hasn't even crossed my mind. I've wondered what you see in me. I've wondered why you settled for someone so below your league. I've thought about taking you to get your eyes checked because you seem to find me extremely attractive. But I have never worried about that.

Until now.

So, I hope you enjoy your evening with your mates. I hope business goes well. And I really hope you don't get in too late. Because I am going to sit here in my chair. The chair we've made love in. The chair you and I have sat in to read a million bedtime stories. The chair we've rocked our babies in. The chair we often snuggle in at the end of a long day to catch up and reconnect. I am going to do nothing but sit here, and wait for you, and think about what you're doing.

I suppose if I get truly bored I can send some insta-owls, but I think I will wait and see how long it takes me to get bored waiting.

-Harry

 

\-----------------------------

Insta-Owl from Blaise:

Draco my friend, I would get home if I were you.

\-----------------------------

Missed call from Luna

\-----------------------------

Insta-Owl from Kisa:

Glupyy Plemyannik, I'm getting weird messages from my mother. Go home.

Pridurok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After I sent the last email basically saying: "I have more business to attend to and might be late again," I sent Chrissie a message telling her that she could choose to follow Draco and witness his bad behavior first hand, OR she could just go home and wait patiently for him to come home and try to avoid both confessing AND Harry's wrath. She chose to wait, but then decided to NOT be very patient about it, lmao ^_^


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco confesses to everything. Of course, that's not his first choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will only feature Draco's email. Thus you are not somehow missing half the chapter by not having Harry's response.  
> That said, it's still plenty for a chapter :-)

Saturday September 12th around 3:30 AM  
My life,

I must have really stuck my foot in it. I'm so sorry! When I came home, I was naturally still wearing the nice Armani suit I'd worn to Hannah's party, but it was, erm... highly incriminating. My tie was missing, my waistcoat open, my button up rumpled. Things like that. I also must have reeked of smoke and perfume.

You took one look at me, gave me a fiercely angry glare, and said: "Explain yourself!"

I was exhausted. It was nearly three in the morning, after all! So I tried my best to soothe your ruffled feathers. "Harry, my love, can you please wait for answers until after I've gotten some sleep?"

You raised a brow in a way that you simply must have learned from me. "And give you time to come up with a believable cover story?"

I flinched because that had definitely crossed my mind. Suddenly ablaze with fury, you thrust my laptop into my arms and growled: "Get out and go write down EVERYTHING that happened, and IF I forgive you once I read it, we'll talk."

Sighing, I took my laptop and slunk off to the white room. A big part of me wants to crawl into bed and get about a week's worth of sleep before doing anything else. So, I sat down to write a quick summary.

I had some business to attend to. It was a bit of an emergency, but nothing I couldn't handle. Now that I'm home, I'm tired and need to get some sleep. I'll tell you everything in the morning.

Love,  
Draco

-

Saturday around noon  
The most important person in my life,

Fuck! It seems that you were serious about me explaining things before you'll talk to me. Sigh...

Damnit! I even went so far as to pound on the bedroom door when I knew you were in there alone and you wouldn't say a word. I had to give up when your Patronus ran through the door and snarled at me in your voice to go do as told before you decided that it was a brilliant idea to take the kids on holiday without me.

Bloody buggering hell!

So now I'm sitting all alone in the white room having a rather large dilemma because if I tell you what I did, you'll murder me, but if I DON'T... you'll murder me, sigh...

I just made a floo call to Yesenia and explained a little bit to her, and she told me to stop being a bloody idiot and get on with telling you, so here goes...

Okay so...

Well...

You see what happened was...

Wait, perhaps I might just let you take the kids and go, at least that way, I'll live through this. Actually, no I won't, because I'd die of a broken heart. Fuck!

So here goes!

…

Where do I start?

…

I guess I'll start at the beginning.

Right.

So, as you know, I partnered with Hannah recently to rescue Penny. When I got home, you basically told me to NEVER put myself in any sort of danger again. And that's why I really don't want to tell you this...

At the same time, it seems I impressed Robards. And Kingsley. The two of them have had a bit of a problem for a while now, and they had no idea how to even begin solving it because erm, well, they didn't have an in.

So, during my session with Yesenia two weeks ago, I got a message from Robards asking me to come in for a bit of a chat. It seems that they thought I might be able to help them with their problem, but they didn't want to send me in unless I could prove I could handle myself. That night, they decided to test me - in a hand to hand, non magic sort of way. I was partnered with a woman who they consider their best Auror. And by partnered, I really mean pitted against.

See, this woman is in her 30s and a bit like a gorgeous viper. She wears high fashion and expensive perfumes under her Auror robes, but is almost as deadly as Kisa. She keeps the Auror department in shape by forcing the other Aurors to practice their self defense whenever she feels that they've been slacking. The night started by a little light sparring with a rookie, and then a more experienced Auror, and so on until I was sparring all out with her.

I'll admit that my pride was hurt a bit when she had me flat on my back at least twice, but I ended up winning the match, and since that was AFTER I had already won several other matches and she was fresh, I thoroughly impressed everyone.

Things sort of had to be put on the back burner for a bit as Robards started seriously planning things out. But then before I went to Yesenia's this last Tuesday, I got a message that they wanted to finish up my testing. So I went in, only this time, I had to demonstrate my skill in combat magic. So I had a duel. Or ten. Basically, everyone there put me through a bit of a gauntlet. I went through a sort of maze, doing my best to dodge or deflect all attacks while stunning or otherwise incapacitating everyone via approved spells and methods.

I won that too, haha! As a reward for doing so well, Ginger (the viper) hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, so I didn't lie about that. NOTHING happened! There really was no need for you to be worried and sound passively aggressively jealous.

Thursday night, after spending the day with Rory and Nate - our adventure park is coming along SWIMMINGLY!!! I'm so excited about this! They have Mount Everest ready to climb and the cove full of sharks ripe for parasailing! Strangely, it's easier to get a half dozen sharks than a dragon or two. And don't worry, they have a beautiful bit of magic in place to prevent the sharks from dying of captivity. It's sort of like those infinity pools - but I can see you glaring at me in my mind. Apparently you're not going to let me change subjects so easily.

Grr!

As I was saying, Thursday night, after spending the day with Rory and Nate, I was called in to discuss the, erm… undercover operation...

Can I please leave it here??? PLEASE???

No? … Sigh... Fine!

That took half the night as we needed to be certain every contingency was covered, and as we were leaving for the night, Ginger hugged me and wished me luck. So, when you wrinkled your nose at her perfume on me yet again, seriously, it has nothing to do with indiscretions and everything to do with the fact that she likes to drown in the stuff and it gets everywhere!

The consensus was they weren't quite sure WHEN I'd be conducting this undercover operation, but that it would be the MOMENT they could confirm the target. Which just so happened to be while we were at Hannah's party. I really did have to go to the loo, but mid-slash, I received an Insta-owl letting me know that everything was in place and I was needed that second. So I rushed to say my goodbyes to Hannah and let her know to let you know I had something important to do.

I honestly didn't think that you'd jump to conclusions that filled you with rage!

At that point, I Apparated away and... helped the Aurors catch a bad man. Can we call it good now? Please???

Damn it! I can almost SEE your face glaring at me. Are you actually under your invisibility cloak reading this over my shoulder?

FINE!

So...

Well...

What happened was that I went to a club called NDE - which apparently stands for Neo Death Eater. Great, eh? This club was run by and dedicated to people who want to do things that no sane person should want to do. They don't even really care about the Dark Lord. They don't want to resurrect him or make a new person in his imagine, they simply want to be like terrorists who do horrifying things.

That said, they DO actually want a leader.

And that's sort of where I came in...

Now obviously, there was no way they were just going to accept me as their new leader with no reason to believe in me, so I had to put on a good act and convince them as soon as possible that I was the real deal. It started innocently enough with drinking and poker, and a couple of drugs (I'd been given a potion to negate all effects from drugs and alcohol, but was able to act both drunk and high from previous experience, so...), but then when I'd gained their trust at least a little, talk turned to some of the things their organization already did, and things they wanted to do in the future.

One of the things that they already did was they absolutely LOVED finding homeless people, preferably young runaways, but more importantly, ANYONE who cleaned up nicely. These poor people - both men and women - were NOT being rescued as (once they were cleaned up and fed a cocktail of mind-controlling drugs) they found themselves the new toys in a very dark brothel. These toys were considered slaves with no rights, and the patrons were allowed to do whatever they wanted to them. Including killing them.

The circle who considered themselves the future Generals to the leader - once they chose one - each summoned their favorite slave and asked me to teach them the things that the Dark Lord taught me. They REALLY wanted me to teach them to cast the Killing Curse, but I was able to deflect them by telling them that I was dead certain that not one of them had what it took to cast it at that moment.

Instead, I had to Crucio a couple of the slaves, and treat a few others rather badly. But at this point, I had the proof I was sent in to get. I had accomplished the mission and simply needed to wait for the Aurors to come in and raid the place. I knew it would happen from the moment that I activated a magical signal/tracker that I was wearing. It was cleverly hidden on the bottom of my wedding ring, and so I was able to play with my ring throughout the night - as a 'tell' during the poker game. Thus, when it was time to send the signal, no one questioned why I was playing with my ring.

To maintain my cover (in case any of them escaped or there were others that we'd need to track down), I was 'arrested' in the raid, but I couldn't let myself be taken without a fight. I had to appear to be resisting as much as possible - and that's where my sparring with Ginger came in handy. We knew we could go all out against each other and both survive relatively unharmed. That's why I looked a bit disheveled when I came home, and probably reeked of her perfume again.

Once everyone was in custody and hauled in (wards had been erected while I was doing my job to prevent escape), I was congratulated and allowed to come home. Where I found you glaring at me worse than a dragon whose egg had just been stolen. Sigh...

And now I'm going to go take a shower - since I hadn't yet - and pray that you read this and decide to NOT murder me after all.

I love you and I am so sorry that I hid something so important from you, but I suppose I was afraid that if I told you that I was directly disobeying you so soon after you telling me to never put myself in danger again, you'd forbid me from helping, and I... had to... I can't really explain it.

Remorsefully yours,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Draco's part of the last chapter was so short and it made a better impression to leave off with Harry's passively aggressively angry email, I added that to the last chapter to give it a bit more length. But I actually prefer Harry's emails to go first most of the time, and so that's why I am correcting the order in this chapter by not including Harry's response. Rest assured that Draco is in some serious TROUBLE! heh heh…
> 
> Also, hilariously enough, as I was writing this, I kept taking screen shots of the parts where Draco was begging to stop the explanation, and sending them to Chrissie via messenger, and she would reply with: "No you may not stop! In fact, stop stalling and get on with it already!" lol, which is why Draco feels Harry was invisibly in the room with him at one point, even though he wasn't, lmao ^_^


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry responds to Draco's explanation and Draco is in far more trouble than he thought (；一_一)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't feel like I could go to bed and leave y'all wondering how Harry reacts, so I posted again, lol.

Saturday around 2PM  
I had a lot of time to think last night. A LOT of time. I sat and thought about all of the worst case scenarios. I thought about best case scenarios. I had a million different probabilities running through my head. I had never allowed myself to doubt you, and when I let my mind go there, it went wild.

Maybe you were cheating on me. What if you were sick of being tied to a man for the rest of your life? I know we play around, but maybe you were realizing that you really lean more towards the female side of your bisexuality and want to have regular access to a woman? What if all the recent talk of poly relationships made you want to leave me and be with someone who isn't romantically monogamous.

Then I dragged my mind out of that downward spiral and thought, perhaps I am being hard for no reason. Wouldn't I be horrified if the real reason you'd been keeping secrets and coming home smelling of a woman was because you were planning some overly elaborate surprise for me? Like learning some elaborate dance or building some special room at your choose your own adventure park that would fulfill some secret wish of mine. Oh Merlin, what if I was sitting here in a rage, egging on Grandmama with talk of your potential betrayal of our family, and you were out doing something special for me and just trying to keep it a surprise until it was ready.

I had quite the panic attack over that one.

While I was berating myself for not believing in you, I tortured myself in a different direction. What if you had some sickness and were afraid to tell me. Can you imagine my guilt when I sat there thinking about being angry with you while you were strapped in some room at St. Mungo's getting some cutting edge treatment to save your life? I almost lost it at that point. I was picturing you dying of some disease, alone in some room so you could spare me some emotional trauma.

And then you finally came home. Safe and whole and mine. Wait. No. Not mine. My Draco has learned to open himself up to emotions. My Draco confides in me. Loves me. Trusts me. My Draco is this perfectly put together man who allows me to see his softer side. My Draco shows the world a perfect façade, and I get to see him at his most open and vulnerable. Our children and I are the only ones who get to see you rumpled and imperfect. Our view of your imperfections is one of my most treasured possessions.

And then you came home, perfectly safe, and rumpled. Looking so handsome, but not looking like mine. And after all of that you still tried to evade talking with me. You tried to sleep on it so you could come up with some story that would be partial truths to keep me from being mad. Not to save me pain, but to save yourself from my anger. You rambled through an email, trying to distract me from wanting to know what happened to my husband. I think my favorite part was where, even if only for a moment, you contemplated letting me take all of our children away so you wouldn't have to tell me what had happened.

And then, after weeks of curiosity. Days of growing frustration. Hours of fear and anger. And a night of trying to numb my broken heart. I find out that you risked your life, putting yourself directly in the line of danger. Danger from horrible people with the power and ability to bring people into slavery and sell them to equally horrible people who have the ability to kill them if wanted. You waltzed into a Neo Death Eater's meeting place, with nothing but some protective charms from your jewelry, a few days of training, and false bravado.

I didn't think it was possible for the truth to be more horrifying and hurtful than the increasingly terrifying situations I dreamed up last night. But congratulations, you managed to top even my worst nightmares.

When will it be enough? When do you think you'll have done enough to atone for the mistakes of your youth? You're an amazing father. You've created orphanages throughout the world to bring hundreds of children into a safe situation. You've donated your time and money to charities. You've solved muggle murders. You've located missing children. You've helped abused children recover from their trauma. You've lived in a war zone. When will you have done enough? When you're dead? When you leave our children without one of their fathers?

I understand why you felt you needed to do this. You really do have a unique set of abilities and back story that made you one of the only people who could have pulled off this undercover mission. You saved lives. You removed people from what sounds like a prison of horror. I really do know why you couldn't say no.

But instead of talking to me, explaining why you needed to do this. Giving me the chance to be a part of your life. The ability to say "I love you" each time before you left. You hid all of this from me. Allowed me to think you were cheating on me because that was easier for you to deal with than dealing with a husband who wants you to be safe.

I don't care if you know Krav Maga. I don't care that you trained with Death Eaters. It makes no difference to me that you can beat the Auror's best dueler. You are not an Auror. You are not required to lay your life on the line any time Robards or Kingsley or Giles asks it of you.

This was big. I don't know if I can trust you anymore. I hope you know that even with me wanting you to stop putting yourself in danger, I would not have kept you from doing something you thought was important. I thought we were a team. I guess I was wrong.

I love you. That has not changed and will never change.

But I have no idea how long it will take me to heal from this wound you've dealt me.

I guess I'll see you on the plane.

-Harry

 

Sunday September 13th  
Dearest Harry,

I know I messed up badly, that I cracked the foundation of our relationship, and upon reflection, I think maybe the reason I kept this a secret from you was a bad reason, or, to be more precise, the reason I told myself and thus you wasn't necessarily the full reason.

See, there's just a part of me that automatically defaults to hiding it whenever I'm doing risky things. A part that was forced to learn that these sorts of plots are SUPPOSED to be secret. I do trust you to know, but I don't trust myself to tell you, I suppose. What I mean by that is if I think I need to do something and it's the right thing to do, but I think you won't want me to do it, I'll probably make the same mistake.

Salazar bloody Slytherin, I'm such an idiot at times! I know that makes no sense, not even to me, but there it is!

But I don't know how to fix this. I know that I will do ANYTHING you ask of me, but that doing *things* can't really fix a matter of broken trust, sigh. But still, I have to try.

To that end, I gave you space on the plane. I think we both did a fairly good job of not acting weird around the kids, but we didn't really talk to each other either. Pippa definitely noticed as she actually leaned over and whispered in my ear: "What the fuck did you do???"

I couldn't really tell her, so I simply scribbled a note saying that I had definitely fucked up.

Then, after we'd settled into our hotel rooms and tucked the kids in, the two of us went to bed. We were silent and awkward at first, and then you rolled so that you were facing away from me. I rolled so that I could spoon you under normal circumstances, but didn't dare try anything so bold when I clearly wasn't welcome. So, I put a hand on your back and did my best to focus on my breathing so that I could stay calm and fall asleep.

It must have worked, because the next thing I knew, Jaz was doing whatever it is she does that wakes me up without her making a sound. I got up and fed her, danced with her a bit, and rocked her back to sleep. Then I got an idea. It was going on 4 in the morning, so, not TOO much before you normally wake up.

So, I pulled a robe on and rushed off to the front desk where I promised to pay whatever it took to obtain at least three dozen flowers and an expensive box of all our favorite chocolates in the next two hours. I was given a lovely cup of tea to sip on while I waited, but happily, they have a service motto that caters to people who ask for crazy things in the middle of the night, and thus, I soon had my quest items in hand.

By this time, it was coming up on 6 am. I quietly slipped back into our room, arranged the flowers around the bed in a way that should please even the most discerning eye, and then set the chocolates on the small dresser right next to your side of the bed.

Then I set about waking you up in the only way I could think of that MIGHT make you feel better - at least a little. I gave you a full body massage using your favorite relaxing blend of oil. An innocent one. I didn't even try to grope you or be inappropriate in any way until the very end when you were on your back and one of my favorite parts of you was pointing emphatically at your own head. Slowly, I slid my hand toward your shaft, only you made a sort of unt-uh noise and shook your head just a tiny bit.

Honoring your cue, I stopped touching you completely and dropped to my knees on the floor at the side of the bed. Then I sat on my feet with my hands in my lap, resigned to staying there all day if necessary. You rolled to your side and looked at me in silence for a long moment. Then you sighed.

"Look, I know you're sorry, but I'm still mad. It's going to take me a while to calm down, so let's just pretend that everything is normal today. Hold hands. Shop. See sights. Then tonight, we'll ask Elena or River to take Jasmine for a bit, and we'll try talking. Sound good?"

I nodded. "I can do that."

"Good," you stated with a faint smile. "And since it seems I have a little slave for the day, why don't you start by giving me a lovely bath. If you remain on your best behavior, I MIGHT give you a reward when you're done - but don't get too excited, I simply mean a quick kiss."

I gave you a small smile. "Even quick kisses from you are worth more than entire vaults full of Galleons."

"Flatterer!" You accused with a tiny smile that you just couldn't suppress.

And that was the start of not just our day, but my apology. I know it's by no means good enough, but you are the only person I have ever known who can't be bought. I CAN'T just go buy you a nice new diamond bracelet or pair of earrings. I CAN'T just take you on an exotic trip and shower you in rose petals and expensive champagne. Thus, I honestly have no idea what to do except for what I am.

Stay right here on my knees and do every tiny little thing you ask me to until you feel it's enough to make up for what I did.

And speaking of enough, I'm sorry, but I don't actually know the answer to your question because even if I was 1000 years old and on my Death Bed, and Merlin came to me and said that I had been such a good person during the last 982 years that I more than made up for being a bad person for the first 18, I'm still not sure I'd feel like I'd done enough. If offered right then and there to do just one last thing before I died, something that would save even just one person and help me atone for all of my sins, I'd probably do it. And then STILL not feel like I've done enough...

At this point, I can only pray that you don't feel the same way about my keeping this a secret from you.

Contritely, apologetically, remorsefully, and down here on my knees to prove that I am forever, yours,  
Draco


	44. Chapter 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is still mad at Draco, and yet he can't help but forgive him just a little.

Sunday September 13th  
Damn you Draco Malfoy!

I wanted to stay mad at you. It was legitimate, rightful, anger. I need you to understand how devastating your lack of faith, trust, and honesty was to me.

But how can I stay angry with you when you're going to punish yourself more than I could ever dream of punishing you? How dare you think you need to spend a millennia atoning for your mistakes? Mistakes that you've taken complete ownership of even when you know there were contributing factors to your choices.

If you can't make the right choices for yourself and your safety, I'd like you to consider your risky behavior from a different angle. Is your atoning worth our children growing up without you? Is your redemption worth knowing I would live the rest of my days grieving your loss? Is the life you save worth more to you than my and our children's feelings of pain when we lose you?

I can't answer that, only you can answer that.

I was really worried about spending the day with our brilliant children, pretending things were normal, while being in the middle of the biggest fight we've had to date. But the more I "tried" to make things normal the more they were. I had to tell myself to hold your hand when we started our day, and within minutes my hand was just in its natural spot. I had to tell myself to kiss your cheek and giggle at your snobby behavior, and then I was just laughing naturally.

You picked the perfect destination to butter me up. We walked through the Fontvieille Park, with it's gorgeous greenery and beautiful statues. And ended up in Princess Grace herself's Rose Garden. You patiently waiting while I took a million and one pictures. Gave the kids the "do not argue with your father" eyebrow when they fussed about having to be my subjects. And I think by the end of the walk you were conjuring puddles so you would have an excuse to carry me over them.

I am still angry. And I think you will feel better about our fight if you can keep pampering me and kneeling for me. (Fuck it's so hot, I don't want it all the time but you're so delightfully beautiful in your submission) But I think I'm in the right mindset to really be able to have this talk with you.

So, as soon as you get back from dropping Jaz off with Lainie, I am here and ready to talk.

Love,  
Harry

 

Sunday September 13th  
My heart and soul,

I have no idea why it's so hard to talk to you at times. I mean you are the only person I WANT to tell all my sins to. I only tell Yesenia because I have to in order to keep my mind healthy, but I don't really want to tell her anything, to be honest. I want to tell you, but then - on the very rare occasion - I take a look at you and just sort of... freeze...

Initially, yes, I hid this thing from you for bad, probably selfish, and completely illogical reasons. As I said, it was never a matter of not trusting you to know, simply... Oh I don't know, I guess some sort of conditioning that this is the sort of thing that I'm SUPPOSED to keep secret.

It's sort of like when I kept the Adventure Park thing a secret. I did it because I was putting myself in mild danger simply to have a lark, and I didn't want you mad at me or making me feel guilty for wanting it. Plus, you know, in THAT instance, I really wasn't doing anything wrong and I am entitled to have a few harmless secrets.

But in THIS instance... I will admit that I was in the wrong. Some of the reasons were the same, and some were baffling and inexplicable, and I'm not sure I'm ever going to fully understand it myself.

So anyway, there we were, all alone in our beautiful hotel room, holding hands, and neither one of us was saying a word. For you, I think it was because there weren't any NEW questions to ask, I'd explained everything and apologized, so it wasn't like you could just say: "Will you please explain this to me?" And for me, I'd already said everything that needed to be said and didn't have anything new to add, so I just didn't know what to say.

So we sat there in silence, both probably wondering what to say. Then I felt a profound sadness come over me because I wasn't sure when or if you were ever going to let me hold you again. I may or may not have felt tears leaking from my eyes in a silent stream down my face. I looked away to hide them, simultaneously squeezing your hand in mine.

"I love you so damn much," I whispered, because it was true, even though it wasn't going to fix anything between us.

You softened just a bit and squeezed my hand in return. "I know you do. I love you too. That was never in doubt."

I stood up and pulled you into my arms, not knowing what I would do if you resisted me, but you didn't. You let yourself be pulled and we just stood there holding each other for so long I lost all track of time. And then you let me kiss you. Just a tiny but soft and warm smooch. Eventually, we went to bed and fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms, just holding each other and listening to our hearts beat.

I love you and I will get up every morning before you if you want so that I can wake you to another massage. I'll feed you chocolates and scatter flower petals over you so that you wake up feeling like you are in heaven. I'll do whatever you want, please just name it.

Forever and always,  
Draco


	45. Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something happens that helps Harry think about things from a different perspective and choose to let go of his residual anger.

Monday September 14th  
My Love,

Well, at least this time it wasn't a homophobe?

Don't worry, I didn't kill him. I wanted to. But I didn't.

I know we haven't completely healed from our big fight. I hate holding grudges, I would rather just be happy and full of love, but I also don't want to bury my feelings and have it grow into resentment. I'd rather deal with it now, as hard as it may be, than have it come out in some ugly way in the future when we aren't expecting it. But seeing how hard you're trying to show me how much you love me is doing wonders at healing my heart.

I really do think that much of the reason I can't let this go is the fact that I spent the last year or more, afraid for you, afraid for our family. And when we were safely removed from a war zone, I had told myself we were safe. I had to believe we were safe. I couldn't move forward in recovering from the trauma if I was busy expecting the next trauma to come jumping out at me. I know life is fragile and nothing is promised, but I feel as though we promised each other our safety and you broke that promise.

I don't think I would have been this angry if this had happened before Iran. I KNOW I wouldn't have been as angry because I barely made a fuss about you chasing that murderer once upon a time on your first raid with Hannah. But this year was supposed to be our year to heal. This was the year I wasn't going to fail at keeping my family safe. And you lied to me, and accompliced yourself to my failure.

But falling asleep last night wrapped up in each other went so far in soothing the pain. Waking up yesterday to a massage and flowers and chocolates was certainly delightful, don't get me wrong, but this morning? Waking up wrapped in your arms and your scent, hearing your heartbeat, and looking up to see you had already woken and were watching me intently with those beautiful eyes I love? That is what I want. I want to know you'll be home to sleep in our bed (or the hotel's luxurious bed) with me even if you come to bed late and sweaty from dancing with our daughter. And I want to know I will wake up and see that face I am in love with, even if there's almost no chance you will be getting out of the bed anytime soon.

Again, I don't need you to keep pampering me and tripping over yourself to fix this, but I am certainly enjoying the extra attention. I like that once I gave you the go-ahead to touch me, that you couldn't stop giving me little loving touches all day.

But I digress, back to the man I definitely did not kill.

We decided to spend today doing our favorite Malfoy activity; shopping. Monaco has the world famous Cercle d'Or. Luxury shopping in one of the most luxurious countries. Our divas were beside themselves with the insane amount of couture. And there were enough non fashion based shops and interesting souvenirs that even our non-divas had plenty to occupy themselves with.

For once, Jaz was happy as a clam being worn by me. You really were pulling out all the stops and trying to butter me up as you rarely let her out of your arms. And I suppose it's just as well she was with me at first. You weren't wearing your translator since you speak enough French to understand most of what's being said, but I was wearing mine. We were just walking down the streets, hand in hand of course. And our beautiful children were walking in front of us.

I can't get over how we're a family, but we have so many different looks. Elena is gorgeous with her dark Spanish looks and riot of curls. Viona, looks like a gymnast, small and feminine but muscular enough that you know she could kick your bum if she wanted to. River and Orion being tall, lanky, pale, and pointy, not quite having grown into their aristocratic features, matching faces with a contrast in coloring. Eris and Hazel, these tiny elfish pixies, olive toned and bright green eyes. Sirius with his Malfoy coloring and a beautiful mixture of our features, and Draco Jr short and sturdy and constantly filthy no matter how often I shoot cleaning charms at him. And our beautiful Jasmine, pitch black hair, eyes that may as well have been carved out of onyx, and her deep dark beautifully and naturally tan/bronze skin.

Our children know their ethnicities are different, we try to teach them their wizarding heritage and their ancestral heritage. They think nothing of sitting in between their beautiful cousin Veronica, whose skin is several shades darker than even our Jaz's, and their cousin Victoire who is so fair she practically glows in the dark. They see differences, embrace them, and find beauty in differences.

Others were raised with hatred and terrible ideals. People like the man I … dealt with.

We're walking along, enjoying our time together, when through my translator I heard something so foul I don't want to repeat it. But I will, because some day this memory will fade and I will want to remember just exactly what was said. Because you were hearing it straight and not having that slight delay that comes with the translation, you were already turned around and confronting him before I got the full sentence.

"Wow, I guess when you can't make children of your own you have to collect a bunch of miscellaneous little freaks."

What. The. Fuck.

I hastily handed Jaz to Lainie, so I could back you up. Normally, I enjoy you standing up against the homophobes of the world, but this man had insulted our children. I wanted to watch you tear him apart. I wanted to hear you use that razor edged tongue of yours and slice his emotional well-being to ribbons.

But... you hesitated. Because you were so afraid of barely getting back to some semblance of normal with me, you seemed to stop yourself like you didn't know whether to say something or avoid a confrontation to keep yourself out of danger. You managed to spit out "I'm surprised your ancestors managed to walk upright if they're producing something like you" but instead of watching his reaction, you looked back at me. And that's when he landed a lucky sucker punch and blacked your eye.

It's all my fault. Because you were so worried about me holding a grudge against you, you ignored your instincts. And because of that, he managed to damage what is MINE. You may have been frozen in shock but I wasn't. I demanded you all go back to the hotel, and in a move so quick I think I must have used some accidental magic, I dragged him into the closest alley and apparated out of the public eye.

I didn't actually touch him except for holding onto his arm while apparating.

So, did you know that there is a new method in the Mind Healing community that is similar to muggle hypnosis? You'd probably be quite interested in it, as it's a kind of legilimency. Basically if someone has a phobia or an addiction, they can request this method. It is only done when asked for and they sign a waiver and everything, so it's not ethically a problem or anything. But what they do is subtly add to the subconscious. For example, if someone were addicted to dreamless sleep, the mind healer implants a link in their mind so every time they think about the potion they receive a negative stimuli, usually a slight headache or something minor like that. Or if someone is recovering from a trauma, the mind healer can signal the body to receive a flush of dopamine if their mind starts to spiral into dwelling on the trauma.

Well, uh, so I was really curious how this works and uh, hmm, well I asked Katja to teach me the basics. I promised I would never attempt to use it on myself or my loved ones no matter the trauma I was trying to help. It is only to be used by trained and qualified Mind Healers. Yeah, this is the part where I did something bad.

I uh, may have used this technique. I uh, made it so whenever he thought something racist and hateful that he would get an intense itch in the middle of his back. See? Not so bad right? I um, may have also added that if he ever actually *said* anything racist again he would immediately lose control of his bladder.

I'm so sorry my love. I'm sorry that my inability to get over you doing something good for the world, managed to get you injured. I love you. Please forgive me.

I actually just stopped off in an internet café to send this off. I wanted to get all my thoughts out before I came back to the hotel and wept all over you. So I will be back before you even get a chance to read this. We just have the one night before we go home in the morning. Let's … make the best of our beautiful location yeah?

Love Always,  
Your Harry

 

Monday September   
Ma raison d'être,

Well now...

I have to admit that if receiving a little NOT love tap to the face is all it takes for you to want me so frantically, I might just come home punched up all the time!

I KID!!!

Yes, I was afraid to make you mad at me; to engage in an encounter that *could* potentially turn dangerous with our kids all right there and you still mad a me for putting myself in danger. So, I was trying to think of ways to express my displeasure while somehow deescalating the situation. And my focus was definitely more on you than the pathetic creature who calls himself a man.

After he punched me, I staggered back just a tiny bit, using the momentum to gather my wits and enter fighting mode. Before I had an opportunity to respond, you did that thing where oh so briefly, an actual halo of anger surrounds you. 'Accidental' magic or not, you definitely were moving at speeds faster than normal because you had him in an alley and gone in the blink of an eye.

Our kids are so used to you being the cuddly and fluffy dad that they tend to forget that there's a whole other side to you - a side that defeated a very bad man and won a war. We've told them because we've had to - to prevent them from finding out in ways that might be traumatic - but they've almost never seen it first hand. I mean, there was that time when we were in Iran when a wounded man gained your sympathy and tried to use our trust in him to manipulate some of the older girls into 'working' for him, and the kids all saw your magic nearly go out of control before you reigned it in and incarcerated him with a few painful hexes.

Thus, when our kids saw you clearly become very angry, they were in awe. After all, I'M the one they expect to get angry and go off on a person. Or they expect Elena and Kisa to flatten them. They don't really expect it from you. River used a bad word with a tone of such awe that I didn't have the heart to take him to task for it.

Elena actually muttered: "Oh damn! Someone gonna die..."

Viona and our almost triplets gave each other looks that were half agreement to avoid getting on your bad side, and half amusement that someone else had been so stupid.

Siri and Zwei wrapped their arms around me and begged to know if I was alright. I assured them that I was and quickly healed the colorful evidence that suggested otherwise. To be honest, so much happened in such a short time that I hadn't really even felt it.

Then I gathered up our brood and brought them back to the Hotel because I knew that when you were finished making it clear that no one was allowed to touch what was yours without permission, you'd more than likely return to our room to grieve over the whole thing. And I was right.

To a point.

Elena volunteered to take charge of the others until Saoirse and Rhys returned from their own sightseeing. I think Leah and Pippa actually returned first and were recruited to her cause, but in any case, I was alone in our room, waiting for you to come back.

I just barely had a moment to register the sound of an alert letting me know I had a new email, when you Apparated into our room, half sobbing, and threw yourself into my arms. Ever the opportunistic Slytherin, I took full advantage of the gift being given me by sweeping you off your feet, into my arms, and carrying you to bed.

We were both rather more frantic than necessary; you tore my pristine button up open even as I used an intangibility spell to banish your clothes to the other side of the room. We tried our best to suck each other's soul out via a passionate kiss. I wanted to reaffirm that you are MINE, and you needed to reaffirm that I am YOURS. I'm pretty sure all of our kids could have walked in at that very moment and we would have simply ignored them and continued on with our quest to reunite after a few days of celibacy.

And because we were both so frantic, we did a lot of wrestling around on the bed, both of us wanted to be the one inside the other as soon as possible, and normally you surrender to me even when you're in the rare mood to top, so... I surrendered to you. I had vowed to do whatever you wanted me to until I had made up for breaking your trust, and you wanted to prove to the world that I was yours.

As always, when you are in the mood to top me, you make the experience so hot and glorious. You know that on those occasions, I want to be dominated and OWNED, so you give me exactly what I need. Which naturally ends with mind-melting orgasms for both of us. And then the best snuggling in the world. And then some slow and lazy snogging that turns into heated snogging that turns into me rolling you under me and doing my best to make your toes curl into the soles of your feet.

Better than even that is when we collapse into a heaving pile of satisfaction and simply curl around each other, holding one another as if afraid something might come in and try to tear us apart. I mean, they could certainly TRY, but they'll never succeed, because I would destroy the whole world before I let someone tear you from my arms.

Unless that someone happens to be Jasmine, who Apparated into our bed just as I was drifting off to sleep. She was ready for a bottle and apparently neither Elena nor Leah could feed it to her in the way she preferred. So it was up to me to let you go and slide out of bed so that I could dance with her as she had her bottle. Her bright smile nearly able to make be forget that I was actually so lethargic that I was having a hard time seeing straight.

You are the flame in my heart, you light my way in the dark, you are the ultimate star, I belong to you,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: We know that fixing truly broken trust is NOT this easy. But we wanted to get back to fluffier times. That said, this doesn't just go away. It does influence things (even if subtly) for some time to come. And rest assured, Draco doesn't truly get off so lightly.


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys are ambushed by their circle when they return home.

Tuesday September 15, 2009

My Dragon,

I am so embarrassed. It's cool if I just crawl under our bed and refuse to come out for at least a decade or two right?

I cannot believe our circle was waiting at the Manor to ambush us when we got home this afternoon. Oh who am I kidding, of course I believe it. We've surrounded ourselves with brilliant people who love us, have strong opinions, and are stubborn as hell. They just invite themselves into our lives, all willy nilly,

Fine! I invited them in! This is all my fault. They wouldn't even know there had been an issue if I hadn't spent Friday night/Saturday morning begging them all via Insta-Owl to tell me where you were. At first so I would just know where you were, but eventually so I could find your location and drag you home to torture you. I wouldn't have damaged you permanently, but part of why I sent you away with your laptop to write it all down was so I didn't do or say something I couldn't take back. Apparently I forgot that I had already done something I couldn't take back.

When we got home, there was a small mob waiting in the dining room for us. We may not have even noticed them, until they asked Muffy to get us I assume, except I had been too wound up to eat anything for breakfast and I wanted to see if there was some fruit in the dining room in stasis. Our hiding spot behind your baby booty is out of fresh fruit for some reason! Maybe it's because I powered through everything that was in there on the aforementioned Friday night/Saturday morning debacle.

Every one of them, sitting calm as can be at OUR table! Just waiting to ambush us!

I called for Muffy and asked her to retrieve you as well as ask Lainie to help her keep an eye on our three smallest. Funny thing that, Lainie popped into the dining room before even you got there. "Yeah bloody right Dad, River, Viona, and the triplets can keep an eye on the mischief twins and my sweet Jazzie. I'm not missing this!" And without even waiting for my response she sat herself down on the empty chair next to Kisa.

Wait a minute, she got there before you did, Kisa left a chair empty, and they all seemed to know what time we were scheduled to arrive home. You're probably going to laugh at me and call me an utter moron for it taking this long for me to realize it, but our sweet Elena helped them set this all up didn't she? That devious little monster! I can't believe she would just throw us under the bus like that. Who am I kidding, of course she would. Damn, I love her so much!

Anyway, once you got there it seemed as though the questions were aimed towards me at first. They all know me quite well, and while I'm not nearly as bad as I used to be, each of them has had firsthand experience of my temper. I think they assumed that you probably did something not great, but that I was blowing things out of proportion. I didn't want to cause you any more fears that our relationship was on unsteady ground, so I really did try to let them think that's what happened.

But again, our Elena sold us out. "No way Dad, no one is going to buy that. You were upset for days and you usually get over your anger quickly. You were upset for our entire trip, you actually kept your hands off of Dad, and he was bending over backwards to let you have your way with everything. You can't tell us this was business as usual."

I was trying to figure out how to counter this line of logic (that was really quite sound unfortunately, remind me to fire Saoirse so the rest of the kids will be dumber and not able to observe everything) when Kisa decided to drop the bomb, "Harry, you're telling me you had a twenty minute sob-fest with my mother at two in the morning and expect us to believe this was nothing more than Draco being a little dumb and you having a temper?"

Bloody Hell.

That's when you jumped in and tried to give them an evasive, watered down version of the truth. Which, because we're stupid enough to surround ourselves with brilliant people, was also not believed. What followed was roughly two hours of inquisition where you tried to talk your way around not telling them, I cried, and they eventually got the whole story.

But in good news, no one thinks I was an emotional overreactor? That's a good thing, right?

I'm sorry I threw you under the bus. I'm sorry our friends are too familiar with you to accept "that's classified" as an acceptable answer. Mostly I am just sorry I let my emotions drag our friends into something that should have been between us. At least we had made up and could honestly tell them that we were doing just fine and were working our way through the issue, but our relationship is solid and not in trouble.

Once they were satisfied that we were honest about being in a good place, that's when it turned from an inquisition to a roast. They did impressions of us Draco! Our friends, our best friends, Godparents to many of our children, business partners, they had these impressions in their pockets! And you know they weren't the first time they'd been performed.

I think we need new friends.

Anyway, you are trying to dance Jaz to sleep while I recapped this. But for now I will sign off and wait for you.

Um, Sir, between your assault and our fight and my fears, I have been awfully toppy and demanding. Can you thoroughly own me tonight, prove to me that I still belong to you?

Yours,  
Harry

P.S. I think our plot to turn the trio into a quartet is moving along slowly but surely. I didn't see a single glare from Kisa, even when she noticed Blaise run his hand over Hermione's (still flat) abdomen.

 

Wednesday September 16th  
My Heart,

You think YOU'RE embarrassed?! Try being me! I had Blaise and Pansy team up with Ron, Hermione, AND KISA to corner me and make sure to thoroughly tell me what an IDIOT I had been. How I had somehow given away all my brains before accepting the undercover mission in the first place, and then how I compounded my stupidity by NOT telling you about it before doing it.

Merlin! I know they're right, but it hurts to hear it put so bluntly, you know?

The only upside was when, after chiding me in private for a few moments, Elena hugged me tight and told me how proud of me she was that I cared enough to save some people almost no one else on the planet would give a damn about. It nearly made me cry and I felt SO DAMN proud of her in return!

But anyway, tonight is movie night and we're watching Happy Feet. So far, it sounds like it might be right up both our alleys, haha. Maybe I'll sing in your ear and make you dance with me as we watch the movie. Or maybe we'll just sit and snuggle with our precious Jaz.

Tomorrow, Parvati, Ernie, Susan, and Luna are coming over so we can practice our dances for this year's Mabon ritual. It's not until Tuesday, but Parvati informed us all that she's trying to be more ambitious than ever in her choreography, so... we might actually NEED the extra practice, hahaha.

And maybe Luna and I can team up to convince the others to have a bit of a playnight with us. After all, Susan is newly single again and looking for a bit of a rebound, Ernie works way too bloody much to even THINK about a relationship, and Parvati is just buggering hot! What do you think?

Or is it too soon to be thinking of such things? It's too soon, isn't it? Yeah, you're right, forget I even mentioned it.

Nope, it'll just be three or four days of dancing naked while playing with fire. And refining our costumes, of course. Luna came up with something rather whimsical. We're all going to be Autumn colored nature spirits. I'm quite looking forward to it!

So anyway, that's our schedule so far as Pippa has told me, and then we'll be focusing on Greg and Millie's wedding. Thank MERLIN they're not nearly as fussy as Pansy was! I'm actually looking forward to their wedding.

And then I think we should squeeze in a trip to Unity Africa like we wanted - just to say hi and whatnot - before I start planning out the Halloween Ritual next month. Oi! Why are we always so bloody busy?!

Not that I'm complaining...

Now I believe that wishes can come true, 'cuz I see I see my whole world, I see only you, when I look into your eyes,  
Draco


	47. Chapter 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena surprises Draco.

Friday September 18th  
Hey You!

You are currently practicing in the ballroom with your rituals crew. I would have stayed and watched but I figured since I was on kid patrol today, I should probably NOT be walking around with a permanent erection. Merlin, you always look so bloody fit dancing.

I am supposed to be on kid duty, but as usual you have a few tiny onlookers. And one much taller onlooker who I think is trying to figure out a way to get an invitation onto your ritual crew while making you think it was your idea all along. Honestly Draco, I can't believe you haven't asked Lainie to be a permanent member of your ritual team! Or are you afraid of being upstaged as the best dancer by your daughter? Keep in mind, even if she ends up better than you, you can always take credit for it since you're the one who taught her, hired her tutors, and instilled a love of dance in the first place.

Did you see Jasmine's reaction to Parvati? She actually tried to get from your arms into someone else's! She reached for Parvati and just kept touching her face. We've been home for a little over three months now. And it's not like babies have a really long memory. But the way her eyes just lit up when she saw someone who looked a bit like the women who cared for her in her earliest days was so lovely to see.

Since I wasn't needed for quite a while I decided to do some extra work on my BSL. I think I am really getting the hang of it. I'll come grab Jaz in a bit and practice with her. But I will be leaving her with your parents and the elves in a little while. I have plans with Blaise this evening. I know we settled on his club for Greg's stag-do, but Blaise wants to talk some specifics. I promise to only make decisions that I am sure you'd like. I know you'd like to be there for most of the planning, but I also know how important this first ritual since we've been back is for you.

I know you've come back and done most of the rituals over the years, but there's something different about really being back on our home turf. I myself am so unbelievably excited to come see you on Tuesday! I don't think I've been able to come back and see more than a handful of them while we were traveling. You've brought different mixtures of our children with you, but I think this is the very first time all of our children will be there to witness a ritual at the same time. Obviously, it will be Jaz's first one!

I'm really glad you had Lainie's support for your terrible decision making. You and I both know that while I didn't want you in danger, and I would have expressed my displeasure if you had talked to me, but you wanting to do something that saves or helps people wasn't the issue. The issue was you hiding it from me. Doing your "it's not lying if I don't say anything that isn't technically true" lies were the problem. I know you, you are obsessed with making the world a better, safer, place. I might have been furious with you, but I was always proud of you.

I love you.

And, yeah sorry, I feel like it's a bit soon to play around right now. I am feeling really possessive right now. I need to know you're mine and I'm yours. I don't think I could handle seeing you touch someone else right now. I know logically in my head that playing that way is part of our dynamic and has never been a break in our romantic monogamous dynamic, but my emotions are still in a bit of upheaval right now so let's just play it safe.

Ohhh, I do know how we could combine my need to have you to myself with your need to play. I bet you and your crew will be just exhausted after a few days of intense dancing. Maybe in need of a little pampering? How would you like to all relax while your naked little sub knelt at your feet? I could do your nails, whatever you wanted me to do. Mmmm, I am already feeling so much better just imagining being owned by you.

I love you,  
Harry  
P.S. I'm so excited about visiting Unity Africa and can't wait to go there!

 

Friday September 18th  
Imzadi,

So the weirdest thing happened today...

You know how even before Elena went to Hogwarts, she almost always participated in the rituals - usually by drumming and dancing. We as the teachers always tried our best to teach the actual dances to the students - NOT necessarily our custom choreographed show pieces, but the traditional ones appropriate for each ritual.

Then, when Elena was in Hogwarts, she naturally did what she's always done and organized as many students as interested into a group of their own to put on performances during the non-ritual dance portion of the night.

Well, it seems that Elena had been watching our practice with a specific goal in mind. You were half right; she DOES want to be part of our team. More specifically, she wants to be the new leader. During one of our breaks, she asked if she could invite a few people from HER team over to practice a dance of their own. See, those who didn't graduate with Elena are continuing on in her footsteps - so the students definitely have a performance planned. BUT Elena wants to put a bit more of the ritual in their hands.

Sort of immersion learning, as Saoirse and Rhys taught all our kids over the years. And by the way, NO you may not fire them. I love them almost more than I love my own parents! And don't you *dare* tell any of them I said that!!!

Anyway, since Ernie and I are technically the co-leaders of our group, we weren't quite sure how to handle this. So, as Elena and the two others that had graduated with her plus the five that were currently in Sixth or Seventh Year were practicing something they planned to do for the ritual - in addition to what the student dance group was already planning - our team talked the idea over. We actually decided that it's not a bad idea.

After all, we started teaching the rituals ourselves shortly after graduating as a way to fix some of what was broken in the war, but also, because we were young and passionate about passing on our traditions. It actually seems only fair for those rituals and traditions to be passed down by each generation so that they stay fresh and keep the students interested.

So, we came up with this solution: for this ritual, Elena gets to officially join our team, but not as a leader. Instead, she's going to be the leader of her sub group and we're going to let them do the majority of the class part. The ritual part will be conducted by us with them as part of our circle. It's going to take a bit of work to adapt the 'scripts' we've been using for a larger group, but it'll be worth it because it's a chance to prove that these rituals are not meant to be a static 5 members performing for an audience, but open for everyone that wants to take part in them. We may have lost sight of that over the years...

Then, for the next ritual (which will probably be easier to change and adapt since it's Halloween), Elena and her crew can plan out the entire thing under our supervision. We think that after that, we can talk to McGonagall about possibly handing it over to them outright. If the Headmistress agrees, then that's what we'll do. But I have a feeling that she might ask us veterans to keep overseeing things for the rest of this year. We don't mind as we had already planned to do them all ourselves anyway.

That said, I'm willing to bet that Elena blows McGonagall's socks off! She really was BORN to do things like this. Remember the year when she gathered up all the students of color in the school and taught them some of the tribal dances she learned in Africa? And during the Beltane festival, they practically took over - explaining how things were done during similar rituals in Africa. It was so amazing watching all these beautiful children, so different in their looks, ranging from a deep rich tan like our Jasmine to browns and blacks so deep they looked like pieces of the night sky. It was wonderful to see them take joy in the chance to express their heritage. It was also ever so slightly heartbreaking to see that some of them were nervous and hesitant, and not quite sure they would be allowed to celebrate their heritage. I loved the looks of surprise and happiness when we not only allowed them, but encouraged them by joining in.

Elena wasn't the only one to learn to dance in Africa!

Anyway, I should probably stop gushing about how amazing our daughter is and return to dance practice.

Love you!

You make me wanna shoop,  
Draco

P.S. I'm excited that you are excited to be visiting Africa!

P.P.S. Looks like our group pampering session will have to be put on hold as you are far too wrapped up in planning things with Blaise. I leave all decisions on the matter to the two of you, and for possibly the first time since I met Blaise, I don't have to wonder if he might lose control of his impossible to resist sex magic and accidentally seduce you, hahahahaha!


	48. Chapter 48

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry decides that he's in the mood to sort of play just a tiny bit, and Draco finally gets his well deserved punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! It worked out unintentionally that I got to post Draco's punishment on my birthday, Happy birthday to me ^_^

Saturday September 19th  
Did you just?

Did you actually just say that last night with Blaise was the first time you've trusted me with him? The first time in over ten years of marriage that you have trusted the man you married? You know, maybe we should buy you lesser quality shoes. It seems you like the taste of your current shoes too much since you keep jamming them in your mouth!

What am I going to do with you? I'm just teasing of course, I knew what you meant. But I do wonder, and tell me if I am reading too far into this, but I'm wondering how you've been feeling lately about our sexual D/S dynamic. When we were fighting you spent so much time on your knees for me. And it almost seems like you're behaving like I do when I act out so I can get the really good spankings! Lately you've been bottoming more, and unless you've actually snuck a fertility potion behind my back I assume you're not doing so to sperm-jack me. And now that I am trying to remember, if memory serves it's actually been a few years since you've been able to really submit to a good Dom(me).

Are you feeling like submitting is something you are needing? Because if you are, I actually have an idea. I, uh, well see. Um. You know, you'd think after our sexual history that I'd be a little less embarrassed to simply type out some of my ideas. Ok, do you want the long drawn out version where I explain my long thought chain until I reached the idea? Or should I just get to the idea? Weird, it's almost like you can't answer me directly mid-email!

I will choose for you!

So, when I read you asking if I wanted to play, and then you went on to say I probably wasn't ready, it made me realize that I wasn't ready but libido-ily speaking … to heck with you, libido-ily is totally a word … I wasn't super against it. Then I started to think of ways that we could play without triggering my possessive streak. The last thing I would want would be to invite our friends over for sexy times and then my accidental magic starts sending out stinging hexes to anyone who so much as looks at you!

The first thing I thought about was something I had brought up YEARS ago, that sounded so sexy to me, but we never really got around to it. Yeah, I know, we have something we haven't done, I didn't think it was possible either. But do you remember when I was telling you about some really hot fantasies I had. Here, I know, I won't be able to explain it any better than I did then, I'll just do a quick copy and paste ok?

While you were away for weeks working with Hannah to solve that murder, I had been reading porn and a particular story stood out as so hot! "The story was basically that a poor college student was hired by a professor to be his assistant for a class he was giving. The guy thinks it will be easy money, and worst case scenario maybe he would have to be a nude model for a sculpting class or something. Except it ends up being a science professor and the thing he needed assistance with was a live model to physically display normal reactions. So the guy ended up being spread out on a stage, a group of students watching as the professor touched and teased and groped and fingered to show his class how the human body responds to stimuli. Eventually he even called up students to take a closer look and touch and see hands on how the reactions happened.

Obviously you're not a professor and I don't think you should find an auditorium full of people to watch you grope me. But what if we went to a club, or asked our kinkiest friends, and we did something similar? You could tie me up, restrain me, spread out and completely exposed, while you methodically touched me in an effort to get a physical response but not to actually bring me off or even truly bring me pleasure. You can show off how I respond to different touches, soft, hard, strokes and gropes, and even pain. And if you wanted to share my body with the group, you could invite people up to inspect your property."

Well, with all the traveling we've done, and our stops at home being more about reconnecting with our missing loved ones than playing kinky sex games, we never got around to this one. In case you were wondering? Still gets me totally hot.

But then I segued into thinking about the fact that we have obviously played with Luna a LOT, but never with Susan, Parvati, or Ernie. And while I am not against it, it seems like an extreme kind of scene for newbies to the Malfoy house of Kink. That's when I thought about just inviting Luna, but as always the idea of just adding women to the festivities gives me a bit of a "but why?" kind of feeling. We could invite her entire relationship, but then I felt weird because I barely know Hector, Hayley, or Janna. And I don't even know if they're really into kink the way Luna is. They're obviously part of an extensive poly relationship, but that doesn't necessarily mean they like to be dominated or whatnot.

Then I thought of the idea I already suggested, where I submitted to pampering all of you. But I kept thinking about how non-dominant you've been lately, which got me thinking about whether you needed to submit.

And that's when my plan came to me! I talked to Luna a bit while you were all taking a break and I decided inviting just her (as long as she was interested and she was) would work if I planned it just right.

Now, I have dominated you a few times. And you always say that even though I am a true sub at heart, I'm not a bad dom when I really put my mind to it. But I thought, how could I learn to go from "not a bad dom" to "it won't happen often with our dynamic but when I do choose to dominate, I will blow your freaking mind!"? Well, obviously I need a teacher! That's where Luna comes in.

Here's the plan, tonight when you're done practicing and the kids are asleep for the night, Luna and I will be meeting you in the playroom. She and I are going to team up and dominate you together. She is going to watch me take such good care of you. She will watch the entire session, giving me support and ideas, possibly just encouraging me to go further than we've gone before. Together, she and I will bring you to whatever headspace you need to get to. You need to say whether you want this or not, and then after that all you have to do is let go and let Luna and I make all the right decisions for your perfectly gorgeous body and mind.

Does that sound good darling?

If it does, all you have to do is present your beautiful body to us, on your knees of course, as soon as you're ready.  
Yours,  
Harry

 

Saturday September 19th - about 30 seconds later  
I'm there! Where are you???

Sunday September 20th  
My everything,

Good morning from the puddle of goo that used to be known as Draco Malfoy.

Afternoon, whatever.

Last night was PERFECT!!!

When you said that you were willing to have Luna teach you how to dominate me just right, I rather assumed that you meant within the boundaries of your comfort zone. I know you've seen Luna dominate me (and me dominate her) rather violently, but she can also be a gentle Domme. So, I thought that you would ask her for advice on how to up your game in that department.

But you surprised me!

There I was, on my knees obediently waiting for you, when you and Luna strolled into the room from a loo break to take care of all last minute needs - including brushing your teeth with my favorite organic, fluoride free, non mint flavored toothpaste. Brilliant you decided to be sneaky.

Perhaps you knew that if YOU asked me what I wanted, I'd tell you what I wanted that was still within your usual comfort zone. So, you held back and watched as Luna walked over and stroked my hair.

"Tell me what it is you want, love," she commanded in that soft and musical voice of hers that still manages to convey an iron will.

I looked to you for a moment in confusion because you'd said that YOU were going to be the one in charge, but you simply nodded at me encouragingly.

Looking to the floor, I murmured. "I've been very bad lately. I've done stupid things that I should have known better than to do, and I deserved to be punished for them."

She purred in sympathy and kissed me on my forehead. "Oh love... So you want me to string you up and beat you within an inch of your life?"

"Yes please..." I whispered in confirmation even as I swallowed apprehensively. I truly do want it and need it, but it's still a bit of a mental workout to prepare for the actuality of being beaten. NOT simply spanked as you so love, and do occasionally do to me, but hardcore beaten. No holds barred.

Luna patted my cheek lovingly, and then turned to you. "Alright, you heard. String him up."

"Right," you replied in a tone that sounded like you were ALSO working yourself into the right frame of mind.

With me helping as much as I could, you soon had me strung up in a highly uncomfortable position. My arms were stretched as far above my head as they could go. Rope was wound around my wrists and arms in a way that kept me secure without damaging me - trailing down to my back and chest to help support my body weight as I dangled about a half a foot off the floor. Then my legs and ankles were securely bound and anchored to the floor so that I could not move beyond a little bit of swaying.

When I was ready, I dared to look up from the floor - into your eyes - and give you a smile of pure love and trust. "I love you," I added in case it wasn't completely obvious.

"I know, I love you too," you murmured, giving me a quick kiss.

"Eyes back on the floor!" Luna ordered sternly.

I immediately obeyed.

I watched with my senses rather than my eyes as you pulled on a pair of green boxing gloves. I knew because I bought them for you that they were plenty padded to protect your hands, but not so padded that it would be like hitting me with pillows. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I braced myself for the first impact.

"That was a good first try, Harry, but I'm certain you can do better," Luna encouraged gently. She was right; that hit had made me go: ooph! And I was looking for: Sweet buggering Salazar! What the hell?! Are you bloody trying to kill me?!?!

Taking a few more breaths and sort of jumping side to side, you shoved all your natural tenderness into a box in your head and did what you knew I wanted. Beat me half to death. Not stopping until I was on the verge of losing consciousness.

"Is that enough?" You asked, and I wasn't sure if you were asking me or Luna. I was nearly incapable of answering, but Luna understood that this WAS the answer.

"Yes, Harry. That's just about perfect," Luna assured you.

"But... he didn't go flying off to subspace," you protested.

"Not... point..." I mumbled faintly.

Luna caressed my hair out of my face. "That's not what he was after tonight." She then gave you a long hug, holding on until you had unlocked your box and processed everything. You cried just a little bit, understanding but still horrified by what I needed. "Let's help Draco down now, shall we? And heal him up a little?"

"Yes!" You gasped out in relief even as I realized my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, preventing me from telling you to just lay me in the playroom bed and leave me like that until morning. I wanted to wallow in my well deserved suffering. But I had made you my Dom for the night, and so, it wasn't really what *I* wanted that mattered.

Thus, when you held me in your arms and healed me, I didn't resist or protest. Thankfully, Luna came to my rescue nearly the moment you had healed all the major things.

"That's enough now. Don't heal it all or else the lesson won't stick."

Frustrated, you obeyed her. Happy, and finding it MUCH easier to pay attention now, I kissed you and babbled: "Thank you, Master! Thank you for punishing me the way I deserved. You are so good to me!"

You bit your lip to suppress the urge to tell me that I'M the Master, but I could see the shift in your eyes. You no longer wanted to be Dom, but you knew that I was still in sub mode at the moment myself, so you gave me a loving kiss and said: "I think it's time for you to prove your obedience to me by crawling on your hands and knees to Luna and - using only your tongue - making her feel better than she can remember feeling in a long time!"

"Well now, I'm in for an incredible treat," Luna purred huskily. She was wearing a yellow and red corset and panties combo, looking like a bright and sunny Dominatrix. I watched as she perched delicately on the edge of a comfortable chair and waited for me to come do as told. I slid out of your arms and onto my hands and knees. Slowly (to build anticipation), I crawled over to her, wagging my 'tail' ever so slightly, feeling just a tiny bit like a dog eager to please his Master (and/or mistress).

Once between her legs, I smoothly pulled her lacy red knickers down her hips and legs, pausing to move each foot as necessary to remove them completely. Then I took a moment to inhale the scent of her on them. She smiled at me, tapping on the task table next to the chair to indicate that I should gently place her knickers there.

Once I had, I massaged and caressed her legs. Slowly working her up until she had a noticeable aroma of arousal. Just as I was leaning forward to bury my face in her honeypot, I felt you put a hand on my head and stroke my hair.

"That's right. That's a good boy. I know you can do such a good job of pleasing her."

I looked up at you, once again feeling a bit like a dog being praised by his owner. "Yes Master, I can. I will!"

"Show me," you ordered. "Show me how good you can be."

I definitely didn't need to be told twice! I know Luna well enough to know that she is perhaps the only woman on the planet that I can latch onto her clitoris like I'm a vampire, and keep on sucking until she bursts into flames and burns to ash - figuratively speaking.

It did not take long for her to start crying out: "Oh Gods, oh sweet Merlin! YES! Like that, just like that, don't stop, don't you dare fucking stop!!!"

I love how her usually well-censored and fluffy mouth turns into the dirtiest one I know - short of Russian mob Heiresses - when she's in the heat of the moment. Between her shouting her encouragement and you praising me for doing so well for you, I felt like the happiest little sub on the planet. The moment she was an incoherent pile of ash, I turned and kissed your feet.

"Let me please you now, pretty please?" I begged.

You caressed my hair once more and gave me a tender kiss. "Of course! You've earned a reward, so I want you to do whatever you want to me."

Under normal circumstances, that would probably be followed by me tying you to your spanking bench and making your cheeks glow a nice rosy shade, but tonight, I had to give this some thought. Coming to a decision, I pushed you onto your back on the chaise lounge. Then - using only my tongue - I gave your freshly shaved bollocks and shaft a thorough massage. Eventually, my fingers joined in on the fun by rubbing the spot just under your bollocks.

After a surprising amount of patience from both of us, the two sensations - my tongue broadly licking your balls and my fingers massaging your prostate externally - combined to give you a sort of dry orgasm that is the closest thing to a female orgasm a man can have - or so I'm told.

As you melted into the cushions, you pulled me up to you and gave me an emotional kiss. "Do you feel better now? Have we met all your needs?"

"For the moment, yes," I assured you, smiling and returning your heart-filled kiss.

After that, we crawled into our playroom bed, the two of us wrapped around each other as Luna snuggled up to your back. I'm not sure who managed to keep Jaz from summoning me or Apparating to us, but we managed to stay wrapped up in each other and sleep all night.

Until you woke up naturally at your insane time, kissed me and Luna (on the cheek) good morning, and slipped away to run with those of our kids that enjoy running with you. Luna snuggled up to me, long used to having a lot of lovers in bed with her, and we slept a bit longer. But then she was ready to wake up and I couldn't stay asleep despite it being an hour or two before my usual wake up time, so I decided to use the time to recap our night.

I love you, my wonderfully perfect little mutt, and I love that you are so eager to give me what I need. That said, I did actually forego asking for one little thing - because I'd already pushed you to your limit. But it's something I can do myself. So, while I'm still in the playroom, and now that I'm mostly healed up from my well-deserved beating, I actually DO want to go flying for a bit. To that end, I'm going to Crucio myself until I do.

It never takes particularly long, but if I'm still in bed enjoying the high and you think I've been in here an unusually long time, definitely come check on me and motivate me to get my arse moving.

Forever yours,  
Draco  
P.S. I always trusted you with Blaise and never would have been upset if you succumbed to his impossible to resist sex magic. I just never trusted that he could fully control the urge to seduce you with it on accident. Had it ever happened, I would have either eagerly demanded every detail, and perhaps copies of the memories to watch at my leisure, or I would have gotten angry with Blaise for pushing you into something you didn't want. But until Blaise and Kisa settle into their bond, he can't use his sex magic, hahaha!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I read Chrissie's email with the suggestion that Harry and Luna team up to dominate Draco, I sent her a message asking: "Do you want my first impression, or a much longer description of the entire thing?" And she replied with my first impression, so I sent her that super short tidbit, making her laugh and send me a message saying I should probably write the description too, lol ^_^  
> Her only request was that Harry has a chance to 'force' Draco to please Luna at some point while Harry pets his head and babbles encouragement, so Draco's punishment came from me, lol.


	49. Chapter 49

Sunday September 20th  
Hey sweetheart!

I am so glad that last night was wonderful for you. It was surprisingly not so bad for me. I mean, there were definitely parts of it that were really very good for me, but the parts that I thought would be hard or out of my comfort zone were actually alright.

I know you were a little out of it last night, which was definitely the point, but I think you misconstrued some of my reactions because of it. So now that you're done being all floaty and groggy, with just a hint of soreness to remind you of your lesson, I wanted to explain some of my behaviors and reactions last night.

First of all, while I didn't "enjoy" giving you such a sound beating, that wasn't the part that made me emotional. If anyone understands the need for a physical pain to burn away the emotional pain it's me. Purging the bad through a healing fire. If anything, I am hoping that seeing just how far into the M of BDSM I was willing to go for you will allow you to finally stop holding back with me and take me further than we have before.

Oh, and just so you know I bought a set of sounds and I was planning on trying them out last night (I researched and am sure I wouldn't have hurt you) but once we were in the flow of the evening, I realized that wasn't really the direction we were going.

And I wanted to talk to you about crucio-ing yourself today. I wish you had sent me an Insta-Owl and had me come back. I know I wouldn't be able to crucio you, but I'd be willing to bet I would have been able to make you fly with the higher settings of our violet wands if you needed subspace after last night's masochism. I hope it made you just exactly as floaty as you were hoping for, but please let me try it for you a different way next time. I know you did it for years, but I hate the idea of you doing something while you're alone. You would never be willing to sub for an unobservant dom who you didn't trust to keep track of your physical and mental well being. So why are you submitting to something like this without someone there to make sure you're safe? What if something had happened and you'd gone too far? It's not safe to play alone.

With the events of yesterday I completely missed talking to you about the new rituals team members! This is so exciting. I knew she was itching to join the team, I should have realized she was gunning to take it over completely. Our Elena will be no one's minion. I think it was a brilliant compromise you came up with. And I suppose I never thought about how important it would be to keep passing the rituals down to the newest generations. I think part of it is we feel like we just graduated yesterday, when in reality we're almost thirty!

I really love the idea of this newest generation is going to take over under the supervision of our generation. We had unique experiences because of growing up through wartime that made our knowledge valuable. But we can't forget that this generation being brought up in relative safety but in the midst of our community rebuilding will have their own unique and important experiences to share and learn from.

I personally think Elena and her friends are up to the challenge.

Anyway, it sounds like you've gotten up and are showering, so I feel comfortable taking off. I am going to pop into the shower and give you a little smooch and grab. But then I'm off to run an errand! I shouldn't be back too late tonight, but definitely don't hold dinner on my account.

Love,  
Harry

 

Sunday September 20th  
My brilliant co-conspirator,

Did you hear the news yet? Seeing as how you tend to get up earlier than me, you more than likely did, but I'm going to pretend I heard it first and get to be the one to tell you:

Hermione accepted the offer to start up a Traditions in Russia. She called me on the Insta-owl Mobile (which will soon be combined with the Magitablet, when I have the time to sit down and work out the technicalities of doing so, oi. I'm going to have to come up with something better to call it than Magi-Insta-Owl-Mobile-Tablet, haha) to let me know that she appreciated my personal request on her behalf and offer to stay in my Grandmama's house in Moscow. It's within Apparation distance from St. Petersburg, so an easy commute if the floo is down for any reason.

After a lovely chat with her - she's *clearly* excited about this upcoming step - I managed to squeeze in something of a cross between a chat and an update on the stag do with Blaise. He was talking at high speeds and kept shifting back and forth between his plans to move with his lovers, and the planning for the party. It made for at least one rather hilarious jumbled and mashed sentence along the lines of:

"And then when we get to Moscow, we're going to have at least three strippers burst out of a cake and give lap dances!"

"Er, mate, not entirely sure Hermione will appreciate that. Then again, she isn't opposed to the ladies. Also, I suppose the strippers could be male..." I rambled.

"What??? Oh! Sorry, strippers for Greg, buying a house elf from your Grandmama as a welcome to Moscow gift for my loves," Blaise corrected, sounding a bit sheepish.

Anyway, after ending my conversation with them (Ron seemed to be the only one not running around like a chicken with his head cut off), I was just entering the ballroom because we were planning to do an in costume dance practice, when Kisa came running in after me, launching herself at me so that she wrapped her arms and legs around me and knocked me to the floor.

"Er... Hello Kisa, so lovely to see you. Any particular reason you've knocked me onto my arse?"

She kissed my cheek. "They're all going to be in Russia with me! In MY HOUSE with me! I can't thank you enough for helping me solve my problems!!! Especially since I didn't have to explain anything to Mamochka yet."

"Just don't, erm… make any of them inexplicably disappear and I'll consider myself well and truly thanked," I informed her with a grin.

She chuckled nervously, getting up and helping me to my feet. "Er... well, I'm actually going to have to insist that PAPOCHKA resist disappearing any of them. Especially Blaise. I have a feeling that when he meets Blaise and learns the news that we're bonded because he's a Veela and I'm his soul mate, there's going to be TROUBLE!!! Papochka has long hoped that I would eventually marry a man he can trust to help me rule with an iron will and steely determination - as soon as I am ready. He IS getting rather old after all."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah... Somehow I cannot see my quintessential lover of a best mate being entirely comfortable in that role."

"Exactly!" Kisa exclaimed in agreement. "But... I'm going to arrange things so that he won't even have to think about them if he doesn't want. I can work at night while he's sleeping - if I must. That's when most of the work needs to be done anyway."

"What work?" Ernie asked curiously as he and the rest of the team waited for me to finish up my conversation.

"Er..." I droned as I wondered how to describe it so that I didn't give anything important away.

"Oh, just torturing those who are slacking in their duties and burying the bodies of those who have betrayed us," Kisa informed him airily.

"Erm... Are you serious...?"

"Of course she's not!" Susan exclaimed, pushing on him a bit to emphasize how silly she thought he was being.

Kisa merely shrugged with a rather devilish grin. "Who knows?"

"I know!" Elena laughed in Russian. "And they would all run screaming from the room if they knew the truth!"

"Da!" Kisa agreed, linking her littlest finger with Elena and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Even in Russian, you shouldn't really talk about it so openly," I reminded them, also in Russian.

"None of them can speak the language," Elena stated dismissively, still in Russian.

"That you know of," I replied, also still in Russian.

"I can speak of it in whatever language I like, and if they take offense, it'll be my pleasure to correct them," Kisa said in the tone of a haughty Princess. She sounds so exotic when she speaks her native language, and I have no idea why that is. Do *I* sound like I'm oozing sex in my voice when I speak Russian?

In any case, Elena and I both gave Kisa a kiss on the cheek and wished her luck in her mission to help Blaise pack - and survive her father.

All in all, this plan seems to have a high chance of success. I'm glad you came up with it ^_^

I'm writing this before I climb into bed, and you still haven't come home. I'm not worried as you said that you would be out late. THAT said, I wanted to write this down officially before I curled up in bed and read this new book I got about a half human half elf woman made out of diamonds - who is trying to help a human King prevent a tyrannical Emperor from taking over his kingdom... Well, you see, I was looking on your desk to see if *you* had left me a note with more details in it, for example, if you wanted me to be waiting in the playroom all submissive - or conversely, ready to spank you.

I didn't see anything with my name on it from a quick scan of your desk, so I turned to leave and another note got knocked to the floor in the process. It was addressed to you, so I didn't read it. That said, I DID pick it up and set it back on your desk. Thus, if you notice it in a different spot than you had it, it's nothing nefarious. It was a simple accident and so, if it contained anything you didn't want me to know - such as plans to surprise me with a date or something - I didn't ruin your surprise.

Love you,  
Draco

Found on Harry's desk:


	50. Chapter 50

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's late to the Mabon Ritual and Draco is worried.

Monday September 21st  
Good morning,

Ugh, I really hate coming home so late. Luckily for me, you weren't asleep so I at least got to see you for a bit before we went to sleep. But I really feel as though I've wasted my whole day when I barely see the love of my life. And our beautifully wonderful children.

Although, Siri, River, and I did have a fantastic run yesterday morning. It was such a gorgeous morning. That cool, crisp autumn air is moving its way in, but we haven't yet gotten so cold that your lungs hurt a bit from breathing the chilly air. Oh I absolutely love a good autumn morning run!

You know, I loved when we were at Unity California, and you KNOW Australia is one of my favorite places. Living in perpetual summer meant we could swim and surf, enjoying the outdoors all year long. And Canada's winters were definitely too much for me to love living there. But if I had to live in one season, an area that really just has one weather type, I would love to live in a forever autumn location.

Hmm, except then I wouldn't really get to enjoy the spring bloom. And I suppose no full summer weather would mean limited outdoor swimming without extensive warming charms. And no winter, would definitely mean no snow. Ok, maybe I wouldn't really want to live somewhere with autumn weather all the time, I would miss the other seasons and I bet half of the magic of a brisk fall day becomes less special when that weather is every day. Alright, I won't insist we move somewhere permanently autumnal. But I do really love it right now!

And I just got back to our rooms to shower after another gorgeous morning run! This one was all on my lonesome though. The kids are in lessons with Saoirse so they couldn't join me. It was nice anyway, some mornings it's so wonderful to have some running mates, and other times I suppose it's good to be alone with my thoughts.

I have quite a bit to do today, I wanted to pop in and check on Unity, do some rounds with the Kids. And I need to go to Traditions and congratulate Hermione on her amazing news! And Kingsley wanted to have lunch. I may be a bit later getting home than usual tonight, but I definitely won't be as late as yesterday. I can't handle being without you for that long if I don't have to!

And I don't know if it's just residual feelings from my dominating the other night, or maybe it's the fall air! Who knows? But I am feeling extra toppy and quite anxious to have you. I know it's much too early for you usually, but I think I am going to take advantage of your beautiful sleeping body, prep you so nice, and wake you up as I slide inside of you.

See you in a few minutes! I'll be the man in your arse.

Love you,  
Harry

P.S. Don't worry about that letter of mine. No big deal. It was just some silly prank, someone sending me on a wild goose chase. Sent me to a distant locale just to apparate away as soon as I arrived. It wasn't so bad, since I was in Hogsmeade anyway I used the opportunity to have some tea and a nice visit with McGonagall and Hagrid.

P.P.S. I can't wait for tomorrow's ritual!

 

Tuesday September 22nd  
My heart,

So, I know that I should probably recap the ritual. It WAS beautiful after all. Our brilliant daughter and her crew managed to make the somewhat dry lesson of the Autumnal Equinox sound interesting. The special dance was HOT (pun intended, haha), and the students all definitely had fun.

BUT...

I myself was a bit distracted by the fact that you had to run an errand before the ritual and ended up arriving late. I know you, you wouldn't have let the Dark Lord himself prevent you from attending the ritual on time, so I know whatever happened, it was important. That said, when you did finally arrive, you were acting oddly. Sort of jittery. Sort of shifty.

Listen, I get it. This might sound rather ironic to you, especially considering what I JUST did that nearly broke our relationship, but... Well, I understand the need to keep secrets. I was raised to believe that some things SHOULD be kept secret. For example, IF something existed in our dark vault that could theoretically harm a lot of innocent people, that is definitely the sort of thing that should never be said out loud. To be clear, I mean because it shouldn't be USED, and thus, word of it should be kept secret so that OTHERS don't try coming to steal it.

Not my point! My POINT is that if you feel you need to keep a secret from me, I don't actually mind. That said, I AM worried about you! Are you feeling alright? Do you need headache potions? Are you coming down with a cold? Did all that running in the chill morning give you pneumonia again??? Do you perchance have another personal problem that I should rub healing ointment into - that *would* sort of explain why you've been so willing to top lately.

That's it! I'm right, aren't I? You're inexplicably (but so characteristically) embarrassed that you have painful burning and itching, and so you've been acting jittery and probably wondering where I put the ointment. Fine, I'm going to massage it into you very thoroughly tonight, and also, have Muffy slip something in your horrid coffee in the morning.

I STILL can't believe how much you love that stuff! I sincerely regret our trip to Ethiopia where you took a tour of all the organic and ethically sourced coffee producers (and invested in a few). I thought that it was a harmless curiosity... I had NO IDEA that it was the beginning of an alarming obsession!!!

But anyway, as usual, I'm unable to sleep while you're already off in lala land, muttering something about sticky buns - which is sort of making me hungry. Plus, I'm rather tired from my long and rather active day, so, I'm going to try to sleep now. After giving you a specific healing massage.

Exhaustedly and concernedly yours,  
Draco  
P.S. Nevermind, Jaz is ready to party, sigh...


	51. Chapter 51

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry does NOT have burning and itching!!!

Wednesday September 23rd  
My concerned Husband,

No, I do not have any burning and itching! Seriously Draco, we have been together for a long time, do you think if I had a problem with my bum I wouldn't ask for a potion or something to stop it? I learned my lesson after "forgetting" about the anti nausea potions during my pregnancy with Ori, if I need something fixed I will ask you for a potion. If there's not a potion for it, I will go talk to Healer Rowe.

I did thoroughly enjoy the massage and subsequent slippery, delightful shag that followed! And to heck with you! My coffee is delicious! But whatever you had Muffy add to help heal my nonexistent problem was a really delightful addition. Is it something I could take safely in the future? Because it really added something extra to the flavors of my dark roast. If not, is this something you, or maybe Sebastian since he's surpassed your talents, could create a similar flavored drink additive without whatever healing properties were in it?

So, yesterday. You know, I am not so much keeping secrets as I have something weird going on. And I don't know how to explain it. And I don't really know if I'm seeing what I'm seeing, so I just need a little time to wrap my head around it. It's not a secret, but I need to let it stew in my head for a while, really process it, before I talk about it. Is that ok?

See, yesterday before the ritual, I went to Hogsmeade again to get some flowers for Lainie for her first official ritual. And flowers for you of course for being so beautifully deserving of them! Side note: do NOT tell Neville I got flowers from somewhere else! And then I thought, hey since everything was so weird when I was pranked the day before, maybe while I have time I should go look around the spot the prankster apparated from? I walked over and then I heard some rustling in the woods nearby. But when I looked I saw something. But the thing I saw couldn't be the thing I think I saw.

So, being a moron, I went running into the woods to see what was making my brain malfunction. Then I tripped and fell into a pile of mud. I was filthy, I had ruined the flowers, and I was all worked up. I popped home to change, went back to the florist to get two NEW sets of flowers, and that's why I was late.

The jittery thing is really just that I was wound up about being late. And wound up from trying to process the thing I couldn't have seen that I think I've seen.

So that's that. I am sorry if I'm being sneaky. It's awfully hypocritical of me since I threw such a fit over your secret. But it is what it is. If you insist, I will tell you now, but if not I promise I will tell you soon.

Love you, I'm heading back to bed now to see if we can have a slippery round two!

Love,  
Harry

 

Wednesday September 23rd  
Dearest Harry,

I realized immediately when I went to apply the ointment that you didn't have the redness and puffy/inflamed prolapse that are symptoms of... Yes, I do know the word, no I can't bring myself to even write it. Not entirely sure why as I am not shy by any stretch of the imagination. Probably a good thing I'm not a Healer, eh?

"So, Mr. Patient, are you experiencing any painful protrusions in your bottom area? This would indicate... a personal problem... It could also be itchy or feel like a burning sensation. What's that, you need me to be more specific? Erm, well... you see, in the middle of your rear... area... things may occasionally go wrong..."

I can just picture Rowe rolling her eyes at me! She'd have just said the word and been done with it ages ago! hahaha.

Anyway, even though I knew you didn't have the problem I was worried about, I also knew the ointment wouldn't hurt, and so, I massaged it in anyway. Very thoroughly. With plenty of extra just in case.

Speaking of harmless medicines, the potion I had Muffy give you *definitely* should not be taken every morning! It would have dire consequences if taken more often than *strictly* necessary. That said, it would be easy enough to make the potion without the active ingredients - in essence giving you all the flavor and none of the consequences. IF you insisted. But honestly, if you need to add things to your coffee just to be able to choke it down, then you should probably try switching to a new favorite drink.

Mmm... Waking up to you pulling me on top of you and kissing me breathless (even remembering the freshening charm!) was so wonderful that I thought I was dreaming. And then you wrapped your legs around me and encouraged the part that was far more awake and ready to go than the rest of me was to bury himself deep in your divine warmth. He knows his home, and honestly, he never wants to leave.

Unfortunately, no matter HOW determined I am to delay things forever and stay right there until the end of time, our climax eventually overwhelms us. It's a sort of mini battle in my head at times, where more than half of me never wants to finish, and yet that tiny spark that does eventually explodes, haha.

I'm taking the entire day to do nothing but relax, so, if you happen to be home at any point, just know that Aya is going to be here running her hands all over my body until I am well satisfied and purring from happiness. And MERLIN! That sounds far more perverted than it really is!!! Must be horny...

Oh! And IF I have any ability to walk after she's turned me into a gelatin pudding, I might go over to Ethan's parents' shop to see if they have any word from him. Last I heard, he was using his degree to work in a professional orchestra to pay the bills while he teaches poor kids music in his spare time.

As you know, I've kept an eye out during our travels for rare and interesting instruments for him/them, and I have a weird flute thing to give them, but also, they've been collecting drums for me. I know I have far more than I could ever use at this point, but I adore them! I keep them in my carry all watch so that I have them on hand if we ever decide that an impromptu drum jam is called for.

Which happens surprisingly more often than one might think!

So, I'm probably going to buy out their entire selection of drums again, hahaha! And maybe a few other things if they catch my fancy.

And while I'm at it, I might pop in on Gennet and let her see that Bear is doing wonderfully in our loving care. Don't worry, I DON'T plan to buy her out too, ha. ha. ha.

Here's the situation, been to every nation, nobody's ever made me feel the way that you do, you know my motivation, given my reputation, please excuse me I don't mean to be rude, but tonight I'm fucking you,  
Draco  
P.S. That's not just a catchy song, it's a promise too!

Several hours later:  
P.P.S. So... after spending time today doing what I said I would be doing, I *may* have made a liar of myself. Well, sort of. I said I wouldn't buy out the Animal Rescue Shelter, and I didn't, but, heh heh heh… So, my love - the most understanding and caring man in the world - how do you feel about cats?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably should have held back the picture until next chapter or so when Draco gets around to describing her, but I just want this cat so badly that I couldn't wait, lol ^_^


	52. Chapter 52

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry loves their new cat and they come up with a name for her :-)

Thursday September 24th  
My Love,

When I read your email saying you were going to "pop in" to the pet store, I did not think you were going to get an animal. It's just so unlike you. I would have thought that you'd get a few! You and your inability to see any sad little lonely bit of fluff sitting in a pet store!

But she's just the sweetest. She's so cute and cuddly. Last night at movie night she just curled up on my shoulder and purred into my ear all night. I do feel a bit badly that so many of the Kids wanted to hold her or pet her and she wasn't having it. She just wanted to be perched on me, surveying her surroundings, while she rubbed her sweet little head into the side of my face. Hey! Maybe she likes the way my beard feels too.

I suppose it's a good thing that we watched such an amazing movie to distract them and they didn't seem disappointed in her disinterest for too long. I love Finding Nemo. Do you remember that weekend while we were in Australia that we spent in Sydney? Eri and Haz were adamant that we walk all over the entire city looking for "42 Wallaby Way." No matter how we insisted that it had been made up for the movie and no such address existed, they had to keep searching. It was a really fun way to see parts of the city we wouldn't have necessarily ended up in if we were sightseeing more traditionally.

But what is it with kids' movies making me cry? I understood crying over Lilo and Stitch. I mean, it's heartbreaking and beautiful. But I started crying when Nemo's mom was killed, and I don't think I stopped until the credits rolled. Maybe that's why the kitty was so intent on cuddling with me, she sensed my distress. You know animals are intuitive like that. We have to have a name for her. I know, she's YOUR cat, I shouldn't be making big decisions, but just in case you can't come up with a name you love I have a LOT of ideas!

So, um, heh heh. Do we have some sort of guest house, or pool house, or outbuilding nice enough to have a guest stay in somewhere on Manor grounds? I, think I might have a need to give someone a place to stay, but I'm not sure he'd be welcome and I'm not sure if he'd be comfortable staying in Lucius Malfoy's house. Um, so yeah. Do we?

So this morning, I set off on my run as usual. None of the kids were particularly interested in joining me, so it was one of my lonely runs, alone with my thoughts. And my thoughts kept cycling back to this thing that I think happened but that shouldn't happen, but seems to have happened twice. And the more I thought about it, the more I needed to really figure out what had happened once and for all. So I apparated mid-run and sent myself over to Hogsmeade again.

When I popped in, I had apparated so quickly that I still had the momentum from running and I barely landed before my body just made me keep running. I made my way to the place I was supposed to meet the prankster, but I had slowed by then. I figured the prankster was long gone, but again I would have time to look around and see if there were any clues since they were obviously there at least twice right?

So before I was within sight I decided to throw up some basic disapparation wards on the building. When I got there, the prankster was still there, his eyes got really wide and he tried popping away again. But obviously couldn't. So I managed to catch him and force him to explain his dastardly plan to mess with me. What did this person, who was obviously disguised in such a way as to freak me the hell out, want from me? Money? Pull with the Ministry? Well, I don't think it was a disguise. I think I may be ready to believe the thing I couldn't believe is the truth as far-fetched as it seems to be.

So, he's waiting at the Shrieking Shack for me to come back and get him. So, uh, do we have a place for a guest that isn't inside the Manor itself?

Oh to heck with it, I should probably just come find you instead of waiting for a response via email! I'm just so used to talking about hard things via email so we can collect our thoughts and not blurt in the heat of the moment.

Love,  
Harry  
PS Just because I like to add complementary flavors to my delicious coffee does not mean I need to mask it to choke it down!!!

 

Thursday September 2th  
Beloved,

It still amuses me that after 10 years of marriage, there are still things you don't know about our property. That said, since this particular thing is a small hunting cottage on the edge of the North Fields, I can actually understand why you didn't know about it. After all, we almost never go to the North Fields, at least not together. I go there when I'm taking the owls out hunting, and even though part of the running track does go through here, it's not near enough to the cottage to see it. Thus, I suppose it's reasonable that the place never came up in conversation.

Anyway, as I told you earlier when I handed you the key to the cottage and gave you a tour, it's a little thing that was designed and made to be a place to stay while hunting in the fall. A place that blends into it's surroundings so that animals aren't scared off by it. However, since the need to actually hunt for food each year has been non-existent for ages, it has been converted to more of a guest cottage than a hunting cottage. And then not used because we rarely have guests, and then when we do, they just stay in the Manor.

So, as I was saying, all you really have to do to allow a guest to stay there is hand him or her the key. That'll get them through the ward, but remember the wards around the cottage are both part of and separate from the rest of the Manor. Thus if this guest is someone you eventually want to invite into the Manor itself, you'll have to bring them through the wards yourself - either at the border where the cottage and the rest of the Manor meet, or by Apparating them into the Manor. This doesn't give the guest full nor permanent permission to come through the wards as they wish, simply temporary access.

If this guest wishes, they could probably stay in that cottage for the rest of their lives without ever saying a word to us, and we likely wouldn't notice aside from seeing a light if we cared to look while out hunting with the owls.

But moving onto the cat. I was thinking that we could call her Venus. I don't know why, but I just like that name for her. That said, I won't mind if you have something better in mind. Let me hear all your suggestions. As for her, she's positively gorgeous in my opinion, but the very thing I love is exactly why she was in the shelter in the first place. She was simply too *weird* for most people. They probably thought she was possessed or something.

The main part of her body is inky black. If you saw her from the back, you'd think she was just another black cat - which in and of itself is a beautiful color and often associated with the familiars of witches and wizards. Her belly has some white, cream, and golden colored fur which travels up to her chest in light sprinkles. But the REAL thing that scares most people off is that half of her face is golden with a vivid blue eye, and the other half of her face is black with a jewel-like green eye.

As I said, I think she's gorgeous! And you're right, she's so sweet. To you. When I picked her up to see if I might like to keep her and bring her home, she gave me this attitude like she was too good for me, but would tolerate me simply because I was loads better than being in a place she had to share with half the world's population of animals. I respected her need to maintain an emotional distance and a regal dignity by only petting her a little. She let me, but then gave me a clear signal when she'd had enough.

Surprisingly, she had no objections to Bear - and vice versa. The two of them smelled each other curiously, and then seemed to sort of shrug, as if they were thinking: "Well, if I have to tolerate her, I will, but I don't think we'll ever be friends." More surprisingly, neither objected when I slipped the cat into my magically expanded purse with Bear. There is an entire yard in there after all, so they both definitely had space to do different things, or even just keep their distance from each other if they liked.

I brought her home thinking that it didn't matter if we ever truly got on, she was a gorgeous animal and deserved a forever home. Especially since she's not quite fully grown yet and apparently hasn't been abused by humans, simply abandoned and shunned by them. It means that there's plenty of time for her to grow to trust us.

So imagine my surprise when practically the moment you returned home, about an hour after me, she popped her head out of the purse, took a good look at you, and then jumped out and ran over to you so that she could leap into your arms and snuggle with your neck. Purring all the while. It's clear that she loves you already, even if you weren't expecting to have a cat. I sincerely hope you actually like cats and aren't just tolerating her because I wanted to rescue another mutt. Er, you know what I mean.

In any case, I think I should sign off now - wait!!! I forgot!

So, when I went into Ethan's parents' shop, they were naturally delighted to see me. We chatted for a bit, and I gave them the flute like thing I'd brought for them. They were delighted that I planned to buy every set of drums in the shop and packed them up so that I could easily shrink them down and stow them in my carry all watch. We chatted a bit more and they told me that Ethan has met a woman who plays the saxophone. He plays almost every instrument, but particularly enjoys the piano and drums - both of which sound good with a saxophone. Well, I suppose anything would, really, but the point is that they feel they make sweet harmony together and are conducting an experiment to see if they can do so in every aspect of their life - including having children.

Yes, Ethan's going to be a dad! They don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet, but everyone is naturally overjoyed to be welcoming a new person into the world in just a few months. I actually had Jaz with me (surprise surprise), and they cooed over her. She loved the attention, and I am already in the habit - when they or someone else holds her - to talk with my hands as I talk with my mouth, so that she can see me talking and including her in the conversation.

This unsurprisingly led to me explaining that she is deaf and how we found her. Well, there's no need to recap it for YOU, but telling them actually did give me a bit more appreciation for our time in Iran. I just love her so much and I wouldn't risk changing our meeting of her for anything!

Oh, also speaking of things I nearly forgot. Guess who came to ask me for a fertility potion today... Yep, Miles. Now, before you go freaking out about how he JUST got a new job, and obviously, is in a very visual career in which hiding a pregnancy would be difficult, let me just tell you that the potion is actually for COLM.

That's right. the two of them have decided that they are not only going to be together (even possibly getting married sometime next year), but they're also going to have another child. They both think Sammy is the most wonderful girl/boy ever and they want to see if it's possible to have another just like her/him.

So, there's just one last thing I should probably tell you before I sign off, and that's... Well, as I was walking around London - before going to the rescue shelter but after chatting with Ethan's parents - I noticed that there were a lot of kids just sort of loitering around the small yards of the buildings they live in. The poorest looking - and thus biggest - buildings often didn't have anything at all for them to do. No playgrounds. No parks. The luckiest ones had a bench to sit on.

Now I'm not saying these kids were doing absolutely nothing at all. Some were playing various games with other kids. A popular game was some sort of football in parking lots. It didn't have the iconic black and white spotted look of REAL footballs, but rather a rubbery reddish look. In any case, that was the exception. The most common thing I saw at that point in time was a single kid - sometimes two - just sitting in the tiny yard looking utterly bored.

SO..... I feel like I should try to come up with a way to give those kids a little bit of space to play in and the freedom to just be kids playing in a park. Do you have any objection to me building a more or less regular park for poor muggle kids with just enough magical warding to make damn certain that any kid playing there will be safe there. No bullying. No muggle drugs or alcohol. No arseholes kidnapping them for nefarious purposes. What do you think? Sound good?

Every step you take, every move you make, every single breath,  
Draco


	53. Chapter 53

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Greg's Stag do :-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting twice in a short amount of time because real life beckons me tonight, but I think this post will leave y'all happy enough until tomorrow :-D

Friday September 25th  
Hey my love,

It's early. It's early even for me. Well, it's not so early for me to have been awake, but seeing as I've already gotten ready for the day and am ready to leave at my usual wake up time, it's early. You would probably just call this time "yesterday"!

Anyway, I have a long day planned. I know, I know, tonight is Greg's Stag Party, and tomorrow is the wedding, and we are co-best men. I shouldn't be wandering away on wild goose chases. Geese Chase? Nope, goose chases, yeah I'm sticking with Goose Chases. I promise, everything is set. Blaise and I planned every thing, there's not even any need for last minute nit picking. And we all know I'm no good during last minute prep anyway. It's probably better that I not be there to whine about cream puffs lacking puffiness or some other such nonsense.

Honestly, you should probably have written down all of the nonsense I freaked out about before each gala, or grand opening of a Unity or a Traditions. You could sell a book, I'm thinking "The Boy Who Panicked." Hmm, not great, I'm sure we can brainstorm a good one.

So, I want to talk way more in depth later about a lot of these things, but since I think my day is going to be long and intense and suck up all of my brain power. I'm going to reply outrageously quickly but I will up the excitement level to make up for my in depth reply. Cool?

Holy Hell! Miles and Colm are definitely back together! They are already talking marriage. And they are actively trying to get COLM pregnant?!? Eeeeek, I am so excited for a new little grandchild to snuggle. Oh, I love babies. And you were so worried about Jaz having someone close in her age so she wasn't so lonely, she'll have their baby! And Sammy will be an amazing big sibling.

And Ethan is having a baby too? Well, not Ethan. In the muggle world, when someone says a man is "having a baby" you just assume they mean his female partner and you meant he's going to be a dad. But when we say "Ethan is having a baby" we never quite know. Although, seeing as Ethan is a muggle I DO know, but I still have my automatic reactions. So, Ethan's lady friend is having a baby and he's going to be a dad and we will have another baby to smoosh its chubby little cheekies!

I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOVE your idea to build a big park for these underprivileged kids. You are the most beautiful person I know. And I mean on the inside, even though you are ALSO the most beautiful person I know physically as well. Mmm, you're so pretty. I am the luckiest man on the planet. You're thoughtful and kind and gorgeous and great in the sack.

But I think with all the other projects we've heaped upon Greg, maybe we should let him know that we're going to hire muggle? Let him know so he knows we're not trying to keep him out of the plans, but give him the out so he doesn't feel obligated to spend his honeymoon time trying to build yet another thing for the Malfoy business moguls. I think hiring muggle and local might be the best bet. I know that a poor area of London isn't exactly war-torn Iran, but I saw the difference being able to earn a small income made to the women we hired to nurse the babies; I would think if this area is as run down as you're implying it might be nice to offer a well paid side job to the parents of these underprivileged kids.

We'll outsource the charms ourselves!

Venus! What do you mean she is only sweet to me? She's such a hunny. Every child that came up to pet her was allowed and she purred and everything! Don't you dare disparage my pwitty witty kitty. Um, I mean, don't talk badly about this cat I don't feel many things for. Ok fine! She's the sweetiest, cutiest, cuddly-wuddliest little thing. And I love her. And yes, her name is Venus. It means we can't use it for any future children, but I suppose that isn't too bad.

Thank you for giving me the key to the cottage. Thank you for not asking questions. Thank you for being kind enough to let me have my secrets even when I am not always willing to do the same for you. If it helps at all, I am 99% sure I am in no danger.

Part of my plans involve stopping in to see Kingsley today to see if he's willing to let me have some auror grade veritaserum. I told the person that I was going to require a veritaserum … confession? Interrogation? Well whatever, I told them they were taking it if they truly want me to believe them. And they were relieved that I was being so cautious. Those are my plans today, I am going to heavily question this person. Ask them a million questions and get down to the bottom of what happened. And if I get the answers that make sense, I um, I am going to bring you to the cottage and let you know everything that's happened and why.

I just need to make sure it's safe before I bring anyone in my family into this mess.

And if you and I both agree it's not a scam, that it's the real deal. I may want to introduce this person to the whole family on Sunday.

I'll see you tonight at Blaise's club! I will be there no later than seven. I promise!

Love you in all ways,  
Harry

P.S. Ok, sure, we have been married for ten years, but it's not like we lived here those entire ten years! It's a massive estate, don't you tease me about the practically invisible hunting lodge!

 

Saturday September 26th  
Mon Amour,

You and Blaise did such a good job on Greg's stag do! I find it a little bit funny that Blaise called Millie up at some point in the planning process to ask her if there was a limit or a line he needed to respect - after all, he understands that they have kids together and he wouldn't want to destroy their relationship the NIGHT before they get married simply for a bit of meaningless fun.

It was no surprise to me that Millie replied: "Blaise, Greg and I are both Slytherins who have been together more than five years. Do you REALLY think Greg could do anything at your slaggy party that we haven't already done? So long as he's not too drunk to speak this vows, I'll call that a win."

Which, of course, seemed to challenge Blaise to see just exactly how slaggy he could make the party! I will naturally give credit for ALL of the more tasteful aspects of the party to you. You and Blaise had made a commitment to arrive at 7 on the dot to ensure that all of the entertainment and supplies were there and ready to go. This means that I also committed to getting there at that time so that I could help solve problems and avert catastrophes if necessary.

I actually wondered if you might be a little late, but true to your word, you showed up on time. Actually, you Apparated in at 6:59 - which makes me wonder if you were watching the time and trying not to come TOO early, or if you simply got caught up in whatever you were doing, happened to glance at the clock just then, and dropped everything to Apparate over.

In any case, you were there on time and we all spent the next hour checking that the strippers were there and ready to pop out of a massive cake (which may have disappointed Greg that the thing wasn't solid and completely edible, hahaha). That the cake that's actually intended to be eaten was ready, there, and Greg's favorite - orange poppyseed with mint chocolate frosting. That the club didn't run out of alcohol in the previous 24 hours. That there was a lovely six course meal to tide Greg over. Things like that.

The guests started arriving at 8 PM. And this was actually more people than I thought would attend. It was the three of us, Theo, Derek, Ron, Pansy's husband Ivan and his brother Dimitri, Astoria's husband Conrad, a few of the people Greg consistently works with when he's in town, Stan, AND several blokes that Greg has worked with and gotten to know as we traveled the world building Unity Houses literally from the ground up.

All in all, quite the showing!

The weird part is not anything that did or did not happen at the party; the weird thing is that I have no idea if the party is an actual normal party, or if I just think it is because all our friends are slaggy and play around. I mean, our own stag dos were obviously different because we were just getting together and hadn't considered playing around yet, but by this point, it seems par for the course, haha.

I don't know if you and Blaise agreed on a number of strippers, or if Blaise simply thought that one can never have too many of them at a party, but in addition to the three that jumped out of the cake, there was about a dozen more. They were only paid to strip and entertain, and so weren't prostitutes per se, but Blaise and Kisa have worked with their bond JUST enough for him to have access to his impossible to resist sex magic, and so, he made sure that every one at the party (and in the club in general) was definitely in the mood to play around and have fun.

Ironically enough, the three of us remained sober and fully clothed (mostly) the entire night because we were the hosts, and Blaise magically couldn't play, but everyone else definitely got naked and had as much fun as possible. I'm not entirely sure Greg will be able to *walk* down the aisle, buwahahahaha!

My favorite part of the night was when one of the strippers - who has classical dance training - learned that I could dance fairly well myself and asked me to take her for a bit of a spin. It's sort of rare that I have a chance to dance with someone who I can pick up and flip about like that (and I'm not trying to insult or demean you in any way, I know I physically CAN - and do - pick you up while dancing, but also that you're not really trained in it).

No, I take that back, my FAVORITE part of the night was when I pulled YOU onto the dance floor and danced so closely with you that we were basically shagging with our clothes on. Frotting, I suppose. We even made a mess in our pants, hahaha. It theoretically *could* have been a good time to strip you naked and lay you out across a table to play with as a demonstration to the crowd in the club, but that might have taken the focus off of Greg and put it on you, so I refrained. For the moment. That'll still happen!

It's probably a good thing that Greg and Millie chose a late afternoon start time for their wedding, because I'm dead certain NONE of us would have made it had it started at noon! I'm currently wasting a bit of time before the ceremony starts by writing this. Everything is ready to go - even us! - but it's not quite time yet. So, we are currently keeping Greg (and you) calm by sipping on some lovely tea, giving extra hangover potions to Greg, and chatting about his and our kids.

I can hear Millie roaring about something that's not quite up to snuff over on her side of the yard, and am SOOOOO grateful that I don't have to worry about any of that. She's got her bridesmaids and Hermione over there to solve problems, so it's best if we just stay put.

"Oi mutt! Sit down!" I suppose that I didn't have to type that too, it just sort of happened, heh heh. "The girls have got things in hand and don't need you underfoot!"

"Er... Are you sure I can't give them a hand?"

"No! Sit!"

Looks like I better sign off and give you a calming blowjob before you're tempted to go get underfoot after all. And what the hell? Maybe I'll order you to give one to Greg since it IS his wedding and you can be all happy and subby and make him happy at the same time, haha.

There's the door I'm home at last, I'm soaking through and through, and then you handed me a towel, and all I see is you, and even if my house falls down, I wouldn't have a clue, because you're near me,  
Draco


	54. Chapter 54

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg's wedding is quite lovely.

Sunday September 27th  
My Love,

Yesterday was amazing. Is there anything more lovely than a wedding? It was so sweet and simple, without being plain or boring. Elegant in its simplicity.

Our wedding, elaborate and flashy, was perfect for us. Our girls in their designer gowns, the heavily detailed robes of our boys, and I still have yet to see a set of dress robes more beautiful than the ones we wore. I could be a bit biased because its what I wore when I married the love of my life and what I saw my soon to be husband wearing when I looked across the aisle, and those memories might be a bit emotional! But theirs was perfect for them.

Our crew looked absolutely beautiful as usual. Elena was an absolute knockout in her red mermaid style formal dress. It reminded me so much of the flamenco dresses she favored when she was younger. It seemed with each place we lived, she developed a love of their cultural dress, and really tried to immerse herself in the current and historical fashions of the area, but she always came back around to the flare at the heels perfect for dancing. My little Spanish beauty. And Viona in her black knee length dress, with the sheer floral overlay. How did these perfect beautiful women come into our lives?

River and Orion wore some very simple, solid black robes. While Siri and Zwei wore very similar black robes in their cut, but they both wanted fun silver and gold embroidery on theirs. The handsomest of little men. I was so impressed with all four of them today, as rambunctious as our mischief twins are, they were polite and respectful the whole day. I assume today is going to be extra mischief to make up for what they missed yesterday, but I'll take it! And River and Orion were absolutely perfect dance partners for anyone who cared to dance. They are so young, and yet able to lead anyone in dance. Did you see River letting little Greta dance on his shoes? Be still my heart! That will probably be him with Jaz in a year or two.

My Jasmine, Elena wanted her to have the same color dress. She's the only sister she can still talk into dressing alike. The others may choose to dress the same as Elena but it's always on their terms! So Jaz had that beautiful red dress, with the gorgeous golden embroidered accents on the bodice. I actually got a beautiful picture of them dancing at the reception; my biggest and my littlest! My heart!

And then our divas! I think we almost should have told them no when they picked out their dresses. You shouldn't upstage the bride on her wedding, and they upstaged the sun! Beautiful, golden, ornate couture dresses, from the same line so they coordinated but so different in design that they each had their own look. Haz had a sparkly jacket as the bodice, with massive layers of rose-gold tulle. And Eri with her pencil skirt and fitted top, with a waistline that almost looked like a bustle from the 1700's. Haz had her miles of black curls as slicked back into a thick, low, chignon. And Eris, I missed her hair when she chopped it off in that pixie cut, but it so suits her.

And we had our matching solid black robes with the metallic black embroidery. Much more subdued than our usual style, but we what the groom wants, the groom gets. And as I rarely see you in so much solid black, it was a little surprise to see the contrast between your moonlight hair and the stark black of the robes. Mmm, you're delicious.

Greg, who I normally think of as my carpenter friend, all rough edges and big smiles, wow he cleans up nice. I suppose he cleaned up nice for our wedding as well, but I so rarely see him out of his work clothes. The deep black velvet floor length robes could have been too much, but the gorgeous silver embroidery made it look royal as opposed to severe. And he complemented Millie's dress so well. She went full muggle for her dress, it hugged her curves perfectly. It was just so Millie. Gorgeous and classily understated. Beautiful and practical.

Sweet little Greta in her gorgeous green flower girl dress had every single person at the ceremony eating out of the palm of her tiny hand. And Mason! I am so used to barely seeing the back of him as he runs off with Siri and Zwei. When I do get a peek at him, he's generally covered in mud. But he looked like such a handsome little man in his dark blue and silver formal robes.

And both Pansy and Daphne would murder me if I didn't gush over their looks as well. I think they came up with the perfect mixture of understated elegance Millie wanted, while being over the top enough for these over the top women. What appeared to be a practically unadorned deep purple dress, with just a satin sash to define the waist, became "wow" when they shifted and you could see the hip-high slit in the full skirt.

I can't even believe the ceremony. I kept flashing back to being able to watch them fall in love from the sidelines while we were all in South Africa. The arch Millie carved, I didn't realize what it was going to be, was a perfect wooden replica of the very real floral arch in our backyard at our house there. Where they would go and sit under the bench, while you, Elena, and I would take turns peeking at them out the window to giggle about their adorable behavior. Them saying the traditional vows was so touching, knowing we were on the grounds of his ancestors while they said the words so many generations before them had said.

And Millie leaning over in the middle of her vows to wipe the tears out of Greg's eyes? I am definitely glad I brought tissues!

I'm sure the photographer captured the moment, but seeing them under this beautiful arch, smiling at each other with wet eyes, while their sweet little Mason and Greta standing at their feet looking up at their parents was one of those beautiful moments that just seared itself in my brain.

The reception, ugh I won't even be able to do it justice. You were there! The music was lively and bright, as always I enjoyed dancing in your arms and watching you dance our children around the room. The food. I mean, it was Greg's wedding, we knew it was going to be fantastic. But I hope no one noticed me make an utter pig of myself, I think I ate an entire platter of fresh veggies by myself. If I look a little orange today it's only because I've eaten all the carrots in Great Britain.

We were all out so late that everyone slept in a bit, or is still sleeping in. Even us early risers were up roughly an hour later than our usual. I didn't even go for a run this morning! I woke up late and was so tired, I didn't think I drank too much, but my upset stomach disagrees with that assessment. It's like it's trying to punish me for all the carrots! Actually, I don't even think I felt a bit tipsy. It's like every drink you brought me was super weak. Was the bartender being stingy or something?

Ok, so, now that I have babbled on and on. Um, so when I am done with this email I am going to ask your parents to watch the kids that are awake. Then I am going to head over to my guest in the cottage. I uh, I am ready to tell you everything, so when you wake up and get a chance to read this, meet me at the cottage? I could explain everything, or I can just show you.

Don't worry, the story checked out. Veritaserum and Legilimency proven!

I love you,  
Harry

 

Sunday September 27th  
My soul,

I thoroughly enjoyed Greg and Millie's wedding. I'm a little surprised by this because most of my experience with weddings has been colored by the stress of planning (or at least helping to plan), so it was an interesting and unique experience to be able to just relax and enjoy.

I know, I know, I say that every time, but it's true every time.

In any case, there is just one tiny thing that put a damper on it for me, and that's that my stomach was feeling just a tad off. Has been for a few days actually, but not so bad that I couldn't enjoy the party. Just... just enough to make me pass on all alcoholic drinks.

I don't mind though, because it means that I remember every second of dancing with you very clearly.

But now that I'm awake and ready to face my day, I'm going to sign off and come meet with you. I have to admit, you have definitely piqued my curiosity. Love you forever!

You let me violate you, you let me desecrate you, you let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you, you get me closer to God,  
Draco  
P.S. And now I'm horny again. I might have to take advantage of the guest cottage - provided our guest isn't a homophobe, haha.


	55. Chapter 55

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry introduces Draco to their mystery guest and Draco is thrown for a bit of a loop.

Sunday September 27th  
My Dragon,

Well, that went better than I thought it might have. Although, I could have done without him attempting to "finite incantatem" me a few times. It has been so many years since anyone has thought there was even a remote possibility that you had me under some sort of love potion or Imperius that I had forgotten people used to freak out about us being together. It's been a decade at this point, if you're somehow still tricking me for some underhanded reason, you are REALLY playing the long game!

And don't think I didn't notice you using Legilimency a few times. And if I noticed it a few times, that means you did it many more times where I didn't notice. It's not like I'm the most observant of people. You'd think you could trust knowing I questioned him for hours under Auror grade Veritaserum, that I used Legilimency on him, not to mention there's literally no other explanation for his existence besides the truth. But you wouldn't be the husband I know and love if you didn't take every single precaution to keep me safe. Thank you for your overprotective nature. I love you.

Our guest certainly isn't a homophobe. Impossible really. But I don't think he liked the idea of you violating me in the cottage he's staying in. Someday, when he's either joined us at the Manor or moved to his own property I am all in! I'm picturing you taking me on that giant cozy rug in front of the fireplace. Maybe it's winter and there's snow covering the windowpanes. But we have a fire going and a few candles. Your beautiful skin glowing in the firelight. The only sounds are the sounds of our breathing and moaning, the sound of slick skin sliding against more skin, with the occasional pop and hiss from the fireplace.

And then when we're done we can have a little picnic basket full of yummy finger foods. I could hand feed you your favorites, maybe have some ginger biscuits I'd baked just for you. And I could have all the fresh veggies we can fit in the basket. Oooh, do you remember when we were in California and we had orange and lemon trees in our yard? We could practically reach out our kitchen window for an orange to squeeze for our morning juice. It doesn't get any fresher than that.

Ooh, you know what, I think I am going to have to go to the greenhouses and see what we have as far as garden fresh vegetables in there. If we don't have them, I will have to stop and see Neville some time this week. I think we definitely need to plant carrots because they're so delicious, but I think we should plant spinach as well. Anything lettuce can do, spinach can do better. Oh Oh Oh! And sugar snap peas.

Wow, I'm supposed to be talking about your introduction to our guest and I just went on and on about food. I should probably finish up this email and head to dinner with everyone else.

Anyway, after you got over the initial shock, and after he got over his inability to believe I had married a Malfoy, I think our visit went well. You looked like you had a million and one questions but were restraining yourself. Don't worry, ask away. I thought you might prefer to write them down so you can keep all of your thoughts together. I have most of the story figured out, but I think when we get back from Africa I'm going to see if I can find an unspeakable willing to help me figure out pieces of the puzzle.

We leave for Unity Africa Thursday night, so we have a few days to pack and prepare. If things go well and everyone seems to be getting along, what do you think of bringing him with us on our trip? No pressure, he's doing just fine in the cottage, but I thought it would be a nice way to give us a neutral location to talk in.

I know we'll talk after dinner, and you'll probably want the whole evening and overnight to really weigh everything in your mind. But if things go smoothly, can we do the introductions to the rest of our family tomorrow after breakfast? I hope you're ok with it, I can't believe this is happening. I just can't believe it's real. If all goes well, tomorrow I am going to introduce Sirius to his namesake!

Ok, I really have to go, I am starving!  
Harry

 

Sunday September 27th  
Mine,

Wow!

I... I'm not sure what to say.

I'm rather gobsmacked!

So, I guess I'll start with the first thing I can wrap my head around. Yes, I would be delighted to bring your Godfather to Africa with us. DON'T blame me if he goes missing! It's a big country after all...

Secondly, now you've got me craving oranges! You know what? I think I saved some seeds from our trees in California, so I think I'll try planting them. Even though we do NOT have the right climate in Wiltshire for them, if I CAN'T magic them to grow anyway, I'll just build a big glass house for them to grow in so that they have the right conditions. It'll still probably take some magic, but why not?

Lucky for me, Muffy was able to pop off and buy a bunch of organic oranges for me, and then squeeze them into a nice glass of juice. Mmm... Oh! You know what?! I bet bananas would go lovely in this! And maybe some strawberries. And cherries? Hmm, I think I'll have Muffy make me a smoothie from the kefir she makes with the extra farm fresh milk we get each week. I LOVE stasis!

What was I saying???

Oh!

Right...

So...

I really did my best to read every bit of his mind, and even though most of it was fuzzy, the parts that were there were definitely him. I did NOT see this coming! Honestly, if anyone was going to be shockingly NOT dead after all these years, I would have put my money on it being *my* Godfather Sev.

THAT said, his portrait would not be active if he was still alive, and since it very much IS active, I know that he is very much dead. Honestly, it's probably for the best as that would seriously tear apart our family - what with my parents adopting his son and all. I can't imagine that Severus would say: "Oh, well, you've all but raised him at this point, so you may as well just keep him." Right... No, he'd want a chance to get to know his son. And I think we can all see just how much Sebastian would LOVE to go live with a father that would happily lock them both in a potions lab for the rest of their lives.

But where would that leave the rest of our siblings? They LOVE him, try as he does to push them away in his pubescent moodiness. They would be heartbroken if he were to suddenly leave.

And honestly, I think that Sebastian would miss our father after a couple of days. It's no secret that the two of them get along like a house on fire, haha! When they go hunting, it's one of the few times when Sebastian forgets about everything else (even potions!) and just... bonds...

Oh, I'm doing that thing you do where I ramble about other things to avoid the real topic. Alright, so I tend to do it too. I can think of one relatively recent email in which I tried my hardest to avoid the real topic, but that's not my point. My point is that I have SO many questions that I can't even ask them because I don't know where to start!

So, I suppose that I'll just let my mind go blank and forego asking all questions until we are wrapped around each other in bed. Maybe as you tell me what you know, questions will just pop out. Love you!

From this moment, I have been blessed, I live only, for your happiness, and for your love, I give my last breath,  
Draco


	56. Chapter 56

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius gets to meet Harry's 'little' family.

Monday September 28, 2009

My Dragon,

I can't believe I introduced my children to my Godfather today. Someone I've grieved for almost fourteen years now, is here and whole and able to be a part of my life. He's going to be able to tell our kids all about their Grandpa James. And he's going to be able to tell Teddy all about his father. I know I've told Teddy all about knowing Remus as a bit of a surrogate Godfather, while both you and I have told him about having him as a professor. Heck, even Kingsley has been able to tell him about Remus' role within the war as a member of the Order. But someone who knew Remus as an eleven year old? Someone who was best friends with him? I'm selfishly happy for myself to have Sirius back, but my heart is practically exploding with happiness for our children and Teddy.

With that being said, if you could please not let (make) Sirius disappear while we're in Africa, I would very much appreciate that. I hope this isn't too hard for you. I can practically feel the annoyance radiating off both you and Sirius towards each other. I know he can't understand how I could have fallen in love with a Malfoy. And you're justifiably angered at someone questioning our relationship. I promise you he will come around, he is a lot like Ron, hot-headed and quick to judge Slytherins or other Purebloods, but he loves me and in time will see how good we are for each other.

Keep in mind, for him no time has passed since he fell into the veil. The last memory he has is being in a battle with Death Eaters (led by Lucius), it being the height of the war, and knowing how much of rivals you and I were. As far as we can tell, he hasn't aged as if no time has passed. Can you imagine how out of sorts you would feel if you were all of a sudden flashed forward in time from fifth year? The last thing you can remember is being furious with Harry Potter for getting your father arrested, and in the blink of an eye you find out we're married with nine children? No matter how fit past Harry found you, I would never have thought I could have this kind of happiness with you.

His confusion is why he apparated away from me those first times I showed up. In his mind I am an awkward, gangly, bespectacled fifteen year old. When he sent me that letter and an almost thirty year old man showed up instead, he panicked. I've already talked with him at length, but he WILL be seeing a mind healer. I told him I'd introduce him to both Yesenia and Katja because we love them the biggest obviously, but that I know many more mind healers if he would prefer his own. Just the time jump would have been enough to need some serious mind healing damage control, but I know he never got the mental help he needed before he disappeared either.

He had an abusive childhood, ran away from home/was kicked out of his family as a teenager, went through two wars, lost his best friend to death and another to betrayal, and then spent twelve years in Azkaban. Then was forced to hide away in his childhood home full of horrid memories with no one but an insane house elf for company.

You have me forever and always. I love my Godfather, but nothing he could say or do will make me stop thinking you hung the moon just for me. Please be patient with him while he heals and acclimates himself to this new frightening world he's been thrust into. You can probably tone down the over the top glaring when you think I'm not looking! But the possessive, claiming kisses every time he wrinkles his nose can continue. I am not going to stop something that gets me extra smooches. Although, you know I love your possessive touching and constant hand holding, but if you could let go of my hand when I am trying to use it to hold my fork, I would be ever so thankful!

Watching the kids' shocked reactions was so funny. Orion in particular seemed to not want to ask questions while we were all overwhelmed with the emotional aspect of the arrival, but I have a feeling he has an entire list of questions that he will unleash as soon as he sees an opening or gets the go-ahead. And Sirius seemed an even mix of delight at finally meeting the prankster he was named for, while being a little annoyed he'll have to share his name. "Uncle Sirius, we share the same name, but the name Siri belongs to me. Got it?"

Good thing Sirius has never been one to think elders automatically deserve respect, he likes a kid with the guts to stand up for himself. His little salute and "Yes sir!' was so sweet.

Thank you for asking Lucius and Narcissa to avoid the reunion. I know it's their home. And they will of course need to meet with him eventually. But with Sirius' tentative ability to hold it all together, it's probably best he not have to work on dealing with the man he was in a battle with and his estranged cousin.

Thank you for all of your support in the last days. You allowed me time to keep my secrets until I had dealt with it on my own. You handed over the key to the cottage with no questions asked. You have sat through two full experiences where Sirius glared daggers at you. All for me. I think you deserve a reward.

I'll be waiting in the playroom for you to figure out what you'd like to take as your prize.

Yours,  
Harry James Malfoy

 

Wednesday September 30th

My beloved husband,

Today was certainly interesting. We facilitated a rather smooth meeting between my parents and your Godfather. I did my best to make sure that my parents would treat him with understanding and compassion - in their own Malfoy way. And you made sure to tell Sirius that my father had changed quite a bit, and that you suspect he was never truly bad at any point, simply good at wearing a mask to make the world think he was.

I don't think Sirius bought that for a second, but he at least seemed to have an openish mind for the meeting. You brought him to tea in the fairly neutral Sunroom where my parents were already sipping on cups of their favorite organic breakfast blends. I invited Sirius to sit and join us, and we all waited as he was served your favorite - much less fussy - tea, and given plenty of time to tweak it as he liked. It's good to see that he prefers cream and minimal sugar. I feel that indicates someone with a good head on his shoulders.

Usually.

To no surprise, it was actually my mother who stepped up and began a pleasant conversation. Not only is she a well bred and perfect hostess, but she has experience making up with estranged family members. She started with: "Good morning, lovely to see you again, cousin," and went almost straight to: "My sister Andromeda will be excited to see you as well. She's raising Teddy all on her own and wouldn't mind extra help in trying to curb his enthusiasm. Or perhaps give it a useful direction to go. As Remus' son, he is actually rather capable of being studious and responsible, but considering that his mother was my niece/your cousin Nymphadora, he inherited her metamorph ability and penchant for hijinks. I am quite sure that the two of you will get along swimmingly!"

I took a sip of tea and gave a faint smile as I added: "Yes, although it can sometimes be hard to figure out who Teddy is. So try to keep this valuable tip in mind, Harry gave him a pendant to wear that says his name. If you should happen to see a kid you don't recognize, look for the pendant to confirm it's him. That reminds me, love," I murmured, turning to kiss your hand. "I was thinking that we should take Viona, Eris, and Hazel out shopping for a gorgeous ballgown to give him for Christmas. He was telling me before the Hogwarts' Express left that he is super excited for this year's Yule Ritual and wanted to show off how well he can dance."

You smiled adoringly at me. "Not to mention, your mother and I made plans to host an actual ball for our family that day - er, Christmas, that is. Well, family AND circle. So he will have plenty of opportunity to wear a floofy ballgown and dance."

I snorted in amusement. "Try not to let our divas hear you call it floofy. The fashion this year is sleek and elegant. If they hear you talking about floofy, they may well just decide that barely below the hips is the fashion instead!"

Haz poked her head into the room. "Dads! Auntie Donna just called and she was wondering if - since she's planning to come over for milk drop off and to nurse Jaz a bit if she's hungry - well, can she bring all her kids over? Please say yes, I'm excited to talk to Daisy about this boy she likes!"

You rubbed your forehead. "I forgot they were all reaching that age..."

I kissed you before addressing her. "Of course, love. Once they get here, please bring Donna to Leah, who is currently playing signing games with Jaz." I turned to kiss you again. "She's actually starting to use them, have you seen? She's definitely learned the sign for milk, which I think she assumes is simply FEED ME!!!"

You laughed. "I actually HAVE seen that! But I've also seen her tap her mouth in the sign for food, so I think maybe she might understand the difference."

Hazel laughed impishly. "I'm quite sure she understands more than you give her credit for! She's clearly made the signs for ball, dog, and play."

I felt inordinately chuffed at hearing that and grinned. "Excellent! That means that Leah is worth her exorbitant salary after all!"

At that moment, Venus popped her head out of Bear's purse (they must get along well enough after all because she climbs in there whenever she's had enough attention), hopped out and into your lap so that she could sit up on your shoulder and whisper love songs in your ear. Not to be outdone, Bear jumped out of her purse too and yapped happily as she turned circles on my lap.

"Aww! It's MY turn to hold Bear!" Haz insisted.

Smiling, I handed Bear over and kissed our daughter on the cheek. "Go on and take her, but remember, that means that YOU are the one responsible for taking her outside if she has to go, or cleaning up after her if she makes a mess."

Haz rolled her eyes at me. "That's what ELVES are for!" I couldn't help but chuckle as she walked out of the room, calling for her elf as she went.

You smirked at me. "I LOVE how spoilt our children are!"

I kissed you.

"My grandchildren most certainly AREN'T spoiled!" My father objected haughtily, sipping delicately on his tea.

"No, they really aren't," my mother agreed. "You've managed to raise them to be so very loving and kind."

"And spoiled," I added with a knowing grin. "I think we should bring them all out shopping for little presents to give the Unity Kids when we get to Africa."

"Mmm," you murmured, probably in agreement, but you could have been thinking about shagging me again - I'm almost ALWAYS thinking about shagging you, so I wouldn't blame you, haha.

After that, my mother and your Godfather fell into a rather pleasant chat about some of the things he couldn't quite wrap his head around. At one point, Severus popped into the portrait behind us of a lovely leucistic Peacock (reputedly the original brought into the family by one of my ancestors), and starting sneering insults at Sirius, who had no qualms about returning them. It seems that he was even just a little satisfied that Sev is a portrait, and thus, dead. This naturally led to my mother ordering my father to take Sev away and give him a stern talking to. She also threatened to dissolve his portrait in acid if he didn't cooperate, which made Severus swallow his pride and sulk away.

So, all in all, I think that went rather well. I even managed to not glare at Sirius behind your back. Much. I'm sorry, but I just don't think I'll be able to stop completely until he does!

-

Oh! It seems that I got distracted while writing earlier (by you rubbing your face all over me and opening my trousers with your teeth) and never hit send. Works out for me since it is currently about 4 in the morning and I've just fed Jaz and got her back to sleep. Usually, I would climb back into bed and molest you, but, well, I've just gotten a call. It seems my help is needed, and so, I'm about to get dressed and leave. I'll tell you everything when I get back. Possibly on the plane to Africa. Don't worry, I'm looking forward to it and wouldn't miss it for the world!

Love you more than everything else, even the air I breathe,  
Draco


	57. Chapter 57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has a bit of a stomach bug and Draco talks about the raid he went on.

Thursday October 1st  
My Own,

I've never been so thankful for a stomach bug. I woke up this morning feeling quite awful. I was so worried about not being sick for our upcoming trip that I managed to get out of bed, get an anti-nausea potion, and do all my morning bathroom rituals without realizing you weren't in bed. Once the potion had kicked in and I realized you weren't in bed, I just assumed you were so excited to head back to Africa that you were awake uncharacteristically early.

Jaz and I headed to breakfast, she was insistently doing her signs for milk and food, and once the nausea was gone I found myself starving as well. I cooked up some delicious omelets full of veggies while Jaz greedily drank down her bottle. She finished up right as the omelets were done, so she and I annihilated the plate. While we were making pigs of ourselves, the rest of the kids made their way into the dining room. It seems the smell of my cooking will bring them all running! Luckily I had made quite a lot and put it in stasis for just this situation.

The anti-nausea potion I had taken was settling well, I just felt a few little rumbles while everyone else was adjusting their own plates, adding sauces, cheese, seasonings, etc. And now that it's just about lunchtime it hasn't come back. I'm really relieved, I didn't want to have to put off our trip or go while feeling awful. No one wants to be on a fun holiday while feeling unwell. I need to surf, I can't do that if I'm sick!

I asked Muffy if everything was packed and ready to go for tonight's flight. She gave me one of her judgey looks and assured me I should know better than to think she might have forgotten to pack or missed something. I messaged Mr. Lott to make sure we had all of the details of the trip ready. And then I spent the entire rest of the morning playing with Jaz. Lately I have been working so hard with her signing that I've gotten away from some of our regular playtime. I'm still signing as often as I can, but focused less on learning and more on just enjoying some time with my daughter. She showed off some of her mad crawling skills. And I chased her around a bit in my fox form. She thought that was the funniest thing ever.

The other kids came in and out of the room, asking questions about the trip, wondering if we could see something specific they remember, Siri and Zwei wanted to go out and visit Sirius at the cottage. And everyone who came in needed at least one good cuddle with "their Jazzie" before they left. But eventually, I saw those beautiful eyes of hers start drooping and knew it was time for a nap.

I brought her into our room, turned some lullabies on at max volume, and carded my fingers through her hair while the vibrations hummed her to sleep.

Which is why it was this late by the time I realized not only were you not home, but that you had been called away for something that was important at four a.m. I just assumed you were off doing your own thing, it didn't occur to me that you might be doing something potentially dangerous. And now I am trying very hard not to panic. Hurry up and get here so you can tell me my biggest worries aren't a reality. I love you more than anything in the world!

Come home safe to me,  
Harry

 

Thursday October 1st  
My love,

Well, that was certainly a day. I arrived home around twoish. Perhaps even as early as 1:40, and I was so tired that I Apparated straight to our bedroom and crawled in bed to pass out. I *think* Jaz may have been in bed napping when I arrived, I'm not certain as I was too bleary eyed to notice.

In any case, I probably didn't get a chance to sleep for very long before you realized I was home and woke me to relieved kisses. I'm sure you didn't intend to wake me, you just couldn't help yourself. You had to be certain that I was unharmed and in one piece.

"Oi mutt, gerroff and lemme sleep!" I snarled unhappily.

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!!!" Sirius (the elder) roared angrily.

I drifted between awake and out of it as you reassured him that I wasn't insulting you but rather calling you an affectionate pet name. As you did, you must have ordered Muffy to bring you a Wide Awake Potion, because the next thing I knew, you were sliding an arm under my shoulders and helping me to sit up enough so that I could drink the potion.

"Come on, love, drink this," you insisted.

I reluctantly complied, trying my best to lay back down and snuggle with a pillow when I was done, but of course, the potion kicked in relatively quickly, making me alert and none too pleased.

"You gave me a Wide Awake Potion, didn't you?" I accused with a grumpy glare.

"Sorry Dragon, but we're scheduled to get on the plane in about an hour and I want to know what happened first," you murmured in apology.

Grumpily, I sat up and growled for Muffy to bring me some tea and biscuits. To my delight, you'd made a sort of cinnamon sugar biscuit recently that was quite lovely with my creamy tea.

"Where's Jaz?" I wondered.

"With Leah."

"And the boys?"

"Playing in the park, now stop deflecting and tell me what happened," you insisted.

Sighing, I nodded. "So... er... well... you see, what happened was, I, erm, I got a call this morning, before the crack of dawn, and..."

I watched you wipe your hands down the sides of your face and groan a bit. "You're trying to stall and come up with something to distract me, and so I'm dead certain that I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Probably not," I admitted sheepishly. "Fine, I'll just blurt it out, Robards needed me to help out with a raid on a potions ring."

You had been sitting on the edge of the bed next to me, but now you leapt to your feet and flung your hands out in frustration as you roared: "YOU ARE NOT AN AUROR!!!"

I cringed a bit. "I know I know! But there are actually only a few people who are qualified to go on raids, and because of my skill set and recent testing, I'm one of them. So when Robards called me and asked me to help out with the raid - Well, I was actually going to refuse at first, since we have plans today - but he mentioned that they're more than half certain that this ring is using little kids as part of the manufacturing process. In essence, free slave labor. And he was right! There were three little kids being used as part of the process, and even though they're muggles, they're now in Tabitha's care. You can call her to verify if you'd like..."

You sighed and shook your head. "So... what happened?" You asked as you sat back on the bed.

"Well, it was rather boring, for the most part. There was a lot of waiting involved," I explained. "We gathered in the incident room around 4 AM in order to gear up and go over the plan, but then - once we'd Apparated to the designated point and got into position - we had to wait a few hours for the leaders of the ring to arrive and everything to be *just right.* I actually had to drink some of your vile coffee to stay awake while we waited."

"Fuck off!" You growled. "My coffee is perfectly lovely, ta ever so! I get it directly from a fair trade farm in Ethiopia - as you well remember!"

"It tastes like someone pissed in a pot and then burnt it before topping it off with a litter box!" I pointed out.

"DOES NOT!!!" You roared, looking fairly irate.

"Whatever, it's not important," I reminded you, in essence trapping myself into telling you the rest of the story when I COULD have simply continued the argument until you stormed off in a snit. "The important part is that when everything was as good as it was going to get, the protective wards were erected. When they were ready, we were given the signal to go in and secure the area by any means necessary. Naturally, since they knew that there were probably kids in the building, they wanted us to use deadly methods ONLY as a last resort - no need to go in AKing everyone. Actually, you might be interested to note that there's at least one rookie Auror who hasn't been able to pass the raid team tests because he's too likely to AK first and ask questions later."

You glared at me knowingly. "You're changing the subject again to try to distract me."

I sighed in defeat, not realizing I was doing that, but willing to admit that it was probably true. "Anyway, we went in in teams - I was paired with Ginger, as you can probably smell. In a methodical and deliberately careful manner, we searched the entire place and incapacitated everyone we came across. Mostly simple stunning spells, but one of the Leaders DID try to fight his way out, which means that Ginger and I had to physically take him down, but don't worry, he wasn't much of a challenge. I think I was in more danger of giving myself a nosebleed from snorting with laughter when he tried to run from me and ended up being clotheslined by Ginger."

You narrowed your eyes at me. "I'm going to ask for a copy of the official report, because if you're telling me that there was only a tiny bit of danger, then it's probably more likely that there was a LOT of danger and you're just minimizing it to make me feel better."

I pulled you into my arms and gave you a reassuring kiss. "I'm being serious. There really wasn't much to worry about. The majority of the people in there were mere employees or involuntary labor. They didn't put up much of a fight. And there are Ward specialists to take down wards before we get caught in them. Thus, the worst danger I was in was from tripping over the massive piles of rubbish scattered everywhere."

"Mmhmm…" you murmured in disbelief.

So now I decided that I really DID need to distract you. "In any case, after the area was secure and everyone was in custody, the team was needed to linger in case any hidden rooms full of combatants were discovered - and other teams were sent in to analyze the evidence - so I had nothing to do while I waited except start writing my report in my head and chat with Kingsley. The good news is that he took your request to bring your Godfather to Africa with us seriously and put a rush on the paperwork. Here," I handed you a packet from my back pocket. "He signed and issued the necessary documentation personally so that there shouldn't be any problems during travel."

"Aww, Kings did that for us?" You asked with a slightly watery expression.

I nodded. "And he's going to try to pop in for a few minutes before we leave if he can. He wants to talk to Sirius in person."

"You say that as if I wasn't standing right here," Sirius grumbled, reminding me that he had been in the room this whole time.

"Meh," I stated, looking supremely unimpressed.

Before anyone could say anything, Kingsley proved me right by Apparating into the room - probably using you as a focus. Probably a good thing we weren't having a preflight shag. You were a bit torn between being happy to see him and miffed that he apparently didn't mind letting Robards appropriate me as he liked.

As for me, I took the opportunity to slip out of the room and take a much needed shower before our flight. And I'm writing this on the plane, but now I'm going to sign off and take a light sleeping potion to counteract the Wide Awake Potion and catch a bit of a nap.

Love you,  
Draco


	58. Chapter 58

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys and their family make it to Africa and visit Unity House. Meanwhile, Sirius needs to wear a bell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AO3 seems to have had some issues the last few days with sending out notifications. If this is your first notification in a few days, you may have missed Chapters 56 and 57, go back and read them before you read this!**

Saturday October 3rd  
Good morning from beautiful sunny South Africa!

Was that believable or did you feel the mortification rolling off of me in waves?

I cannot believe that happened last night. I think we need to get Sirius a bell to wear around his neck. I didn't even realize he was still in our room when we had that argument before the flight Thursday, and I didn't hear him come into the play room last night. I think he's always been a bit of an insomniac, and I think he was just trying to acquaint himself with the new location, but I think you were the least upset out of all of us and you definitely weren't pleased!

We got in around four in the morning and immediately all went to sleep. We had slept a bit on the plane so while we all slept in a bit, we didn't need to sleep half the day away. When everyone was awake, I made a big brunch for everyone. We had called ahead and gotten the kitchen well stocked in preparation for our arrival, and I was able to make a massive amount of delicious food. Crepes with a ton of different fresh fruits and fresh cream to cover them in. Eggs. Bacon.

I stood at the griddle watching my family eat the food I'd made them. I could picture so many mornings exactly like this when we lived here. Two big kids and four toddlers, only one non messy eater in the bunch which meant five faces generally covered in syrup, milk, or juice. Noisy and wonderful. And how different our family was now. Nine beautiful children, just the three little messy faces. Still full of love, noisy and wonderful. And my beautiful husband who's been at my side for so long and I love even more now than I did then, I didn't even think that was possible. Before I knew it, I was sobbing into the crepe batter.

The kids seemed a bit concerned, but they've seen their mumdad cry enough times that once they realized you were already holding me they kept on eating. Poor Sirius is not used to a sobbing Harry and was quite concerned. My Godfather! Who I thought was dead. Who I grieved and loved, dealt with residual anger from his loss, and the recent mess of my head with him being alive. I thought I was slowly calming, but as soon as he started fussing over me I let loose with a secondary flood of tears. Whew, that was one of the biggest crying fits I've had in a long time, I suppose I was due.

We are staying on this holiday for a nice long visit, I am sure by the time we leave we will wish it was longer as with any trip, but we are set to be here long enough that everyone was alright with the plan to do a whole lot of nothing for the rest of the day. Elena and River were anxious to explore their former home, find their little secret spots that were so special to them when we lived here. Do you remember the time we seemingly couldn't find Lainie anywhere only to realize she had fallen asleep in that big tree she loved to read in? The Princess and the almost triplets were anxious to explore a bit as well, even though they don't remember being here they've seen enough pictures to feel as though they do. And of course Siri and Zwei just wanted to explore a new area.

That left you, me, Sirius, and Jaz to entertain ourselves. We managed to find something to do that would keep the two of you from glaring daggers at each other; working on sign language! It's always useful to work with Jaz, we still need to learn more and become more fluent ourselves, and if Sirius is going to be in our lives he needs to be able to communicate with all of our children. Unfortunately we had already given our four extra adults the day off to relax and settle in, so it had teaching Sirius becoming our responsibility.

It was the nicest I'd seen the two of you be towards each other. I place all of that on Jaz. I don't know if you've noticed, but he is smitten with her. She is quite good at wrapping people around her sweet little fingers and Uncle Sirius is no exception. He told me the other day, he loves that we have a Haz and a Jaz. He said it reminds him of my babyhood, I guess he was the first person to nickname ME Haz! It eventually caught on, and before everyone … stopped being together … my mum and all of the marauders called me Haz.

Eventually everyone, including the adults, made their way back to the dining room for dinner. And we all spent the rest of the evening relaxing together. Hoping to get a full night's rest in time to do some major sightseeing and fun the next day (today obviously!). We pulled out the instruments and played, sang, and danced a bit. You read the three littlest some bedtime stories. And it's so sweet, Eri, Ori, and Haz like to pretend they're much too old for such things, but by the end of your story they were sitting on the floor at your feet all snuggled up in a pile to listen.

And once all of the children were in bed, the adults made their way to their respective bedrooms. Or playroom in our case. Thursday I was so worked up about you putting yourself in danger again. And then we had an eleven hour flight which isn't a big deal, but it's not exactly a calm experience. Followed by a ridiculous emotional outburst yesterday morning. All of this topped by the fact that I have been feeling weird and off and not great for a few days now. You, being the perfect Master that you are, knew exactly what I needed.

And this is where things got sticky.

I needed a thorough owning. I needed to get so far out of my head that I didn't even remember my name. You not only strapped me down at the wrists, ankles, and knees, but secured my collar to my spanking bench as well. I couldn't move more than a centimeter in any direction. Merlin I was completely powerless, my body yours to care for, and it was exactly what I needed.

You warmed my arse up with your hand. Moved on to thoroughly flogging my arse, the backs of my thighs, and even my lower back. And by the time I was a gibbering mess, you began using the crop on my already swollen bollocks. It's a bit rougher than you usually go, but you could tell I needed it. And of course, that is the moment Sirius decided to attempt to explore the playroom.

I truly thought he was going to kill you. Luckily he had left his wand in his rooms or you may have had an AK sent at you. He just tackled you, and thanks to your training he only got the one lucky swing in because you were so surprised before you managed to subdue him.

"Oi, Sirius! This is consensual and exactly what Harry wanted and needed. However, he's been shocked into dropping hard from subspace and if I can't go care for him he's going to be a right mess. I'll release you if you promise not to attack me again."

So you managed to get me unstrapped and snuggled up in a cozy blanket with water and chocolates while Sirius just sat in the corner stewing in his anger.

You took command of the situation, "We will talk about this in the morning. Harry needs rest and does not need a fight. You will get any information you want at that time, we are not shy and won't hold back. Good night." He begrudgingly went on his way back to his rooms and you carried me to bed.

And now it's Saturday morning, we have a huge day ahead of us of visiting Unity House, and instead of getting ready I am hiding in our room writing to you. If I just never leave this room then I won't ever have to have this conversation with Sirius. You'd be alright with us just staying in these rooms forever right?

Fine, time for doom,  
Harry

P.S. You know, during our heated argument at home, I said "You're not an Auror" and you agreed that you weren't. But I'm not really sure YOU know that.

P.P.S. Don't worry, I will make sure that both Kingsley and Robards KNOW that you are not an Auror.

 

Sunday October 4th  
Ma joie de vivre,

I am not ashamed to admit that I *love* when we visit one of the Unity Houses because we get to be a bit like Santa Claus. We come in and almost none of the kids are the same as the last time we were there - although, sadly, the oldest ones are - and we get to give out presents and just play with the kids.

And actually, WE get to stand back and watch as our brilliant and wonderful brood hands out the presents. Then they invite the kids to do things such as dance and play games like football. It's really very lovely that the kids in Africa are so very interested in dance, and you know how much we all love to dance, so the first two hours were taken up by drumming and dancing and acting a bit like beautiful heathens.

Eventually, it was time for something of an outdoor feast. Pippa outdid herself when she called ahead and made arrangements, because she had secured an entire pig to be roasted over an open fire - which turned out to be plenty for everyone. Especially with roasted vegetables and other local dishes as sides. We all sat around in a circle chatting excitedly as we ate. It was after that that River invited the kids to play football - and since the older ones actually remember him from when we lived here (not to mention visited over the years), they were delighted to see if he's managed to keep up his skill.

My favorite part is that we have worked with the various caregivers really hard over the years to stress that each culture shall be respected and tolerated. Which means that some of the kids wear fully covering dresses and head coverings while others wear almost nothing but a bit of paint here and there. And while those cultures *might* clash out in the real world, here, they're expected to get along.

A good example of this is the Korowai girl. She's from Papua New Guinea, and so, right next to Australia. When she fled a rare bad situation (her tribe not understanding her since she's a muggleborn and also happened to get pregnant during iffy circumstances), she probably *should* have gone to Unity Australia, but she felt that she and her child would be more understood among the diverse group of African kids here at this Unity than in Australia.

So, the caregivers welcomed her with open arms, even going so far as to let her (and magically help her) build a tree house like the one she is used to living in. She and her son live a good 150 feet up in the air, at the top of a sturdy tree (reinforced by magic), and the only thing she wears most days is a sort of mini skirt. She would not have done well in Australia where (despite our best efforts) she would have been expected to wear clothes and live in a dorm with the other children.

But here, she has kindred spirits (of sorts) with a couple of Himba children from Namibia - who also wear very little and like to rub a paste of ochre mixed with butter onto their skin. Not to mention the Karo and Surma children from Ethiopia who practice elaborate and gorgeous body painting and scarification.

On the other side of the spectrum, there's the fully covering and colorful shuka and beads of the Maasai children, and the even more colorful wrap dresses, beads, and rings of the Ndebele children from Zimbabwe. Plus the children who practice the Muslim faith (which you might expect to see in the middle east, but also has a presence in Africa). Those (all of the) children are encouraged to practice their faith as much as they like so long as they promise to respect other faiths and traditions.

This goes without saying, but the only traditions that we refuse to allow any of the children to practice - and I know it's horrible of us to impose our beliefs on them, but even the native caregivers agreed to this rule - are the ones that should require full adult consent. Such as any form of genital mutilation (including the relatively 'benign' circumcision), and other forms of disfiguration (such as lip disks) that we are not qualified to help them perform safely. If they arrive here with such things, we welcome, love, and respect them, but if they ask us to help them do these things, we firmly tell them that they have to wait until they are old enough to legally consent to the procedure they want.

You remember how much I agonized over the decision the first time a girl asked to be allowed to have a lip disk? I wanted to honor her traditions, but at the same time, I think she was only twelve. What if she went through with the tradition - provided we could find someone to help her do it safely - only to realize when she grew up that she wanted to stay living in Cape Town and felt strange for being so obviously different than everyone else - and yes, I realize that South Africa has 12 or 14 different native languages - and thus a diverse culture and history. But still... it's probably the only time in my life where I said no to a pretty girl pouting at me with her big puppy dog eyes.

I'm still not entirely certain we made the right decision. But I've seriously digressed. The point I was trying to make is that since there are so many unique and different cultures here, our kids had a blast discussing all the native tribal outfits and trying out the ones that caught their attention. Elena (and me, haha) gravitated to the more nudist tribes, whereas our divas tried on ALL the different colorful costumes. It was the only time I can recall in recent memory in which Hazel disrobed in front of someone outside the family.

And didn't that just nearly murder Sirius from the shock? Haha! We are actually so used to thinking of and referring to Hazel as a girl, that I think we quite forgot that she still has the opposite parts. But she was feeling quite welcome and not judged by her new friends, and they wanted her to change into a basic loincloth (out in the yard for some reason), and so she did. This was during the feast, and so we were all circled around and knew that nothing bad could happen.

Except that none of us had remembered for a second that we should probably warn Sirius NOT to be shocked by the fact that Hazel's body doesn't yet match her identity. So when boy parts were revealed, he tilted his head to the side and looked like a dog listening to a sound no one else can hear. He was clearly confused, which made Haz a bit self conscious.

But strangely, this made very little difference to the Unity Kids. Maybe it's because we've insisted and INSISTED on tolerance for everyone, or maybe they're just not concerned about gender as much as we thought they would be, but the kids basically reacted in one of two ways. The boys thought it was cool that they had another mate to play football with - should he/she so desire - and the girls thought it was clever of 'him' to want to be a girl because girls are better by far in everything.

Upon reflection, I think maybe we've influenced these kids far more than I realized. Simply by setting such an inclusive policy, and also having all the caregivers trained in teaching the kids tolerance and love, we've given them all an attitude that I don't think would be possible anywhere else on the planet - aside from our other Unity Houses. And some rare pockets where people have grouped together to form a loving little community.

Now I'm rather proud of us...

And the best part of all is that all the children are used to seeing a large portrait of us hanging in the 'great hall' of their Unity, and have been told about us as the founders of the place, and so knew to expect us to kiss, hug, dance, and just generally be us. Which is a good thing because I was in one of those moods where I want to do nothing but hold you close and kiss you whenever the thought crosses my mind, and so, about every second or so.

But my favorite part of the day was when you got frustrated with all my teasing little touches and stood up to drag me away to do 'very important paperwork.' Haha!

"DADS," River groaned in mild disgust. "You know we know what you're actually talking about, so why do you even bother lying about it?!"

I smirked in glee as you stared him down. "Oh? So you WANT us to just announce it every time we plan to go shag???" You asked in a tone of challenge.

"Say no!!!" Viona blurted out fervently. "MERLIN! *No one* needs to know that much about their parents' sex life!"

River blushed and looked away. "Er, yeah, probably not..."

Chuckling, you dragged me off to a good place to Apparate back to our playroom for an hour or so before returning to Unity. At which point, the entire roster of kids were playing a rousing game of football. Sirius (the elder) spotted us return and beckoned us off to the side.

"Alright, so even after you explained to me in excruciating detail this morning how you two are into kink and have consensual bondage and torture, I didn't quite believe it. So, while you were gone, I shoved aside my embarrassment and asked your Elena her opinion on what I should do about what I saw. Well, she snorted in amusement and told me that you have regular play nights with your friends, occasionally go out to clubs to pull other couples for a night of fun, AND recently went to something called the Torture Garden. She assures me that if the two of you were in your playroom doing things I would sincerely like to Obliviate from my mind, then it was probably a simple case of you two being you two, so... I'm sorry that I walked in on you and jumped to the wrong conclusion. I promise that it will never happen again."

You were blushing in embarrassment and muttered: "Good." Even as I grinned a bit evilly and asked: "Oh? Are you certain about that? I positively LOVE to put my gorgeous husband on display so that everyone can see that he's mine and that they have every reason to be jealous."

"DRACO~~..." you groaned in mortification.

I turned to smirk at you and give you a kiss. "Or you could always practice YOUR tying techniques by tying me up and proving that I'm yours," I suggested with a happy purr at the thought.

This time you groaned in longing. "Godric damnit! We JUST finished shagging! How in the ever loving hell am I horny again already?!"

"We've cultivated quite the stamina over the years," I reminded you with a pleased grin and another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you more," you argued.

"No, *I* L -" I was cut short by Eri and Ori each grabbing us and pulling us apart.

"Stop right there! None of us wants to spend the next five hours watching you argue over who loves the other more. We all get it, you're arse over tits about each other! Now come play!" They insisted.

Laughing, we did.

There is a star, waiting to guide us, shining inside us, when we close our eyes,  
Draco

P.S. So, erm… You know how a Wizard popped into Unity to ask for a bit of help and we agreed that I'd go with him since I know a few first aid spells? Well... it seems he's one of the rare few who give a damn about animals. He'd come across a Cheetah starving to death due to an injured leg, and so, I now have a patient to nurse back to health. But don't worry, I've tucked her into the garage. I'm also sleeping on a cot next to her, so if you wake up in the morning and can't find me, that's why...


	59. Chapter 59

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is not feeling well, but still finds Draco adorable.

Monday October 5th  
My Adorable Weirdo,

A Cheetah? Really Draco? A Cheetah? Only you. Not only do you go when asked for help, but then you offer a place for the animal to recuperate. That should do it right? No, of course not, not for Super Draco! YOU have to sleep in a cot next to the animal!

You probably still got more sleep than I did. Apparently Africa is full of wild animals, and air that turns children into wild animals. Jaz was up off and on all night. Twice to eat, once to play, and once to fuss. I think she's probably cutting teeth because she almost never fusses and she seemed to just need to gnaw on my hands. Poor little lamb. Zwei ended up climbing into bed with me in the middle of the night. And you know I normally love it when my little guy comes into bed, the bed can get awfully lonely just the three of us (and only two of us last night!) But he managed to come in during one of the stretches where Jaz was actually sleeping, so I got an extra wake up call.

Zwei seemed fine once he wrapped himself around me like a little spider monkey, but I think he must have woken up and been confused about where he was. He seemed awfully upset before he realized I was there. It's been quite a while since he's done much climbing in with us. I thought he was just growing out of it. But did you know he actually climbs in with Siri fairly often? So it's not so much that he's grown out of night waking and going for comfort, but that his big brother is his comfort. I am so thrilled they have each other, but also so sad that they don't seem to need us as much.

I suppose I have to get used to them getting older. You would think I'd be better at this! We have an adult child. We have a thirteen year old. And within two years we will have four children at Hogwarts. It won't be long until our giant family turns into just you, me, and four kids rattling around the Manor missing the rest of our babies. Ugh, stop crying Harry! It's still two years away and they can come home any night and every weekend. Whew, I definitely did not get enough sleep last night.

I have no idea if or when your father will ever grow on Sirius, although I don't think it will take long for Sirius to love your mum again. But I think you're no longer someone Sirius thinks he needs to save me from. And if the looks he kept giving us yesterday at the party are any indication, I think you're really growing on him. I think he was being his usual prejudiced, pig-headed self about Slytherins, purebloods, and Malfoys initially, but he was watching us all day yesterday. At first I thought he was going to continue being irrational about his opposition to our sex life, but his looks weren't confrontational, they seemed more contemplative. Even when you're attempting to hide your mushy side, it never takes anyone very long to see how smitten you are with your family.

Your undeniable love for me, my obvious happiness, and our amazingly happy and well-rounded children are a really good selling point for you being wonderful. I have a feeling Sirius is going to marinate those thoughts in that head of his for a few days, and eventually come to the conclusion that you're wonderful for his Godson. Then of course, we'll just have to show him how good I am for his cousin!

I was really surprised when Hazel stripped off to try on the costumes. She is definitely not shy, and thinks nothing of running around in a swimsuit, or any of her fitted couture dresses, but even with us she occasionally stays at least partially dressed. She must have really felt unbelievably comfortable with the inclusiveness of the group at Unity. You keep saying that Unity or "we" have forced these kids to be accepting of each others' cultures, level of dress, and traditions. I agree, especially with some of the older children that come to us from homes that held judgment over differences, that it has had to be taught. But especially the younger crowd, I don't even think it's a requirement for them, but a freedom. It's like they're relieved there are so many differences that there's no way they will ever be considered "weird."

I have been trying to remain understanding of Sirius' issues with your father, and have worked very hard to not get angry with him for how he's felt about you. It's been hard, but I have to realize the massive shock he's been through. And, like me, he grew up with a childhood of judgmental brainwashing, then moved right into a war. I was able to find myself in a safe place by the time I was eighteen. As much as he's technically an adult, I almost have to treat him the way we've taught our children to treat ignorant children; be the example that proves how wrong his misconceptions are. However, I also saw him make a confused face (and oh my goodness does he look like Padfoot when he cocks his head!!) when he saw Hazel look so different from what he assumed. And I was ready to cut him off if he was about to have another temper tantrum. But he said absolutely nothing, didn't give her weird looks. And since that happened, he has treated her the same way he has since he got here.

He didn't so much as blink an eye at my being married to a man. He didn't say a word about our child not being her birth gender. And once he understood you weren't abusing me, he's not had an issue with our kinks. I'm really hopeful that once he gets some significant mind healing, he will be the awesome man he should have been from the beginning.

Anyway, I know we had plans to go surfing today, and I so want to! But I feel terrible. I can't seem to kick whatever bug has been plaguing me for days. I keep thinking something must have caused it; the mountain of carrots I ate, the smell of something gross, but I think I need to stop making excuses. I am going to rest today while you all go out surfing, but if I don't feel better in the next day I really think we should go home and I should go see Healer Rowe. I'm trying to stay calm, but I am really scared something is really wrong with me. What if I have some disease that wizarding healing can't cure?

But really, you guys go have fun without me. I love you.

The Ruiner of All Fun,  
Harry

 

Monday October 5th  
Ruiner of all fun,

NOT!

Yes, I will admit that these things are always MORE fun when you are with us, but we are not so selfish as to hover over your sick bed and grumble petulantly about the fun we *could* be having. We went surfing, and actually, you're going to be disappointed that you missed it.

See, Sirius the First came with us because he understood that having an extra set of eyes could come in handy with one parent out of commission. Plus, he also thought it sounded like JUST the sort of mad thing he and his friends might do for a lark growing up if they could. Now I'm no fool (most of the time, I lose all sense of reason when it comes to you), so I had Pippa arrange for us to have a private instructor on the beach with us.

Thus, while I was helping River, Viona, and the almost triplets check over their boards and ensure that everything was in order - wetsuits zipped up and bubblehead charms fresh in their minds just in case - Sirius was having a bit of one on one time with the instructor. He was actually doing pretty well, until a big wave turned out to be a bit too much for him to handle and he fell in, buwahahahahaha!

Of course the instructor knew exactly what to do and earned his pay right then and there, but I couldn't help but laugh my arse off for at least a solid ten minutes. Sirius sulked and took a bit of a break - not at all disgruntled to be sitting next to Pippa and Leah while the instructor took the time to work with Siri and Zwei. Leah was holding Jaz at first, so this left me free to catch a few waves with our older kids.

As much as Elena does like to surf, she apparently found it more interesting to chat up some bloke on the beach. JUST when I was getting ready to remind her that she's meant to be spending time with her family, the bloke must have said something to piss her off. Not only did Sirius leap to his feet to rescue our little damsel in distress, but I could see a very dark expression on her face.

I cast a bit of magic to stop the movement of the water as much as possible so that I could just stand there and watch events unfold. Pippa wisely grabbed Sirius by the arm and told him to keep his neb out of it (from what I could tell, and hilariously enough, Leah was automatically interpreting everything for Jaz, haha. Now if only I'd caught the original offensive statement, sigh). To no one's surprise but your Godfather's, Elena capably told the offensive bloke off, and then backed up her words with a few moves that had him flat on his back with a strong but petite foot pressed into his neck.

You'll be relieved to know that he surrendered immediately and slunk away.

Viona then regained my attention by surfing on by me and cackling wildly. If I didn't know it wasn't real, I'd swear she was more than half Water Bender! Our other kids were completely disregarding the statue of secrecy (I think it might actually be a bit lax here in South Africa, simply because muggles can't tell the difference between our 'real' magic and their 'traditional' forms of magic) by wandlessly casting Aguamentis at each other while they surfed.

Jaz decided that being able to see me having fun without her was not on, because she Apparated herself to me - making Leah yelp in alarm loud enough for me to hear her despite being a good distance apart. I took this in stride and conjured up a nice wrap carrier so I could tie her to me and NOT drop her in the ocean. Also, I cast a bubblehead charm on her on the off chance that *I* fell in.

Apparently seeing me not only surf like a pro, but ALSO do so while holding a baby provoked some sort of competitive streak in Sirius - Uno? Ichi? Adeen? Ein? That chap I happen to be related to? Anyway, he hopped back on a board, promptly fell off it, and kept on trying until he had sufficient balance to ride a few basic waves.

Well, because you know how wonderful and considerate I am, I decided after only an hour or so - when a rather big wave kicked his arse - to take pity on him and claim that I was exhausted. I think it was because I kept getting up to check on and feed the cheetah - which I'm calling Amala, not that I need to name her. Plus, I'm a little anxious to get back and check on her again. She's responding well to regular feedings (pureed cow and goat organs via a tube for now) but was almost dead when found and so still fairly weak. Plus, even though I cast a healing spell on her leg, it's probably still a bit tender.

In any case, I had no qualms about returning home early and going straight to the garage, where I'm writing this before taking a little nap myself. Amala seems to understand that I'm trying to help her - or at least willing to feed her - because she lets me touch her as much as I need to, and doesn't try to fight me. She doesn't even seem to mind that I'm sleeping in a cot right next to her.

But before I sign off and snooze, I think I should warn you that the reason that none of our kids are underfoot is that A: Elena, Leah, and Pippa took Jaz and popped off to do as they liked for the rest of the day, and B: The chap I happen to be related to heard Siri and Zwei discussing the fact that we brought their dirt bikes with, and this is actually something he DOES have a bit of experience with somehow. So he offered to take the boys (and actually the rest of the kids) to Unity House so that they can make use of all the grass and dirt to do a bit of riding.

On the one hand, I appreciate him taking a bit of an active role in caring for our kids when we need him to (don't worry, Saoirse and Rhys are at Unity House already, I suppose making sure that new forms of magic weren't discovered since our last visit, haha!), but on the other, I'm rather disgruntled that his timing means that my surprise is no longer *MY* surprise. Rather than waiting to give all the Unity Kids their very own bikes when I 'just so happened to be in the mood to ride,' I had to hand them over to River and Chappie to hand out on my behalf. Oh well, the important thing is that the kids get the bikes, right?

But as I said, I'm going to sign off now.

Well I've been 'fraid of changin', 'cuz I've built my life around you, but time makes you bolder, even children get older, and I'm getting older too,  
Draco


	60. Chapter 60

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I almost forgot to post today! It's my older son's birthday - he's 14 now - and we had a bit of a party out in the backyard where we lit a tiny bonfire and roasted hotdogs and hamburgers, mmm. :-)

Monday October 5th  
Hey Love,

By the time you read this, I will probably be gone.

Wow, that sounded ominous.

By the time you read this email, I will have taken a portkey home and therefor I will not be in South Africa with the rest of you for the rest of our vacation. I was hoping with a little bit of rest I might feel better, and possibly even be able to join you all before you finished surfing. When I woke up I did feel a little better, I decided to make myself a light lunch, and before I even finished my third bite of oatmeal, I was running to the bathroom to retch. I hate to be a bother, but the last thing I wanted to do was get on an airplane for ten or eleven hours to get home. I insta-owled Kingsley and asked if he'd be willing to pull some strings to get me a portkey home.

He said he'd try, but sixteen urgent international portkeys might be a bit much even for him. When I told him it was just for me, he said he'd just call his sister in law and have her drop one off for me. If we had brought Lainie's emergency portkey from while she was at Hogwarts I could have just taken that! I don't think we ever turned it in or cleared the spells off of it.

I already hugged and kissed all of our babies. I told them all that I had to head home to take care of some things that came up. What? It's not technically a lie! And that I'd hopefully be able to come back and finish out the trip with everyone. I would have come and kissed you as well, but as you're napping with a frightened and starving Cheetah I decided to just send you this email.

Onaedo is due here in the next twenty minutes or so to drop off my key, so I figured I could clear my head and waste some time that I would otherwise spend worrying, by writing to you. I'm really scared. I love you.

Of course I would be disappointed to miss surfing day! You didn't have to tell me that. Even a boring beach day is better than a fun day anywhere else. Why do we ever go anywhere that doesn't have a beach? And I missed our little water-bending princess? I haven't thought of water-bending in years! Remember that phase when we were in California when Viona insisted on being called Katara because we had just binged the entire series of Avatar and she loved the water so much? She made us do her hair in those little loopy things every day!

I love that we have so many water babies. But, Draco, my baby!! You took my baby in a wrap on your surfboard? Breathe, Harry, breathe. She is fine, you just saw her, she is happy and alive. You took my baby on your surfboard?!? Draco Lucius Malfoy, if I don't die today I might murder you!

I bet she loved it though didn't she?

I know you are very competitive. I know you loved showing up Sirius (Chappie? Really? Try again.) especially since he had been being such an ass to you since he arrived, but don't you think a real competition would be with something you both had done for years or never done at all? I'd be willing to bet, as much as I believe you are the most amazing of men, that Sirius might kick your butt in dirt biking.

Oh! Of course! That's why you stayed back from the dirt bike gifting! You used the Cheetah as an excuse didn't you? You don't want to compete with him on a bike until you've had more practice. You devious little Slytherin you!

Amala? You've named the Cheetah? We have a cheetah now don't we? Draco, you can't keep every animal you think needs rescuing. What is my Venus thinking about this development? And she and Bear can hide in your purse, what if Amala tries to eat Romulus and Remus?

Oh! My portkey is here. I love you forever. Hopefully I am not dying. Don't worry, if I am dying I will come back and see you before I die. Don't let Sirius kill you, and try not to kill him either while I'm not there to run interference.

Love,  
Your Harry

 

Monday October 5th  
My had better still be alive husband,

I do hope you are well and nothing serious is wrong.

Speaking of Sirius (yeah, I went there, haha), do you know what he did while you were gone? So, I'm not sure what exactly you saw when you were kissing the brood (and probably quite a few of the Unity Kids) goodbye, but it seems that Sirius was delighted to find out that all of the vast land around Unity House is part of the property, and basically hidden from the rest of the world by some seriously powerful wards. He took advantage of this knowledge by rearranging the landscape a bit.

So, the House and the Park are still the same, as is the yard and whatnot, but NOW there's an area off in the back that used to be a dusty patch of dirt that's been converted into... Hills? Dunes? Ramps? I don't even know what to call them. It seems that my cousin remembered that he knows some spells to create mounds as he likes, and since they all have dirt bikes now (I over bought rather than risk having not enough, and so Sirius has one too) they made a track of sorts.

Which means that after caring for Amala, taking a nice refreshing nap, and caring for Amala again (I swear she's worse than a newborn at the moment!), I popped over to Unity House to find most of the kids riding up and down these packed earth ramps and having a blast. Including our I'm-not-quite-sure-they're-old-enough-for-this sons Siri and Zwei. That said, you had already cast a slew of safety charms on the bikes, so I suppose they aren't really any worse than riding on flat dirt.

Aside from the jumping and other such tricks...

I feel like such a dad now, but I had to put my foot down and make it clear to our boys that they're not allowed to ride their bikes on the new track on their own. That they absolutely HAD to have an adult who knew first aid spells watch them if they wanted to ride the track - not that I'm saying they were on their own. They weren't, I was just making it clear to them that they couldn't do so in the future.

Then I decided that since I was standing in the middle of the track anyway, I might as well give it a try. As it turns out, I'm damn good at it, haha! And in the interest of full disclosure, I ended up with Jasmine tied to me again because she refused to let me put her down. I think we may have a fearless adventurer on our hands. But try not to panic, I had so many safety charms cast on her that I'm not entirely sure she could feel the wind blowing across her face. HAD I fallen (I DIDN'T!!!), she would have been so cushioned and protected that I definitely would have been far more hurt than she was.

But - as I said - I didn't fall and she was safe and cozy in her well protected carrier.

Bonus! I made my cousin glare at me. It seems he now might secretly like a tiny baby of his own so that he can one up me, ha!

Which actually makes me curious about the Black inheritance, but I suppose that's something that can be discussed in depth later on when he's had a few Mind Healing sessions and can think about it clearly.

Oh! That reminds me, I'm not sure if I ever remembered to mention this, but I convinced my mother to FINALLY divulge the secret Black family recipe for their signature Blackberry wine, and actually, I probably could have guessed it had I been really thinking about it, but in any case, I started a batch back when we first got home and the Blackberries were ripe.

And now I'm craving juice! Good thing we have a wide variety of fresh juices here. I think I'll go grab a glass to drink while I'm checking on Amala again. I'm so grateful that I have our support staff with us (currently just me as you have gone home for a bit for something that definitely CANNOT be serious or I'll have to punish you!), as Saoirse and Rhys are more than capable of watching our kids for me while I nurse a cranky cat back to health.

But that's a good thing, I suppose. Amala's starting to feel better enough to snarl at me if I don't feed her as often as she likes. I still can't give her a lot at one time, but she now has enough strength to chew soft meat such as raw liver. Anyway, now that she's resting again, I think I'm going to take another nap to prepare for the near certainty that she will wake me up several times again tonight.

Please be back by the time I wake up in the 'morning!' Love you!

I'm falling even more in love with you, letting go of all I've held on to, I'm standing here until you make me move, I'm hanging by a moment here with you,  
Draco  
P.S. Leah reports that Elena met a nicer bloke after we left the beach, and that's probably why she hasn't come back yet. If she's not back by the time I wake up - or sent a damn good explanation as to why - I'm going to track her arse down and threaten to ground it! Unless something bad is happening, in which case, someone's going to wish they'd never been born!!! >:(


	61. Chapter 61

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry demands an explanation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH! and Happy Birthday to Chrissie, who somehow managed to be born a few years to the day before my older son, lol ^_^

Monday October 5th  
Draco Lucius Malfoy,

I am at Healer Rowe's. Is there anything in particular you would like to tell me about the potion Muffy put in my coffee when you thought my bum was broken?

Ingredients?

Properties?

The actual name of the potion …

Harry etcetera

 

Monday October 5th  
Erm... no?

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Alright, fine! So, I erm, well, I did a thing...

But I honestly had the very best of intentions! See, we kept subtly fighting over who got to be the pregnant one, and even though I want it to be me, I figured that I could make you happy and surprise you in one fell swoop. So... Surprise?

Erm... Suddenly I'm glad you're on a different continent...

Please remember that I love you!

Like a lot. SOOOOO much love...

Repentantly yours,  
Draco


	62. Chapter 62

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is very happy.

Monday October 5th  
You absolutely beautiful, wonderful man,

You're repentant? Repentant? So you regret what you did? Are you sure? Because I certainly don't regret having a husband who loves me so much he wanted to give me what I wanted, even if it meant missing out on something he wanted so desperately. I don't regret this tiny little person I am already desperately in love with, even though I have only known about him or her for a handful of hours. The only thing I would change is the panic that set in when I thought I was severely ill or dying.

Ok, looking back on my feelings, there's a chance that I was overreacting. I was nauseous for days. I've been really lightheaded and dizzy. I so rarely get sick, and the few times I've gotten sick it's been huge, like the time I got pneumonia and the flu. That probably wouldn't have made me that overemotional and panicked that I was about to die, but add a chemical cocktail of pregnancy hormones on top of that and it was definitely a recipe for Crazy Harry.

I wish you weren't on a different continent. I would have liked to have been with you when Rowe started casting her diagnostic spells and my abdomen lit up like a bonfire. I want to be snuggled up with you, giggling and excitedly talking about what we think this one will be like, letting you rub my stomach and talk to our tiny baby. Talking names and arguing about my insistence on not naming one "Girl Draco." But I will be with you soon. I've already contacted Kings for a portkey back to you guys. He said it shouldn't take long. I assume you want me to come back to finish out the trip as opposed to just waiting here for you to come back?

Unless you tell me before Kingsley gets here, I suppose you won't really have a choice in the matter. I could insta-owl you I suppose, but I think I will enjoy surprising you. Maybe before you get the chance to find out that I am not upset at all about the potion tampering. I can let you worry a bit longer about keeping more secrets from me! I am flying a bit too high to be anything other than ecstatic and won't be able to torture you at all about your deviousness. You know how much I love torturing you.

Ooh, or being tortured by you. Mmm, spankings. We didn't really finish our night the other night due to our interruption. Oh, looks like I've hit the massively horny portion of today's hormones.

I'm quite looking forward to seeing everyone's dirt biking in action. I bet Siri and Zwei are just tearing up the tracks! I love that a course has been made. Thank you for stating the rule for the boys that they need an adult with them, I think I had that as an obvious rule in my head, but never thought to actually tell the boys that. You're definitely "such a dad" and such a good dad for sure! I picked the best other dad for my children … all ten of them!!

Ugh, minus the whole surfing and dirt biking with my teeny, fragile, precious baby tied to you! I know, you would never harm the children. I am sure you had a million and one safety charms on her. But you took my baby surfing and dirt biking! Do you know what that does to my anxiety?!?

Oh Anxiety, you arsehole! I assume my Lainie made it back safe and sound and we won't need to hunt anyone down?

Oh, the nausea is back in full force, gotta go, see you soon.

Love  
H

 

Monday October 5th  
My extremely fertile husband,

I regret nothing other than letting you get panicky about feeling sick. Had I not been taking a nap when you decided to leave for Healer Rowe's, I probably would have calmed your fears by telling you the surprise myself. But I have to admit that I was really hoping for the surprise to come out in a really fun or zany way - such as you NOT having morning sickness long enough to get a nice little bump forming, and then have Siri or Zwei hug you, notice the bump, and ask why you have it. And then you stare at it and wonder: "Hmm... Why DO I have that? Am I suddenly getting fat???" Only for me to pull you into my arms, give you a kiss, and reassure you that you'll only get a little fat for a couple of months and that you'll look beautiful to me anyway.

I'm actually rather excited that you're on your way back as soon as possible. You'll probably return before I finish writing this, or shortly thereafter. I'm still in the garage with Amala, but the good news is that she's definitely feeling better. Not so much that she could get up and run around and go hunting on her own, but enough that she HAS gotten up and walked around a little to investigate her surroundings. She's smart enough to realize that I'm helping her and hasn't done anything to me other than scare the Slytherin out of me by sniffing me in my sleep so thoroughly that I woke up not sure what was going on only to find her face RIGHT in mine.

I swear she even laughed when I screamed in alarm!

But I've just given her a plate of raw meat - organ meat AND an entire goat leg for her to gnaw on as she likes. And the best part is that as she's eating - so long as I very clearly do not try to put my hand anywhere near her food - she's letting me inspect her newly healed back right leg to ensure that it's healed properly and isn't causing her any pain or tenderness. In fact, I think she likes the little massage that I'm giving her as she's almost purring.

I'm going to give her a bit of time to eat her meal on her own and cast some spells to create a small door just for her to a tiny portion of our yard, which I'm going to magically enclose, seal off, and enlarge - not to mention ward to the teeth! - so that she has a LARGE yard to do her business in and get a bit of exercise. I'm even going to fill it with a few things she can play with or chew on. Lastly, I'm wondering which would be the easiest prey animal for a cheetah in recovery. Rabbits? Chickens? Probably chickens, huh?

Whatever I decide on, I'll put a few of them in her enclosure so that she has something to practice hunting until she feels well enough to actually hunt. In any case, I'm taking every precaution to ensure that she can't escape or have any visitors other than me without me on hand to supervise the - Ooo!

I think I heard you come back! Off to twirl you around happily and give you lots of kisses!

Love forever,  
Draco


	63. Chapter 63

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry talks a little bit about his pregnancy.

Tuesday October 6th  
MY extremely fertile husband!

Thank you for all of the twirls and kisses. I could not wait another minute and had to drag you back to our room almost as soon as I got back. I think everyone was assuming we were doing our usual … paperwork. But I just needed to breathe you in a bit. I had to talk about the joy I'm feeling. I needed you to sing nonsense songs to our baby. Our baby. Draco, we're having another baby! I kept telling you I felt like someone was missing, and now I am feeling so settled.

I really do wish you were the one pregnant. After our traumatic time in Iran, and realizing how important the pregnancy was for you, I wanted to give this feeling to you. Thank you for being so amazing as to give up something you wanted so badly just to make sure I had what I wanted. What did I do to deserve you?

I suppose you'll just have to deal with not throwing up, no mood swings, and not having to get all fat. Even though you never look fat when you've been pregnant. Just glowing and gorgeous and mine. I think it's very likely we're going to end up with another Siri and Zwei situation because I can't imagine going very long without needing to see you all rounded with my child. All long lean muscles with a smooth bump growing our baby. All pink and glowing. Your hair gets all thick from the hormones and it's a gorgeous silky handful when you're going down on me and I use it as a handle.

Oh look, the horny portion of the day. I don't think I've been this horny this much this soon with either of my other pregnancies. Lucky me, I've gotten the nausea AGAIN, but I think I could get used to this whole wanting you constantly thing. I will make the assumption that this particular symptom won't bother you either.

I can understand why you wanted to save this surprise for something fun to happen. I can picture how fun it would be for me to know you were pregnant before you did. Waiting around for you to finally realize. Not catching any of the clues. Maybe not noticing for months until you realize people are giving you weird looks for your crazy food combinations. Or maybe you get mad when your tailor tells you your size went up. Sorry I panicked so hard that you didn't get to witness a fun reveal. I am not too sorry though, it was the pregnancy hormones and we all know who's to blame for those don't we!

Anyway, Rowe said that it's such early stages there wasn't much to see. No heartbeat quite yet. But she said the size is perfect, my hormone levels are exactly as they should be. And my magic levels are higher than they were before I got pregnant with Siri, so unless something crazy happens, she thinks this might end up being the easiest of all of my pregnancies. I did make her knock on all the wood in her office. How dare she jinx me like that!

She doesn't need to see me again for about six to eight weeks unless I have an issue. But she does want to see Jaz soon. I didn't even realize I was doing it until she called me out, but I signed through our entire conversation. She's had Jaz's milestones on an alternate timeline. Often hard of hearing children will be behind in certain areas, just because they are missing the communication component that hearing children are surrounded with from birth. But once she saw I was signing, she asked about how well Jasmine herself has been responding to or using sign, and she wants to assess her to see if she can alter her milestone chart or do away with her altered one altogether.

She wouldn't take my word for it, apparently I am well known for thinking my children are the smartest, most advanced, insanely gifted children of all time. I guess my word is taken with a grain of salt when it comes to my children. Honestly! I don't have to exaggerate, they ARE the smartest, most advanced, insanely gifted children of all time. It's not bragging when it's the truth.

I'm so thrilled you're all willing to do a second day of surfing and dirt biking now that I know why I'm feeling awful. I was so sad to have missed everything. As soon as everyone is awake and ready for the day we're headed to the beach. I'm really excited. I can't wait to see how well everyone's surfing has progressed!

Hurry up and wake up sleepyhead!  
Harry

P.S. Start the list now, chicken is one of the things that will be on my no eating list this pregnancy. I happened upon Amala's enclosure and saw her devouring a chicken. So much for keeping my breakfast down or eating chicken any time soon!

 

Tuesday October 6th  
My love,

SO exhausted! Apparently surfing all morning, eating a light lunch, and then biking with you and our boys is a bit TOO much activity for me in one day. I feel like I could crack my jaw and literally yawn to death! My eyes are watering, streaming really, and I think I nearly fell asleep while trudging to the garage to check on Amala.

That's where I am. I truly wanted nothing more than to crawl to our bed for my nap - I must not be getting enough sleep while nursing this bloody cheetah! - but I can't keep my eyes open long enough to finish typing this note.

If I'm still napping, feel free to come wake me up for dinner. Try doing it in that way I just love...

Draco...


	64. Chapter 64

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius is confused by the concept of going on holiday while ON holiday, lol.

Tuesday October 6th  
My Draco,

I think you're losing it a bit. We didn't just bike with the boys. Do you actually not remember all of the girls joining us except for Haz? Lainie had a turn at them, although she didn't spend too much time on it. Apparently it isn't "As good as all of the motorcycle's horsepower beneath" her. Which of course intrigued Sirius. He asked all about her motorcycle, she had to admit it was mine, so he came to pick my brain about it. Asking all sorts of technical questions, what kind was it, when did I get it, have I tried adding any charms to it. He barely breathed between his questions, so it took me forever to get a word in edgewise. I finally managed to tell him the motorcycle I have that all of my children love is HIS motorcycle.

I did have to tell him that he's not getting it back! We can buy him a new bike, but that one is MINE! Oooh, we should buy him a new bike, and buy Lainie a bike. and buy you a bike! Not the dirt bikes, I mean motorcycles. Think about it, you could ride around, leather pants and leather jacket. Me behind you with my arms around you. Running my hands inside your jacket, touching your hot skin while the bike vibrates underneath us.

Damnit, I need to have you again.

I'm so very sorry I didn't wake you up in that way you love. For your sake and for mine. But I just couldn't bring myself to go into the garage with the starving cheetah. I could just lay you down and suck on you for hours. Hours and hours and hours. Either edging you for that long, or letting you come and then just gently holding you in my mouth until you're ready again. Whatever you'd like. Fucking hell Draco, how am I going to deal with nine months of needing you constantly? I do have other things I need to accomplish each day. As much as I'd like to just serve you 24/7 I have a feeling our children would miss me.

I still just can't believe you forgot that Viona and Eris were biking circles around everyone. Those two, I swear, the competitive nature is alive and well in the Malfoy line. I wonder what this one will be like? All of our children are so different. Every time another has joined our family I keep expecting them to be little carbon copies of their older siblings. They're all being raised in the same home with the same parents, you'd think there would be some sort of theme or common trait. Well, I suppose there are some common traits, they're all brilliant and beautiful and kind and loving and the best children on the planet.

I just love how different they all are. Some shy and some outgoing, performers and observers, sneaky little Slytherins (we think) and clever Ravenclaws. Each with their own perfectly them personality, and perfectly ours.

I am going to insist you sleep with us tonight and not in the garage again. You've been so tired, you're obviously not getting enough rest. I called the wizard who contacted us in the first place, he will be taking over Amala's care while we're on our big eight day trip. She will be fine. Your family needs you on this trip. Remember feeling as though you needed to tell Lainie to stop flirting and spend time with her family? You need to stop caring for the cheetah and join your family on this holiday.

We leave bright and early tomorrow morning, we're taking the Blue Train to Pretoria, and the train leaves Cape Town at 8:30 A.M. I know you're unfamiliar, so a reminder, A.M. means morning. There will be a stop at some winery. And the scenery between the two places is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous. Then we'll stay the night in Pretoria, and leave the next morning for our three day train safari. The Durbin Safari. According to everyone it is the best safari you will ever go on and it's so luxurious. Then we'll spend the rest of the day and that night in Durbin, and the following morning we will leave on a three day cruise from Durbin back to Cape Town.

But I'm going to go hunt you down and drag you to bed. We've got a big week ahead of us, and I need to suck your … get some rest.

Love,  
Harry

 

Tuesday October 6th  
Beloved,

It amuses me how baffled Sirius the old bean is by our retinue. I mean he's not really baffled by the fact that we have one, but rather by how well we all work together. After all, if you were to tell anyone else that they had to plan a trip for 8 adults and 9 children (huh, we're nearly even in numbers now that old bean is with us), they'd probably freak out.

But not us!

You pop into the room and say: "Oi, I think we should go on holiday while we're here, and I just so happen to have brochures for this amazing safari!"

And not only does our entire family rejoice and excitedly make plans, but Pippa simply takes the brochure from you, pulls out her Mobile, and has the whole thing booked and ready to go in about 20 minutes flat. Meanwhile, Saoirse and Rhys take the opportunity to remind everyone of the optimal packing techniques for a mobile trip like this where there won't be a lot of space for excess luggage - even despite the fact that we all have expanded carry alls.

Meanwhile, Sirius was just sort of staring at you like you'd gone mad. "I thought we were *already* on holiday!"

You shrugged. "Yes, but we're on holiday to a house we own and doing business by checking in with an orphanage we helped start up and sort of partially own still. THIS is going to be completely work free, and thus, a REAL holiday!"

Sirius squinted his eyes a little suspiciously. "I know you inherited the Potter fortune AND that you must have inherited the Black fortune after I was declared dead - as my will stated - BUT neither of those fortunes was really big enough to just travel as you like and never have to worry about running out of money. Especially not if you're supporting half the world's children in the process!"

You laughed. "We definitely have help financially supporting the Unity Houses, but as for the travel, part of not having to worry about money is Draco's portion of the Malfoy fortune, and part of it is the fact that Draco's a GENIUS at investing money in businesses! He took a little bit of my money and started a few businesses I mentioned I thought were good ideas, and now I probably *could* afford to travel the world on my own Knut and never have to worry about money."

You kissed me and I smirked. "Well, we DO have a lot of kids to support, after all. I need to make sure that they will all be well taken care of. Although, I WILL admit that I felt a moment of panic when I opened a vault for Elena when she came of age. I put about a tenth of my liquid capital in there, and had to work myself into just handing it over to her without asking for anything in return."

Elena kissed my cheek. "Then perhaps you'll be relieved to know that I'm making careful but smaller investments with the money in my vault to ensure that it grows and can support me and a family of my own - when the time comes." Then she smirked. "Plus Grandpa put a little more money in my vault, just in case you couldn't afford to give me what I deserve as a Malfoy."

"Good," I stated, honestly feeling a little better about the situation.

Then Elena gave us both an adoring grin. "Besides, didn't you promise to show dad the world as part of your marriage proposal?"

You smiled at me. "Matter of fact, he did!"

I gave you a tiny kiss before bursting out with: "I can show you the world, shining shimmering splendid, I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over sideways and under, on a magic carpet ride!"

You purred when Elena made an unconscious gesture like a conductor of an orchestra makes to signal instructions, which prompted most of our kids to join her in the chorus and Jasmine's part. "A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view, no one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming. A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew, but when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear, that now I'm in a whole new world with you!"

At this point, it was actually - somehow unspoken - agreed that it would be boys against girls. Under Elena's direction, I led the boys through Aladdin's part and she led the girls through Jasmine's part. All in all, you were sobbing from happiness (in my arms) by the time we were done.

The best part was the look old bean was giving us, like he wasn't quite sure if he had gone mad, or we had, hahaha!

But now that you've woken me up and reintroduced me to this thing called morning - AND I've had a chance to check on Amala and speak with Sembene about her care - I'm ready to go. I look forward to holding your hand and gasping in delight as we discover something new about the world. Together.

If we hold on together, I know our dreams will never die, dreams see us through to FOREVER, where clouds roll by, for you and I,  
Draco

P.S. Yes I saw the girls biking too, but what I meant by we went with our boys is that we were focusing most of our fretful attention on Siri and Zwei. The rest were able to do as they liked with minimal fuss from us, but our boys (like all of them really) are just so fearless that they keep trying to do tricks I don't think they're quite ready for!


	65. Chapter 65

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The safari with the Malfoy family is a little louder than their guides expected.

Wednesday October 7th  
My Love,

I have the most amazing family. Was the musical number for me planned, or was that a spur of the moment performance? You know, if we do ever run out of money, we could just take our family on the road and become a touring musical act. Travel around the world and have people pay us to sing and dance. And by us, I of course mean everyone but me! Maybe you guys could give me a triangle or a tambourine to look included.

I've been thinking of you singing to me off and on all day. I think I've been making everyone nervous that I keep randomly crying. If my hormones are already this bad, it's going to be a long couple of weeks before we announce this little bun in my oven. I am already itching to tell everyone, but I really do love this being our special time of it being our secret.

In roughly six or seven weeks we will reveal what's going on. Our family will be thrilled to hear they're getting a new life to add to our ever growing circle. Our children will be so happy to hear they'll be getting another brother or sister. But for now, it's just this precious thing between you, me, and the bun.

And Healer Rowe obviously.

I guess I got confused when planning our upcoming trip. For some reason I thought this first leg of the journey was one day and we'd stay overnight at our destination and leave in the morning. Nope. We are sleeping overnight on the train tonight and arrive in Pretoria tomorrow! Then we will stay there tomorrow night and leave for our safari the next day. Good thing we have a Pippa or we would have been standing around confused as to why our safari left without us! What would we do without her? At this point I think we have to keep having an elaborately crazy planned life so we have a reason to keep Pippa around indefinitely.

The sights and stops from today's leg of the trip have been wonderful. I'll be happy to add our little sherry souvenir glass to our travel collection. But the events that happened in the train caught most of my attention today.

It's been a bit of time since Sirius came back to us. (Old Bean is certainly better than Chappie, but maybe you can keep trying) And I can tell that Orion has been taking everything in and compiling a list in his head for when he gets a chance to really sit down and play with the puzzle that is someone coming back from the dead. And being trapped on a train for hours was his chance to interrogate.

Luckily for Sirius, I was there to answer any questions that seemed to overwhelm him, but it was still quite intense. I've always called Ori our little professor, but maybe he will end up being an Auror because he is fantastic at interrogating a witness. He just kept shooting out questions:

"Where were you for the last thirteen years?"

"Why haven't you aged?"

"What memories do you have from beyond the veil?"

"Why did you chase down Pettigrew instead of caring for my dad?" That one just about broke my heart.

"Why did you let Dumbledore screw you over?"

"How long were you back before you contacted my dad?"

Sirius stammered through a few, he had nothing but regrets for caring more about revenge than caring for me. "That is my number two biggest regret of my life, second only to coming up with the plan to make Peter the secret keeper instead of me." He and I were quietly crying for a bit after that one, I think we were both imagining a world where I had been raised by a free Sirius instead of him being in Azkaban while I lived in a cupboard smaller than his cell.

But the answers to everything else were really interesting. The plan is to have him talk about his experiences in the veil with the unspeakables, we have to make sure they don't start dissecting him like a science experiment, but it's such a completely unexpected event that they want to know everything that happened.

To the best of his recollection, Sirius remembers falling into the veil, hearing whispered voices, and then nothing. He said his time in the veil, the best way he knows to describe it, is like waking up from having taken dreamless sleep. You're aware that you were sleeping, but you have no dreams, and no concept of how long you'd been asleep. He remembers the whispers, knows he slept, and then waking up on the stone floor in the same room he had disappeared from. Except there was no battle, no death eaters, no stupid fifth year students trying to duel adults. Just silence.

He transformed into Padfoot (that's an idea, you can just call him Padfoot if you need a nickname) and made his way as stealthily as possible out of the Ministry. He was able to fly under everyone's radar, the only person who seemed to pay him any notice was a small child who apparently wanted to "pet the cute puppy". He got out of the Ministry and tried apparating to Grimmauld, but the wards wouldn't allow him inside. I had them heavily warded when I was living there because I was under constant surveillance and I never lifted them after I stopped living there. He tried going to Diagon and everything looked so different he thought something terrible had happened. He tried Hogsmeade and that was more of the same. Tried the Burrow and barely recognized it with all of the changes Molly and Arthur have made over the years.

The only place that seemed unchanged was the Shrieking Shack. That's where he stayed and where he managed to send me that message. And then I apparate in to talk with him and all of a sudden a fully grown adult is standing there with his fifteen year old godson's face.

Anyway, after talking at length with Kingsley, this is what we think happened. The Veil that Sirius fell through is a thin separation between the worlds of the living and the dead. But Sirius wasn't killed before he fell in. Essentially he was a living body in a realm of souls without bodies. The world of the dead didn't know what to do with him, and spat him out. The best guess as to why it waited thirteen years is that time is not really a concern on the other side. Where thirteen years is a massive amount of time to the living, to the dead it's a blink of the eye.

I think the unspeakables are already working on some arithmantic equations to figure out why that amount of time, or if they can somehow figure out the inner workings of the archway and potentially use it in the future as a time travel of sorts. I think it's a bit risky and stupid, but no one asked me what I think!

Eventually Ori ran out of questions and Sirius' relief was visible.

Anyway, it's almost time for the fancy dinner and cigars event. I can't wait to see how smashingly handsome you look in your poshest muggle suit. And then I can't wait to rip it off of you when we make our way back to the rooms for bed.

Love,  
Your Harry

 

Thursday October 8th  
My other half,

I know that I may have originally - once upon a LONG time ago - come across as someone who hated animals. That's never really been the case, I always loved animals - especially dragons - but was such an arse in general that I came across as hating animals. But to be fair, a Blast-ended Skrewt really is a pointless animal unless you're using them as sort of guard dog for a vault or something.

My point is that - as you know by now - I really do love animals, and so a luxury safari that includes a long drive or two through Nature Preserves really is perfect for me. Our group had to split up into two vehicles: Saoirse, Rhys, Viona, Eris, Orion, Hazel, Siri, and Zwei in one vehicle with you, me, Sirius, Pippa, Leah holding Jaz, Elena, and River in the other. I had an arm around you while you had your head on my shoulder.

The Nature Preserve - Nambiti Conservancy Game Reserve - is 20,000 acres of wildlife. This means that it's large enough for all the animals to have the space to be themselves. I literally gasped in awe when we saw the elephants! Our Safari guides naturally did their job by pointing things out and explaining facts we might not know, but they certainly hadn't counted on Saoirse! She had a rather fun and informative unit study on the entire place, expertly interesting the children in learning everything they could about the land and everything on it.

One of the guides even asked her if she was secretly a native!

In addition to the elephants, there were lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, and even buffalos! It was strange to see them because I don't know why, but I really thought they were an extinct species. Even I learn something new every day! At times, the lions and other predators were a bit hard to spot as they were busy hunting, but at others, they were just laying out in the sun, minding their own business. They're used to these safaris, and so sometimes even come up to sniff the vehicles!

The giraffes and zebras were far more stunning in real life than they are in pictures. But the moment I spotted a cheetah (spotted, I crack me up!), I got rather excited and took the opportunity to pick the brains of an expert. It seems that it's highly unusual for anyone NOT part of some sort of Animal Preservation Program to care for something as potentially dangerous as a cheetah. It's not against the law or anything, just that one of two things tends to happen to animals so close to death; either they die (sometimes with compassionate help), or they're brought into official places.

I think Sembene - being a wizard - might be a little mistrustful of muggles in general, and that's why he came to the nearest Wizarding population in search of someone who knew healing spells, rather than risk calling a muggle organization and having to wait for them to send someone out and do little to nothing for an animal so very close to starving to death. To be honest, I'm not certain Amala would have survived more than an hour or so had I not cast a few basic healing spells on her - and Apparation certainly cut down the amount of time it took for help in the form of me to arrive.

In any case, I was given a lot of helpful advice on how to ensure that she continues to make progress in her recovery. Also, I have to apologize if you've noticed me missing from bed for a few minutes each night. It's just that after Jaz wakes me for a feeding, I can't help but pop back home for a minute or two to check on Amala and feed her as well. I really have to wonder if Sembene is doing as good a job as he could be while we're gone, because she barely seems to be making progress, but since she's also NOT getting worse, I figure that I can leave her be - for the most part.

I think she may have bonded with me a little, because when I pop in each night (and *maybe* each time I have to go to the loo...), she looks happy to see me. She's even licked my hand! And it was obviously in an: "I kind of like you," sort of way and NOT a: "Hmm, you taste rather delicious" sort of way.

But back to the safari. I was quite breathless by the sheer beauty of our amazing planet. I think it was ME who was the watery eyed one, for once! But! But! The BEST part was when...

I kid you not! There was an area that looked nearly *identical* to the opening scene from the Lion King! And there were lots of animals in between us and the view, so...

We burst into song!

Even you had no qualms about singing, haha. Surprisingly, it *wasn't* me or Elena that started it, but River! He saw the view and blurted out: "NAAAAAnts ingonYAAAAma bagithi baba~~~~" And without missing a beat, Elena added: "Sithi uuhhmm ingonyama." Which ALL of us (minus Padfoot because he had NO idea what we were doing, and the guides, who were rather bemused) joined in on for the repeat and then divided into groups. Viona, Leah, and the almost triplets took on the much repeated background vocals, while the rest of us sang the full song. All of us provided the beat by patting our legs, thumping the sides of the vehicle, or stomping our feet and clapping our hands.

And since the vehicles had open tops, Elena actually stood up and REALLY belted it out - perhaps trying to make sure that every single thing in the 20,000 acre Preserve heard her, haha.

I think I know what I want to watch for our next movie night, hahaha.

My love for you is as deep and constant as the Circle of Life,  
Draco  
P.S. I realized that I must have been seriously tired when I reported that there were 8 adults and 9 children, because I counted Elena twice! Once as an adult, and once as one of our nine children. In actuality, since she IS an adult, that makes the total of adults and children equal. For now...


	66. Chapter 66

Sunday October 11th  
Draco!

You have been apparating back to Cape Town not only nightly, but every time you visit the loo to check on your cheetah? Love, I know you're magically strong, but do you really think with how exhausted you've been that that's the best use of your magical energies? If you were feeling just fine I would probably just shake my head and say "Oh, my sweet, silly Draco" but you've been exhausting yourself. I am sure Sembene, who was the one who cared enough to bring the injured animal to you in the first place, is taking just fine care of your kitty.

And from my research on cats, once "we" got Venus I decided I needed to know everything about domesticated cats. And after a lot of research, "domesticated" cats are much closer to their wild counterparts than we think they are. When Venus rubs her head all over my face, and twines herself in and out of my legs while I'm walking, she is scenting me. She is claiming me as her minion. You've been around puppies too long since you seem to think her licking your hand is her being affectionate. It is in a way, but it's really claiming you. I have been trying to Gryffindor up and peek in to visit the both of you when you're in the garage together, but I think for my own safety I won't be doing that. Can you imagine an enraged Cheetah who feels you are hers getting a whiff of me who is covered in your scent? I'd be eaten for sure!

And if that's not the case, then it really is a matter of her thinking you are delicious. I certainly don't blame her, I find you to be mouthwatering. But if you could not let the giant kitty eat you I would really appreciate it.

I know how much you love animals. I do too. And don't ever tell Hagrid, but I felt the same way about those bloody blast-ended-screwts! An absolute nightmare. Unfortunately, you have no arguments for your prat behavior over Buckbeak. I love you darling, but your bratty behavior was one hundred percent the reason for your Hippogriff incident. I'm so glad we were able to save poor Buckbeak. That may have been one of the things I actually held against you that would have been hard for me to get over at the beginning of our relationship if he had died.

Hrmph, now I'm all worked up. Come on Harry, happy thoughts. Raindrops on Draco's cock, and precum on Draco's cock, Bright red cockheads, and warm sticky semen, when my husband makes me all tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things.

Much better. Visions of penis and a bright musical number, just what I needed.

Ooh, you know what else I love? Elephants! And especially baby elephants. Oh, they're just my favorite. They're so silly. They're like toddlers. They jump around and act ridiculous and then they fall down. Aw, as long as they're not actually hurt, is there anything quite as funny as when a toddler falls on their padded bum and gets that wide eyed "what happened?!?" stare? It won't be very long before our sweet Jaz is running around like a little maniac. She has no intention of letting her status as the (current) littlest, or her inability to walk, keep her from keeping up with her big siblings.

Even her big adult sibling. I know exactly what you mean about forgetting about Elena's adult versus child status. We have nine children, she is one of those nine children, it only makes sense to count her when counting the children. And then when we are trying to figure out how many adults we have to wrangle the aforementioned children, she definitely counts in those numbers as well.

And if it's hard for us to wrap our heads around, imagine how tough it is for her. She knows she is a grown woman, she is mature and responsible, brilliant and well-rounded. But inside she is still very much a little girl as well. She was having a rough night a few days before we left, she never even told me why, but she literally climbed into my lap when I was sitting on the couch. I stroked her hair while she snuffled a little bit. My sweet little girl, who's taller than me, had to climb into her Daddy's lap for comfort, but can take down obnoxious douchebags on the beach. It's got to be a constant struggle between her mature and childlike sides.

I've had an amazing trip so far. These last few days on the safari have just flown by. But I am definitely ready for the change of pace the cruise will give us tomorrow. The constant vibration of the train gave me a bit of a migraine. So while the rest of you do a little evening sightseeing while we're here in Durbin, I am going to get some much needed rest so I can enjoy the heck out of this cruise!

When you see your unborn children in his eyes, you know you really loooooove a wizard,  
Harry

P.S. It is ALWAYS the right time for The Lion King!

P.P.S. I think Sirius is finally starting to feel more comfortable with our crazy crew, instead of looking a little scared and a lot confused on this trip, he seemed to just get a kick out of our weirdness.

 

Tuesday October 13th  
The best husband in the world!

You are so clever! A CRUISE! Is there a better holiday than a cruise?! Honestly, where else can we go and not have to worry about any of the kids getting lost because A: they have their own play areas to occupy them, and B: They literally CAN'T go anywhere - unless they fall overboard, but we charmed them all so that they literally couldn't, haha.

Thus, we had a bit of a break from all of them but Jaz, and even then, Leah, Pippa, and Saoirse took turns holding her when she'd let them. Which left us free to eat, dance, flirt, dance some more, swim, flirt some more, run on treadmills in the gym, and dance even more while flirting until we had a very friendly pair of married blokes trying their best to woo us.

I wasn't really paying any attention to anything other than you - for the most part - but I did notice that Padfoot was dancing with Pippa at some point. That said, she didn't really seem into him as there was an extremely fit bloke capturing ALL our attention. I think I might have dragged you over to flirt with him had he not noticed Elena setting the room on fire with her dancing rather early on and made it his mission to chat her up.

Anyway, as we were dancing with our friends the fellow married blokes, one of them was doing his absolute best to talk his way into your pants, and I could see the amusement in your eyes as you were clearly thinking that you had no problems with this idea if *I* indicted that it was a good idea. But he was so determined that he was dancing with you rather suavely, spinning you and even dipping you as he closed in for a kiss.

Of course, I half expected this to happen at some point because you are so beautiful that most people who see you want you. So, I quickly asked his husband - who I was dancing with - to wait a moment as I pulled you into my arms and gave you a possessive kiss.

"Sorry but Harry has a firm rule that no one is allowed to kiss him on the lips," I explained.

"Except for Draco," you added, purring happily and rubbing my chest.

"That said, since you're clearly interested, why not come back to our Balcony Suite with us?" I offered.

This was met with huge grins and affectionate hugs.

Elena decided that she should probably interrupt us for a moment. "Hey dads! I see that you're about to disappear and have some fun, and I just thought I should let you know that I'm going to do the same and would appreciate it if you don't attempt to have me watch Jaz at all tonight."

I looked over at the extremely fit bloke she'd decided to accept and smirked. "Lucky you!"

She laughed musically. "I know, but it looks like you two haven't done half bad either."

I looked around to find Pippa or Leah, and noticed that Sirius was now dancing with Leah (and giving us - mostly you - strange looks, probably for being sexual deviants, haha) and they both looked a little smitten. I sort of hated to spoil their night, but I pay Leah to work, not party.

"Oi! Leah! You have Jaz for tonight, and I'm also ordering Muffy to help you keep her well fed and entertained so that she doesn't Apparate to me while I'm highly busy."

"Yes Mr. Malfoy! Have fun!" Leah called out happily, knowing that Jaz was already with Muffy and currently sleeping for at least another hour - if her pattern holds. She gave Sirius a look that told me that she had a pretty good idea of how they could spend that hour, and I decided to leave it at that so that I could focus on my own inner horny demon.

And yours...

We brought our new friends back to our room. The first thing I did was stride over to the armchair and settle myself into it like a King. Then I snapped my fingers and pointed to the floor.

"On your knees, love," I commanded.

You were already halfway there, grinning at me like I was the sun lighting up your afternoon. I beckoned to our guests. "My husband is very skilled with his mouth. I'd like to see him prove it to you - if you don't mind."

I daresay that they had no objections at all, haha! Each stood on either side of you, and you - using both your hands and your mouth - very much proved my words to be true. It was glorious to behold!

I'm nearly certain that they were either new to kink, or very occasional practitioners. I took complete control without really trying. Simply because it seemed to frustrate them and wind them up tightly, I ordered the three of you to take turns practicing the sensual arts on me and each other. Things like massaging or stroking the buttocks, hips, and abdomen while licking and teasing the shaft. Things that heightened sensation without racing toward a climax.

Eventually, you were all *begging* me to let you have your release, and so we paired off, you with the top of that relationship and me with the bottom. Naughty us, we subtly and wandlessly cast denial spells on them so that they were forced to have the stamina to keep up with us. And then we thoroughly wore them out before taking the spell off and letting the force of their pent up orgasms hit them like a hurricane.

I love the fuck out of you! Even playing with others, we're really playing with each other and they just happen to be our toys for the night. I didn't even have to tell you to cast the denial spell, we simply smirked at each other and did it, hahaha.

But you might be surprised to learn that my favorite part of the whole experience was the next morning. Even I'd woken up early (I suppose that the rest of you probably slept in), and the four of us went to the breakfast buffet. There, we found Saoirse and Rhys eating with Siri and Zwei.

"Morning dads!" they called out happily.

"Morning boys," we greeted with smiles as we sat at the table with them - our friends looking a little confused because they had assumed that our daughter was too old to be our actual daughter, and so we just let her call us dads. And then they probably assumed that our boys belonged to S+R, but they so obviously looked like us - which should be impossible, right? Hahaha.

But it got better!

Elena arrived with her new friend and kissed us on the cheeks. "Morning dads."

River jogged into the room. "Oh good, I didn't miss breakfast. Hey dad, will you go running with me on the treadmill after we eat?"

"Oh oh! Me too?!" Siri begged until you assured them that you'd love to.

"Hey dads!" Viona called out as she and the almost triplets entered the room. "We want to use the spa today, but they require parental permission, and even then, you might need to bribe or confound them to work on 'kids so young' ha bloody ha."

Leah and Sirius entered the room before I could answer that. OF COURSE I would be willing to spend some time in the spa with them, and would confound the staff if I had to. Jaz saw me, made that soft little barely a noise exclamation of hers, and Apparated straight into my arms.

"Good morning love," I greeted, kissing her on the cheek. "How would my baby girl like to come to the spa with her daddy and older siblings?"

"I could USE a spa day after my night!" Pippa announced as she joined us, handing you a cup of coffee since she was already drinking a cup of her own.

"What happened to you?" Elena wondered since Pippa had been more or less left to her own devices when the rest of us wandered off to play with our respective friends.

Pippa snorted in amusement. "I found an entire Poly unit on board, and spent my night in the middle of them!"

"Lucky you!" Elena cheered with a smirk, clinking her tea cup against Pippa's mug.

Pippa smirked at Elena's friend. "Looks like you had plenty of fun as well!"

Our Divas all groaned in disgust. "DADS! Make them stop bragging about their slagginess in front of us!"

I laughed. "Sorry, can't. That would make me a HUGE hypocrite!"

"Draco!" You chided with a laugh. I kissed you. Then you turned an alarming shade of green and grabbed an empty water pitcher from the table next to us because it was the only thing you could do on such short notice. After filling it - me rubbing your back the entire time and humming in sympathy - our kids were naturally concerned.

"Dad! What's wrong??? Are you sick?!"

I *know* we'd planned to save the news for a fun reveal, but I couldn't let them work themselves up until they were sick too.

"Oh no, nothing like that. He's just having morning sickness," I explained casually before taking a sip of my tea.

This caused a moment of nearly deafening silence. Elena recovered first. "EEEEE! We're having another brother or sister!!!" She threw her arms around us and practically sobbed from happiness. "Congratulations, I'm so excited!!!"

Viona unsurprisingly tore at her perfectly styled hair and groaned. "ANOTHER one?!?! Merlin's rotting brain! Isn't NINE KIDS enough???"

"Oh hush you!" Eris chided her. "You LOVE having so many brothers and sisters you almost can't keep track of them all!"

Hazel pushed Elena away so that she could hug us next. "Well I'm happy about this! Our Jazzie is just so adorable and I can't wait to have more squishy wishy adorable babies to cuddle. Did you know that Colm is trying to have a baby too?"

"Yes we did, love," I assured her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. You looked a bit grumpy that I had spoiled the surprise, but then SO HAPPY that our kids were taking the news well.

"I want a brother!" Zwei announced. "A little one so that I'm not the baby anymore!"

"I want a sister!" Siri countered. "Like Jazzie, because little brothers can be SO ANNOYING!"

"Hey!" Zwei protested with an adorable pout.

Pippa laughed. "You're nutters - both of you! Ten kids! At least I don't have to worry about my job becoming obsolete any time soon! You're going to need me keeping track of your schedules more than ever!"

"TEN KIDS!!!" Our new friends roared in surprise and alarm, honestly NOT having expected that ALL of them were actually OURS, haha. Then they gave you the most confused look ever. "But you're... not able to have a baby..." They were clearly reviewing their memories to make sure you had the wrong parts for that.

I laughed and kissed you again, having come up with the perfect muggle excuse to give them. "You've heard of hermaphrodites, right? Well not all of them LOOK like you would expect. Some just have an extra part or two on the inside that allows them to do things the rest of us mere men can't."

"Oh!" They blurted out in understanding.

"That's sort of hot! Wish I'd known that last night..." The more dominant of the two murmured.

The very bottomy one rubbed his abdomen a little sadly. "I wish that doctors could find a way to make that work for those of us who aren't so lucky..."

I smiled at him. "You could always adopt. Elena, Viona, Hazel, and Jaz are all adopted - huh! We might need to adopt at least one boy - just to be fair..."

You were evidently feeling at least a little better, because you laughed. "Oh sure! Let's adopt two so that we can have an even dozen kids!"

"If you're serious, I am sort of a tiny bit attached to one of the younger boys at Unity Africa. He's that one who's about two with skin so black that it actually has a bit of a powdery look to it and makes his teeth damn near GLOW when he opens his mouth."

You hummed in thought. "The one who we think had to be removed from his home for reasons that make us both want to hunt someone down and beat them?"

"Yep," I confirmed.

You gave me a tiny smile and a kiss. "Why am I not surprised? You ALWAYS gravitate to the ones that need you the most. Unless they just so happen to be adorable teeny little girls. Which oi! Let me hold my daughter a bit!"

I kissed Jaz and handed her over. "If she'll let you."

"Oh she will!" You insisted, and then promptly shared some of the fruit on your plate with her so that she would be too happy and distracted to want to come back to me.

Our friends exchanged a heavy look. "Adoption is such a big step..."

We both nodded. "It is, but it's SO worth it!" You assured them. "When you're ready." Then you 'dug in your pocket' to cover summoning a business card. "We actually run an orphanage called Unity House, but it specializes in caring for very special kids who need specific sorts of parents to care for their unique needs. That said, here's the card to a woman that can help you find the right child for you - if you decide you're ready to try for a family."

They took the card quietly, nodding and looking thoughtful, but also skeptical. The rest of breakfast was normal for us before our family split up into those that wanted to go run or exercise in the gym with you, and those that wanted to go be pampered in the spa with me.

I'm writing this as I soak up the sun after my spa treatment, and I just wanted to let you know that I had time to think during my massage, facial, and mani pedi, and I realized that while I do feel a little something for that boy, I'm NOT so attached to him that I'm going to go grab hold of him and bring him on holiday to Japan with me. Thus, I suppose that I want to make it clear that you don't have to immediately fill out the paperwork for him. We're already a huge family and we don't need to be adding kids just to add kids.

So basically, let me think it over a whole lot more before we make any sort of decisions. Okay?

Love you!

We are more than we are, we are one,  
Draco  
P.S. I took your scolding to heart and did my best to refrain from checking on Amala today. I only popped in on her twice, as opposed to every time I went to the loo. And once during the middle of the night. She's... not doing any worse, but she's still not much better either. I'm quite worried about her!

P.P.S. I love that even though pets aren't technically allowed on this trip, we've managed to smuggle ours anyway, buwahahahaha! Having a purse for them certainly comes in handy! Even Romulus and Remus fit in there and they've all been content to stay in there and play so long as they have plenty of food. Thus, we've been able to take them out in secret when we were alone and had time to play with them. I LOVE sneaky us!


	67. Chapter 67

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zaire means River and Harry will use Draco's purse if he has to!

Wednesday October 14th  
Ein,

I will give you space to come to a decision on how you feel about adopting Zaire. You know that I would never force you to adopt a child you weren't ready for. If WE are going to both be parents to a child, it's a decision that WE need to make together. But I'd been thinking he was ours since we got to Unity Africa. As usual, I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure about making huge life decisions while we're still feeling fragile from Iran (the little bun laughs at this plan) and then once I found out I was pregnant I thought maybe we're being ridiculous. We're on our way to ten children and we're already thinking about adding an eleventh? Not to mention we know you'll be getting pregnant shortly after this little one is born as well. Are we truly going to have an even dozen children?

But last night when you were all in the hot tub and I couldn't join you I decided to play around online. I may or may not have been looking at baby names. Fine! I was looking at baby names! So while I was looking up names and their meanings, I came across Zaire's name. Draco, his name means River. His name means the same thing as the name of one of our sons! Draco, he already belongs with us. I won't pressure you at all, this is a decision we need to make together. But he's ours and I'm taking him home with us, he's our baby. I hope he likes puppies and a high maintenance kitty because I might just smuggle him home in your purse.

I've loved this cruise, hell I've loved this entire trip. But I am excited to get home to Unity Africa tomorrow. And as much as I've really enjoyed this Holiday, I am ready to go home home two days after that. I'm ready to sleep in my own bed. Force "my" Unity House to let me pick the movie and snuggle in to watch The Lion King for movie night. I need to catch up with 'Mione before they leave for Russia. And I need to make sure our plans are in motion to keep them moving towards the ultimate goal.

And I suppose I'm looking forward to telling everyone I'm pregnant as well. You know I'd normally like to wait a bit longer, but it's not like I can keep our eight big-mouths from spilling the secret. Ooooh, maybe we can manage to keep the secret if we plan out a big musical number for the reveal. I'm thinking something along the lines of the song in The Little Mermaid where her sisters are introducing her. You know, the one she forgets to show up for? Yeah, I bet we can keep them from spilling if they have a performance to practice for.

Oh, speaking of adoptions, yeah I am still on that, you said Haz was adopted. And I guess I don't consider Haz adopted. True, I wasn't involved in her creation per se, but she's biologically one of ours. Not that I ever really think of any of them as adopted. I know that they were, and you know I don't feel any less love for them than I have for any of our children, but it's one of those things that doesn't even cross my mind unless I'm thinking about it. It's not like I'm trying to block it out and pretend about their beginnings, I just never consider their adoptions I suppose.

Sirius and Leah have spent almost this entire cruise together, and so Sirius has also spent most of his time with our Jaz. He is really hung up on her have you noticed? I have a feeling she is going to have her Uncle Padfoot wrapped around those teeny fingers of hers. Oooh, with how much she loves animals I can't believe he hasn't transformed into Padfoot for her. When we get back to Unity today I am going to talk him into transforming for her. She is going to freak out!

Oh and I really liked your cover story about my pregnancy being caused by some sort of intersexed or hermaphrodite condition. I wonder if I can go out occasionally in the muggle world without hiding my belly and just continue to use that as a reason. I like the freedom my enchanted trousers give me to walk around without the weird looks, but it always feels a bit weird to look down and see my missing belly. There's always that moment of panic for me where I think something has happened to the baby.

We should be docking soon, so I am going to sign off and go find you. I think we need to shag one more time in our suite. Really get our money's worth out of that room. Okay, FINE, I just want a shag!

Yours,  
Harry

 

Thursday October 15th  
Imzadi,

I think I figured out why Amala wasn't making any real progress while we were gone. Despite Sembene coming here to care for her on the schedule I'd set, she wouldn't really let him get near her. He had to basically set the plate of food on the floor of the garage and back away slowly. Thus, he wasn't able to see that she's clearly ready to eat more food in one serving.

Happily, when I walked into the garage to check on her shortly after we returned home, she somehow sensed that I was back for good and not just popping in for a few minutes to feed her. She growled and tackled me to the ground, but then licked my face so I'm about half certain that she wasn't trying to eat me. I gave her an entire lamb because if she was in the wild, she would be trying to catch animals about that size and eat as much of them as she could. Although I did make it a little bit easier on her by having the lamb cut open so that she could get to the organs first if she wanted. I had already thought as much, but that expert I chatted with on our safari confirmed that organ meat is the thing they try to eat first because it carries the most nutrition, and animals have to assume that they are going to be interrupted or have their meal stolen, so they eat the nutrient dense parts first to keep them healthy if they can't finish off the entire animal.

Once she was eating, I gave her a careful massage, and happily, her ribs are no longer quite so pronounced through her fur. So she *is* getting better, simply taking a long time about it. But now I have a dilemma. It seems she's bonded with me, and I'm not sure if this means that she is mine and I should keep her - at least until she is completely recovered - or if I should try to find someone else with the knowledge and expertise to finish her recovery. I suppose that the real deciding factor will be how she acts around the rest of our mad family. To that end, introductions were necessary to see how she reacts to so many people around her.

Rest assured that I would NEVER keep a dangerous animal if she made the SLIGHTEST indication that she's going to hurt any of us. That said, I've noticed that even though she has access to a flock of chickens to hunt, she doesn't seem to be able to actually hunt at the moment. Probably hasn't quite regained her signature speed to catch them with. Or maybe she's just deviously smart and realizes that I will feed her with no hunting necessary, haha.

Moving on, I love how clever you were with Padfoot. Rather than pout or beg him to transform in front of all of us like a circus show, you went the sneaky route.

"River, do you think you could keep a hold of Remus and Romulus until we're certain they aren't going to try to eat us?"

"Oh, sure," River agreed after taking about a second to think about what you were asking him.

"I'll help!" Orion volunteered. Each boy got a firm grip on our large puppies. Eris prudently picked up Venus and stroked her fur while keeping a firm grip on her as well.

I hadn't known you were planning to do this so soon, but I had no objections. I simply transformed and jumped/climbed onto your shoulder in the process so that I could give you a quick marmoset kiss before jumping off you and running away. You promptly changed into your teeny tiny little fox form and chased me. Bear thought this was a great idea and chased us both around.

Elena set Jaz on the floor so that we could run circles around her and she could try to catch and pet us. Venus looked supremely unamused and wiggled free so that she could go lounge in the purse until we'd all calmed down and returned to normal. Romulus broke free from Orion and tried to either lick you in a friendly welcoming gesture, or eat you, but I prevented either possibility by jumping onto his back and biting his ear. This sent him running around the room wildly, prompting Remus to break free and chase him.

Then Sirius - probably still at least a little off balance by how chaotic our family always is - decided that the best course of action was to transform and assert his dominance over our two half grown pups. The next thing I knew, this massive black dog was growling at them and they'd stopped in their tracks to cower. Bear - as fearless as ever - tried her best to defend her puppies from the sudden threat.

But it worked. Padfoot had stopped Remus and Romulus from any sort of natural tendencies regarding eating the tiny cute animals. He then lay down next to them and basked in the abundance of attention our kids showered him with. You went over and licked his face, and then Jaz crawled over and joined what was quickly becoming a pile of bodies - alive ones - crowding the new thing to pet and praise.

After a good half an hour of just bonding as a family in our animal forms, I changed back because it occurred to me that this was actually the best time to introduce Amala. I went to the garage and offered her some liver - only I didn't give it to her so that she'd follow me into the house. When I had her in the house, she paused to smell all the new and probably alarming smells.

"Nobody panic," I warned. "No one make any sudden moves. And try not to worry, I will stun her the moment it even *looks* like she might hurt someone. I actually hope that Padfoot will keep her just wary enough that she won't even think to try anything until we have a chance to reassure her that we're all friendly."

"Awwww!" Hazel purred, bravely coming closer - very slowly - holding her hand out so that Amala would be able to smell her before she was actually close enough to touch (or be bitten).

Amala was holding the piece of liver I'd just given her in her mouth, growling because she probably thought Hazel would try to take it from her. I pet Amala reassuringly and Hazel wisely stopped coming closer until Amala had a chance to actually chew the food and swallow it. But then Amala slowly stepped forward to cautiously smell Hazel. She wouldn't let our girl pet her, but she also didn't growl at or threaten her. Instead, she decided that she should investigate her surroundings.

I think the fact that she must have smelled and gotten used to all of our scents helped. She would have been exposed to them on me and in the wind long before getting to smell them directly. So, perhaps she understood that if any of us was going to hurt her, we would have already. She went around smelling everyone - only avoiding Padfoot because he was clearly bigger than her and could be a threat.

Funnily enough, Bear lost all of her courage and came over to jump in my arms and whimper as she watched Amala. After everyone had a basic 'introduction,' I told anyone who wanted to try to bond with her to grab a bit of liver off the plate I'd summoned - that was now very interesting to Bear. One by one, our kids offered a piece of liver to Amala, and she accepted them graciously. I could almost see her thinking that perhaps she now had an army of servants willing to bring her food whenever she wanted it.

Surprisingly, she avoided Jaz. Maybe it was because I made a clear noise of warning every time she even looked in the direction of our baby. Unsurprisingly, our baby got fed up with this avoidance and Apparated over to Amala when the cheetah was laying on the floor and pondering us all quite seriously. Jaz dared to pet Amala, and Amala regarded her with curiosity.

Not willing to risk anything tragic just yet, I hastily summoned Jaz and juggled her in my arms so that she was holding Bear. This thankfully placated Jaz, who happily pet Bear instead. Deciding that we'd had enough of the wild animal for the time being, I lured Amala back to the garage - handing Jaz and Bear to you first.

When I returned, Padfoot was chasing our pups around the yard, and in turn, was being chased by Siri and Zwei. Thus, chaos as usual, haha. As I watched our wonderfully mad family run amok, I was surprised to be overwhelmed by sadness. You sensed this and walked over to me.

"What's wrong?" You asked before kissing me.

I kissed you in return before replying. "I just had this powerful feeling like Zaire should be here too. Wouldn't he just LOVE chasing our dogs around the yard?"

You looked down, a tiny bit sad. "His Mind Healer says that he won't let almost anyone near him. He - much like a wild animal - growls and throws a fit when anyone tries to go near him or pick him up. He'll let people near him if they have food in their hands and he's hungry - which being two, he's ALWAYS hungry. But other than that... I think maybe you are right. Perhaps he'd respond better to animals."

"Should we go get him and see?" I asked uncertainly, because this was assuming that he'd let US near him.

You nodded. "We definitely should."

Kissing you, I Apparated us over to Unity House. Thankfully for us, you were still holding Jaz and Bear. I took Bear from you when I spotted Zaire sitting in a corner glaring at everyone else in the room. Hand in hand, we slowly walked over to him. When he noticed us coming and glared at us, we stopped and I shifted Bear so I was looking her in the eye.

"Be gentle with him, yeah?"

Maybe we somehow choose the most intelligent animals or perhaps they are influenced by our magic and become more intelligent than they would be otherwise, but Bear seemed to understand me. She even gave me a tiny nod. So I set her down and watched as she quickly trotted over to Zaire.

Zaire watched her coming with definite interest. He pointed at her and said just one word: "Leg!"

She reached him and positioned herself in his tiny lap so that she could stretch up and give him kisses. He astonished literally everyone in the room by giggling. Then he pet her, looking like he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Leg," he said again, clearly confused by the fact that she was missing one. But this also seemed to gain his sympathy. "Poor puppy..."

I got just a little closer and squatted so that I was more eye level with him. "Her name is Bear."

You squatted next to me and smiled at Zaire. "She was stepped on as a puppy and her leg broke so badly they had to take it away from her."

This made his eyes go a bit watery and he hugged her. "Poor puppy!"

I laughed softly. "No, look again. She doesn't care that she's missing a leg. I'm not sure she even notices - most of the time. She's just so happy to be alive and part of our family. See? C'mere Bear."

Bear raced over to me, jumped into my arms, gave me kisses, and then yipped in understanding when I set her back down and pointed to Zaire again.

Zaire pet her thoughtfully, smiling at her - which also shocked everyone who had been around him since he came in.

"We have two other puppies who would LOVE it if you wanted to pet them," you added. "What do you say? Want to come with us and pet them?"

Zaire looked distrustful.

"I've got fresh baked biscuits..." You cajoled sweetly.

This definitely got his interest. He stood up and warily followed Bear over to us. Then he held his hand out expectantly with a glare like he was thinking there would be consequences if you were lying. You pulled a fresh apple cinnamon biscuit out of your carry all and handed it to him.

"That's all I have on me at the moment. You have to come to our house if you want more."

He tasted the biscuit thoroughly, and then scrutinized us suspiciously. I picked Bear up when she started jumping on me again, and this seemed to make his decision for him. He nodded, but even then, took a few seconds to stare at my hand when I held it out to him. Eventually, he placed his hand in mine.

"We're just going to bring him to our place for a couple of hours," you informed his caregiver.

She smiled at us with a rather watery expression. "That's just fine! You've talked to him more in the last five minutes than anyone else has managed since he got here! I know that you'll take good care of him."

And so, we brought him home and let him have an entire hour of just himself playing with Remus and Romulus (I was right, he definitely responds to animals better than humans) while eating biscuits and watching us play with and sign for Jaz. Eventually, he walked over to us and grabbed your hand. You assumed that he wanted another biscuit and offered something healthier instead, but he shook his head.

"Do I have to go back?"

I waited for your translation device to do it's job rather than speak for you. Thankfully, despite not speaking English yet, he has heard it enough to understand what you were saying. You shook your head.

"Not if you don't want to. We can let you stay here. You can have your own bed, or you can sleep with Jaz and us," you offered.

Zaire glared at us suspiciously, but then stared at Jaz. It must have been obvious - even to someone as young as him - that she was NOT traumatized. That she trusted us completely and loved us.

"She looks more like me than she does you," he murmured.

Jaz smiled at him and reached out a hand to touch his face.

"Can I hold her?" He asked timidly.

Smiling, we asked him to get comfortable in an arm chair, and then helped Jaz sit on his lap without offbalancing and falling over. But then we let them bond, which was naturally silent. Eventually, he looked at us.

"If she sleeps in bed with you, then I will too."

To no surprise, you were sobbing. I held you and rubbed your back.

I'm going to sign off now. So far, the first night of Zaire in our bed seems to be going well. He's snuggled up to Jaz so possessively that I'm not entirely sure he'll be willing to let her go in the morning, haha. She's taken this in stride, allowing me to feed her where she lays. But YOU get the next feeding because - after I check on Amala, I'm going to try to catch up on my sleep. I still feel exhausted and plan to stay in bed until I absolutely have to get out of it tomorrow. Love you!

I love you even when I'm sleeping, when I close my eyes, you're everywhere,  
Draco


	68. Chapter 68

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's official! Harry and Draco are keeping Zaire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so, even though I posted twice today (well, yesterday since it's *just* past midnight here), I'm going to post two more chapters because we've written so far ahead at this point that I feel comfortable posting a few extra times to get y'all to a certain plot point ^_^

Friday October 16th  
My Dragon,

I am so exhausted. I don't mean in a sleepy way, although I am definitely sleepy, but in an emotionally drained kind of way.

Why does the world have to be so terrible? I keep thinking that I've seen some of the worst things the world has to offer and made my way to the other side. And then there I am, just sitting there thinking everything is fine, and something horrible comes up and kicks my legs out from under me.

My day started at roughly three o'clock this morning. Jaz was ready for her second feeding, and like you asked I took care of it. Unfortunately she does not send me those "wake up Daddy!" vibes that she sends you so she was a bit fussy by the time I got her bottle ready. Even though she barely made any noise, the noises she did make, combined with her squirming, were enough to wake up Zaire seeing as he was wrapped around her. He stared at me with those enormous beautiful eyes the entire time I was trying to get her settled.

He flinched a bit when I brought the bottle towards her, and in the sternest voice I have ever heard out of such a small person (and I am VIONA's Dad!) he said, "No hurt her!" I was so startled that I just handed him the bottle. So gently, he brought it to her mouth and held it for her while she drank.

I went to run my fingers through her thick hair, and he glared even harder. I told him as calmly as I could, "I love her, I just want to be nice." and proceeded to run my hands slowly and gently over her head. He seemed to relax when she did nothing but smile around the bottle at me. Seeing how guarded he was, how afraid he was that I was going to hurt her for something as simple as waking in the night and fussing for a bottle? I could go find the person who hurt him and do something that would send me to Azkaban!

But our sweet boy, he just gently fed Jaz. I very calmly and quietly told him, "she likes it because it feels nice." Then, very slowly so he could stop me if I was pushing too far, I moved my hand from her head towards his. He stared very intently but did nothing to stop me. I got to his head full of tight curls, brushing my palms over them. He tensed for just a moment, and then he closed his eyes and sighed. I never wanted to stop giving him this contented feeling. So I ran my hands over his hair the entire rest of the night. Long after Jaz had finished her bottle, and well after both of them had closed their eyes and started breathing those deep soft breaths of the sound asleep, I just laid there watching them both.

I will slay monsters for these beautiful little souls entrusted to me. To us.

I'm already running on pregnancy hormones, barely three hours of sleep, an emotional stake to the heart thinking of Zaire's trauma, and the adrenaline of a man on a mission. I eventually made my way to Unity to get started on the paperwork for Zaire.

Thankfully it won't take long. I'm sure you remember from our time here, but the process for Wizarding adoption here in Africa is much different than it is in the UK. Instead of a small amount of paperwork during intake and then an extensive process when the adoption is put forth, they make intake the harder process and the adoption easier. With how massive the continent is, and the difficulty of potentially traveling so far, it just makes sense for that end of the process to be easier to accomplish. Otherwise these children may never get adopted because the process is so hard for the adoptive parents.

I know you were there, and I know you remember every horrible moment and don't need reminding, but I need to get it all out somehow. When you had finally woken up, we talked for a bit, you did your morning routine, and we went to get Zaire from the big kids so we could go start the process. Well something got lost in the translation because when we told him we needed to go back to Unity he freaked out. The little bit we had seen of him coming out of his shell just snapped shut. He curled into himself, those thin little arms wrapped around his knees. And he looked at us with such a look of betrayal, "You say I stay! You say I do not go back!"

Draco, he thought we were giving him back. I know I shouldn't have been surprised, you can't fix a lifetime of trauma with a handful of biscuits and one safe night. But he was so hurt by us. Well, we didn't technically need him to come with to fill out the paperwork, so we tried to tell him he could stay and we would go. And that made things worse! "You leave me?" Those sad eyes will be the death of me.

So we finally settled on you staying back with him, and of course his best friends Jaz and Bear, while I went to Unity and got everything settled.

And this is where I found out things that made me even more exhausted with humanity. He's not two. What? Of course he's two! Right? No. They were finally able to find an official birth certificate for him. He's three - three and a half actually. He's just very tiny for his age. With how well he spoke, I just assumed he was brilliant and advanced for his age. I mean, obviously he's brilliant, but he's actually speaking well within the normal range for his three and a half. It's our Gavin all over again, he's shy and withdrawn. He's built walls around himself. It is going to take everything we have to help him dismantle those walls.

Luckily, we have a massive family full of wrecking balls! Between the kids and the animals, I think we can help him heal. It will be a lot of hard work, but he deserves it.

But with all of the work we have ahead of us with our little boy, I think it's not a great time to also have a Cheetah. You know how I am, I am not saying no, but I think our priority right now needs to be our son. I did do some research however, there is a zoo in Wiltshire that has a nice Cheetah population. If you want, once she's healthy enough to not need twenty-four/seven care, we can bring her there so she's nearby and you can continue to see her and she you. Otherwise, there are a number of Cheetah conservation societies. We can find someone who specializes in rehabilitating and then releasing to the wild, Cheetahs just like Amara. Think about it?

I know we were supposed to head home today, but that is obviously not going to happen with the adoption process. But as long as everything goes as smoothly as I believe it will, we should be able to take off Tuesday morning. We could even potentially leave Monday night if we wanted to fly while we all sleep. Which means we should be able to make it home with a few days to spare before Lainie's birthday!

Anyway, it's just about dinner time, I'm ready for one of our famously loud, crazy family dinners. And then I am going to read some bedtime stories to our babies. Then it will be time for me to pass out! Hopefully I'm able to make it through dinner without falling asleep in my soup. If I do pass out, can you remove my face from the soup so I don't drown? Ta ever so!

All of my Love,  
Your Harry

 

Saturday October 17th  
My poor exhausted husband,

I know you know that I can be a sneaky Slytherin when I want to be, so guess what I'm doing right now? I'm rocking Zaire to sleep in a chair. What's that? You ask. HOW did I manage to accomplish this miracle?

I'm glad you asked! It was rather sneaky of me. See, Jaz woke me up with her silent vibes, and I got out of bed to go get a bottle ready because - once again - Zaire was cuddling her quite possessively. Well, she was NOT having it tonight! She wanted me to dance her back to sleep, and so, Apparated into my arms. This woke Zaire abruptly and he sat up with the most terrified look I can recall seeing on such a small face in a long time.

So... I basically ignored him until he had a chance to wake up more fully and calm down. I know with how guarded and defensive he is, he wouldn't have let me comfort him even if I tried, and in fact, NOT trying to touch him probably went a long way toward reassuring him. In any case, I danced and softly sang Jaz back to sleep as she drank her bottle. I actually chose a lullaby in Zaire's native language - a super simple one that I had a caregiver teach me since I don't speak the language.

This seemed to soothe him a little. He watched as Jaz was fed and changed, and then gently placed back in bed next to him so that he could snuggle her again if he wanted. But the moment I set her down, I summoned a plate of fresh biscuits and two glasses of milk. He naturally saw this and watched me carry the plate to the table next to the rocking chair, which I sat in. Then I picked Bear up from her bed next to the chair and continued to hum as I stroked her silky fur.

With my other hand, I picked up and slowly nibbled on a biscuit. As I suspected, Zaire (being a little malnourished) was attracted to the plate more surely than Amala would be to a sacrificial lamb. He was so silent as he tried his best to sneak up on me and steal the plate that I honestly did not hear him, but I knew what he was doing, and so, wasn't spooked when he suddenly 'appeared' right next to me.

"Hi there, love. Would you like a biscuit?" I offered.

He nodded, looking wary but trusting since we hadn't withheld food from him yet. I handed him one.

"You know what Bear would love more than anything?" I asked him in a soft and soothing voice.

"Hmm?" He hummed the question.

"She would completely LOVE it if you sat in my lap and pet her," I stated. "But you don't have to."

Zaire looked at Bear, and then at the plate of cookies again. I gave him another. As he ate that one, he stared at Bear. Meanwhile, I closed my eyes, rested my head against the back of the chair, and simply continued to hum the lullaby in his language as I pet Bear. She was half asleep, only awake enough to give my hand an occasional lick.

Suddenly, but completely expectedly, I felt Zaire grab the chair and climb into my lap. I gave him yet another biscuit and helped rearrange Bear so that she was basically sitting on his lap as he sat on mine. Then I pretended to half drift off, still humming, as he pet Bear. Only, every time he looked over at the plate, I handed him another biscuit - also handing him both glasses of milk during the course of about an hour.

Very VERY slowly, he relaxed. So much so that he actually lay against me, at which point, I gently started rocking the chair. He stopped petting Bear, keeping a hand on her as he seemed to be listening to my heart beat. Softly, I informed him that I was going to pet his hair like he had Bear's.

"Okay..." he whispered, sounding a little frightened. So I stroked his hair, hummed, actually sang, and continued to rock in a gentle and steady way that wouldn't startle him at all. Eventually, he fell asleep and I summoned my laptop to write this, but now I'm going to try to put him back to bed without waking him before finishing up what I wanted to say.

-

I never did get a chance to finish last night. When I went to lay Zaire in bed, he woke up just enough to get mad at me for trying to put him down. I'm willing to bet that he wasn't mad so much as startled, and in his startlement, lashed out at me. So I softly hummed and sang to soothe him some more, lay down so that he was still in my arms but with his back to me so that only his head was on my arm if he didn't want to be touched, but still needed some comfort. Then I gently pulled Jaz over to us so that he could snuggle with her if he wanted. This reassured him and helped him fall back to sleep, but also basically trapped me in bed. Oh well, I needed the sleep too.

And I'm so glad I caught every ounce of it I could manage because today...

I haven't seen you so mad in a LONG time. Not even the relatively recent time when you took revenge on the man who punched me in Monaco were you THIS mad! I honestly feared that you would brutally murder a man right in front of all our kids.

Although had you, it would have been a clear case of self defense and that of our family.

See, in all our time living here, we never had to worry about the super strong and powerful wards we would need if this house was in London. It's not something we worry about at the Manor either, because of the centuries of wards, but here, we figured that we'd really only need basic wards on our house, and we've been right. There isn't really an overzealous crowd of admirers trying to hound you everywhere you go, so standard spells have been enough.

Well, aside from the fact that we ward Unity House to the teeth no matter WHERE we go because the risk of people trying to prey on orphans is real enough the world over that we want to make sure they never have to fear anything. But I digress.

Word had reached Zaire's birth father that we're trying to adopt him. It's only to be expected since it's a part of the process to notify the birth parents so that they have a chance to take action and prove their circumstances have changed - IF they have. This man hadn't even bothered to try.

INSTEAD, he decided that he should and could just come in and steal his son back - the way the authorities had gone in and 'stole' Zaire from him. He had two things going for him. One: Our wards were basic security wards, and so, not on par with the wards of the Manor or your inherited house in London. And two: He had blood magic to call upon. Blood magic is powerful enough that it might have actually broken even the strongest of wards.

Basically, he was able to Apparate right into our yard - despite our wards - because he was able to use his blood to bring him to the blood of his son.

Zaire screamed in terror at the sight of him, running to hide behind Amala. Yes, this poor boy would rather hide behind an animal he wouldn't dare look at for more than a few seconds at a time for fear of provoking her, than be anywhere his so-called father could see him. I was standing next to Amala - of course - and so my first instinct was to cast a powerful shield around me, Amala, Zaire, and anyone within about 10 feet of me.

To my relief, our fiercely protective support staff/friends/family - whatever you want to call them - leapt into action by rounding up the kids and making damn certain that every single one of them was inside a protective shield.

Which left you.

You were so angry that a fiery halo of magic surrounded you and things were flying around. Sticks and leaves and other debris such as toys, they were all circling around the yard in an ever tightening pattern, as if a tornado was forming. All the while, you glared at him so contemptuously - with such LOATHING - that I really think your magic was choking him to death.

And I understood. In that exact second, it hit me that while my first instinct was to protect our soon to be son by shielding him, YOURS was to protect him by eliminating the threat once and for all.

And you were honestly baffled when Kisa once told someone that you were scarier than she was! She's looked into your eyes. She knows what sort of man you are, and while yes, it's usually the fluffy dad, it's ALSO the man who would die and then kill to save the world if he has to.

Trusting that between our support, all our kids were being protected, I dropped my shield and rushed over to you.

"Harry," I hissed insistently to get your attention, even shaking you slightly. "Listen! My first instinct is to cast a shield, and yours is to let your magic do whatever it has to in order to eliminate a threat and make sure our children are safe, so... We should switch roles!"

"What?" You questioned in confusion, sounding a little far away.

"You want to kill him, and if you do, it'll be in defense of our children - specifically the one we're trying to adopt - but do you REALLY want to teach our children that murder is the first choice???"

This made you pause, but then you shook your head. "No Draco, I'm not going to let this man get away with abusing our son so badly that he's hiding behind a CHEETAH because it's safer! Worse, what if he has other children he abuses - or CREATES more to replace this one?!"

Taking a deep breath, I nodded in understanding. "Alright. Let's do this together. Try to calm down. Reign your magic in. Do this with FULL intent and not pure rage."

I watched you close your eyes and do something - probably a meditation technique or something taught to you by Katja - that pulled your nearly out of control magic back inside you. The developing tornado died out, making everything it was carrying fall back to the ground. It also meant that your magic was no longer choking that... 'man...'

Holding your left hand in my right, I pulled out my wand to make up for the fact that I was using my non dominant hand. You have mastered the wandless magic we learned here in Africa enough that you didn't need your wand, but you grabbed it anyway - probably as an anchor to keep your magic intentional.

What followed was a rather intense duel that should have been easy enough for the two of us to win against a sole opponent, but he had knowledge of a lot of native magic we'd never seen before, and it forced us to stay on our toes and take on a defensive role rather than simply take him down.

So, I took the opportunity to do something I learned in my very brief raid training. Verbally cover our arses if this goes completely pear shaped.

"Listen! I can understand feeling like you have no other choice but to steal him if you want your son back, but he was taken from you for a reason! You are breaking SEVERAL laws by coming here and trying to take him back! If you don't stop and leave, we will be well within our rights to protect ourselves - even if it means killing you in the process! This is a battle you cannot win! Stop now and leave before the authorities arrive - and make no mistake, our oldest daughter and my assistant are both beyond smart enough to be on the mobile with the police by now. I would not be surprised if the African equivalent of the Auror department shows up any moment!"

As I was trying to make it clear that he was in the wrong and needed to stop, he was concentrating on hitting us with everything he had, occasionally shouting at me to shut up in his language - which we both understood since we've been wearing my translation devices almost constantly so that we can understand Zaire.

You know what sort of surprised me? It was the moment I realized that Padfoot - as a huge dog - was circling around to one side and waiting for an opening while Amala was circling to the other. Yes, my still recovering NOT pet cheetah was teaming up with something she was rather wary of in order to protect us from what was clearly a threat.

I have to admit to being impressed that our intruder managed to hold his own against both of us for as long as he did. Honestly, I think that we were both hoping he would exhaust his magic so that we could restrain him peacefully, but he just kept on going as strong as ever. It became clear that he was more likely to wear us down, and we had NO IDEA how long it would take for the Aurors to arrive. So...

You shot me a quick look to let me know that you were going to do it. And then you did. You cast an Avada Kedavra. Exactly as I had asked you to do, you dealt with him intentionally. I had really hoped to avoid this because I well remember how I felt having killed to defend our daughters and I didn't want you to have to go through that.

I would have rather done it myself and spared you. Which is why, when he leapt to the side and threw himself to the ground to avoid the spell, aiming at you with clear intent to return it, I cast it at him, only this time, he had no room to avoid it as he had inadvertently landed next to our raised fire pit and had two animals closing in on him. To my astonishment, he rolled just enough to avoid it after all, but you were already casting it again, and this time, he couldn't escape.

We all stood frozen in silence for a long moment. It may have actually been several long moments. I'm not sure. All I know is that the Aurors (or whatever they're called here) did eventually arrive. There was an exhausting stretch of explaining what had happened - a VERY long and exhausting stretch! - but at some point during the explanation, you felt a timid hand clutch yours. Looking down, you saw Zaire trying to hide behind your legs while simultaneously staring at his birth father - looking as if he expected the body to get up and chase him at any moment.

We both asked the Aurors to stop and wait a moment as we squatted and looked Zaire in the eyes.

"We know he hurt you, love," you murmured, stroking his hair.

"We know you are afraid of him," I added before pointing at him. "But I promise you that he will never be able to hurt you again."

"He's dead," you stated flatly.

To our shock, he started to cry, and I felt guilty, wondering if maybe we had killed the wrong man (such as a very similar looking uncle), but no, his tears were... sort of healing and a lot angry, I suppose. He ran over to the dead body and kicked it repeatedly, shouting things like: "Meanie!" and "No hurt me!" Or at least, that's how our translators interpreted it. He could have been swearing for all we knew.

I daresay, any doubt the authorities MIGHT have had in their minds was erased at that moment. It was one thing to SAY the child had been abused (which their own records would have confirmed once they had a chance to look), but it was quite another to witness the aftermath of the trauma.

Rather than let him continue on until he hurt himself, I grabbed Zaire and carried him a bit away, stroking his hair and alternating between humming: "Hush love," and singing his lullaby.

Hours passed as every single statement had to be taken and written down and then questioned until they felt they had every fact they could possibly get, but unsurprisingly, I grew fed up with this after a while and did probably the ONE thing that could have shut them up at the moment. I summoned my memory camera, extracted the memory of the entire event, and then printed it up for them.

"Here! Now kindly get off my property and let us recover!"

Well now, weren't they just FASCINATED! I actually had to promise to go into the station tomorrow and give them a demonstration of the device, but rather quickly after that, they left. And we... every single one of us decided a nap in a big fluffy pile was in order.

And now, even after sleeping for a few hours and getting a good meal inside me, I still feel like I'm drained. I suppose that it's going to be an early bedtime for me tonight. After I finish compulsively checking and rechecking our security wards - which is what I've been doing as I dictate this to my floating laptop - I'm going to take a nice relaxing bath and go straight to bed.

I love you and I promise to hold you all night long so that if you wake up for any reason, you'll immediately see that you are safe. I've also warned Muffy that she had better take care of all night feedings for Jaz - and Zaire if it comes to it.

Rattled and a bit shaky,  
Draco


	69. Chapter 69

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're finally home!

Sunday October 18, 2009

My Sleeping Beauty,

Usually you are my fierce and big strong Dragon. The last few days have instead cast you in the role of Sleeping Beauty. You broke your promise! Before you panic, I am not bothered, I just wanted to tease you.

You promised you would hold me all night long. Instead, you fell asleep in the bath! I laid myself down with Zaire and Jaz to put them to sleep last night. They were sound asleep, wrapped around each other. Heart achingly beautiful. I found myself relaxing for the first time all day, and I managed to fall asleep as well. That didn't last long, and I eventually woke up and you weren't there. I wasn't particularly worried, you're often gone in the middle of the night dancing our teeny girl to sleep. That's when I realized that the aforementioned teeny girl was still sound asleep next to me!

I frantically ran to my computer, assuming that if you had gone off to pretend to be an auror or rescue a troop of rabid monkeys you would have emailed me. Well, I did have an email from you, I did a quick skim to the end to see what your sign off was. Color me surprised when you said you were going to take a bath, and as far as I know no one heard from you after that bath. Off I popped to the tub, and there you were, sound asleep, soaking wet, covered in bubbles. Thank goodness for warming charms and safety charms to keep you from drowning.

Gently pulling you out of the tub and drying you off I assumed would wake you. Apparently last night was some much needed sleep because you were unconscious for the entirety of the manhandling. So I carried you back to bed and tucked you in with us.

That was it for my night of sleep unfortunately. I had too many thoughts racing through my head. Surprisingly seeing as I killed a person yesterday, they weren't all negative, but they definitely didn't want me to sleep.

I stared at our Jasmine, thankful that we managed to find her when she was so new, before she would have the trauma that too many children were experiencing. Thankful that she's just so perfect. And so thankful I could barely hold it all in my heart, that she was here for our Zaire. Isn't it crazy how each person in our family seems to think she's "their Jazzie"? That each child feels such a deep connection to this person who hasn't even been on the planet for a year. And our two littlest just took to each other immediately. It's like their souls just knew and it was "oh, I've been waiting for you."

Maybe I am reading too much into this. Projecting my own feelings about our children onto our children. I remember that single perfect moment with each of our children when my mind finally caught up with my heart and soul to realize they were the child I'd been waiting for. They each bring something so special, wonderful, and perfectly them to our family. I know it's massive and chaotic, but I can't imagine our family any other way.

Our little wounded warrior Zaire. I watched him sandwiched between you and Jaz. I can't believe the resilience of children. He's been abused his entire short life. He was taken from that abuse and brought to an orphanage where he didn't understand anything that was going on. It's a good place, so many of us have worked our arses off to make it a good place, but it's still a massive change in the life of a hurt child. And in just a few days, he has managed to feel safe enough to surround himself with us in sleep. How did we deserve the trust of this beautiful little person?

Thank you for trying to save me from the regret or trauma of being forced to kill. I love you with everything I am. You were willing to kill, even though it's terrifying for you, to save me from having to be the one to do it. I appreciate you being willing to do that for me, and for Zaire obviously. But it was unnecessary. The idea of killing, especially during the war, is horrifying to me. To kill someone on the other side of a battle from you was necessary at times but truly awful. The potential each life held, to snuff that out would have haunted me. To have met you, wands drawn on each other, and known I would have to kill or be killed is my worst nightmare. Knowing you were on the other side, the wrong side, through events that were set in motion well before we were born would have made dueling you, hurting you, ending your potential, the worst thing I could imagine.

I saw none of that in Zaire's biological father. I do not want to be judge, jury, and executioner. But his potentials were too terrible to continue. You were right, if we had been able to hold him off until the aurors arrived where they could keep him from hurting anyone else, that would have been ideal. But he wasn't allowing that. He came into our home in an attempt to continue hurting and controlling this little boy he had already put through too much. He didn't want his son, he wanted to control something he felt belonged to him. I made a decision, and my decision will see to it that Zaire will never have to worry that this man will come for him. He never has to wonder if this will be the day that man will find him to hurt him again. Our boy can just heal and grow and be loved and safe.

My only worry is that some day Zaire will hate me or resent me for killing his biological father. When the pain and trauma has faded, and he remembers I ended that life, will he hate me? I don't ever want him to hate me or resent me, but I will take it if it means Zaire will never have to be hurt again. Children should be "hurt" when they skin their knees jumping off the swings. They should be "hurt" when they don't get their way and have to eat their vegetables before their dessert. They should be "scared" of failing a test they forgot to study for or asking out someone they have a crush on. I cannot wait until he has healed to the point where those childhood fears are the only ones he can remember. I just hope his fears won't include being afraid of me.

I think it's funny how you couldn't quite figure out how to label the people that were with us during the attack, who helped keep our children safe. Staff? Ha! I know we pay them, but even Leah who's our newest addition isn't "staff". Friends? Yeah, I suppose we can use the word friend. I mean, you're my husband but I do consider you a friend as well, you can be friends and more. But I think we can safely call every single person who protected our family yesterday … our family.

And Padfoot! Where do you think I learned to become a drama queen of epic proportions and throw fits to try and save the ones I love? True, many of his fits turned out really really REALLY badly, but they were always in defense of those he loved. I'm so glad he finally is living in a place free of war, with a family without unacceptable expectation, and the ability to heal and grow to his greatest potential.

And damn you, when she helped protect us, Amala launched herself directly into my heart. I still don't think it would be good for us OR for her to have her come live with us and be a pampered pet. I think what would be best would be a herd of her own, whether it be in a zoo in the UK or on a preserve here in Africa. But you knew I wouldn't put my foot down, and after yesterday I definitely won't. But here's a new argument … do you want to explain to Narcissa why we brought home a cheetah? I didn't think so.

I'm quite looking forward to telling her we brought her home another Grandson! (and another grandchild on the way!) She and Molly have always been the most thrilled with our decisions to bring more children into their lives. No one loves quite like a Grandma!

Hopefully you'll be waking up soon, depending on what time you fell asleep in that tub I think you're going on at least twelve hours of sleep.

I've already had Pippa schedule us an extended appointment with Healer Rowe for this week after we get home. She wants to check on Jaz's development. And I know Zaire has been checked out by healers here, but I want him to meet Healer Rowe immediately to start the bond, as well as I trust her to notice anything other healers may have missed. I definitely know we need to get him up to a healthier weight. And no, not by feeding him biscuits all day! I will give him the world, and I honestly don't care if he has a biscuit with every meal, but he does need more nutrients than that. I've already told Muffy to stock up on nutrient dense foods when we get home, lots of nuts, iron rich meats, avocados for sure, dense and colorful veggies, and every single type of fruit she can find. The fruit may also be for me. I can already tell what this baby is going to force me to eat for the next eight or nine months, fruit fruit fruit and more fruit, with a giant helping of vegetables. I could go for some carrots right now in fact.

I assumed when we get back from Africa you were going to be super busy getting your upcoming ritual together, so I thought I would be the one to bring Jaz and Zaire to Healer Rowe. But I think if you're still feeling so sleepy maybe you should definitely come with. I would feel better if you got an all clear. Diagnosis: Overreacting hormonal Spouse and too many night feedings to take on alone. Prescription: Get some sleep and let Harry help!

Hopefully this is our last full day here and we can go home tomorrow night. I miss our bed. I miss our family.

Oh Merlin, I can't stop crying. Ok, I will distract myself and think of sexy things. Draco. Warm rumpled Draco in my bed. Warm and rumpled Draco in my bed and naked. Wait, those are things that are literally happening right now! Why am I here typing like a chump instead of taking advantage of the situation?

I would have made the worst Slytherin!

Yours,  
Harry

 

Wednesday October 21st  
Home sweet home!

Well... my parents took Amala better than I thought. Once I reassured them that I fully planned for her to have her own magically expanded area of the yard to live in - well warded to keep the Peafowl and owls out, her in, and only allowing me unrestricted access to her - they basically rolled their eyes at me, called me their silly little boy, and then moved on to more important subjects.

So far, your plan to have our kids work together on a musical number to officially announce our big news has kept ALL of them quiet. Also, after about two seconds of protest that we'd adopted YET AGAIN, my parents took one look at Zaire, read his horrible history in every expression of wariness and mistrust, and completely changed their tune. They tried to welcome him, but he was having none of it. It'll probably take him a few weeks to warm up to them, but I have every confidence that he eventually will.

Especially when he sees them hold Jasmine and receive such big smiles from her.

After *finally* catching up on my sleep, I feel much better. You're currently at Rowe's with Jaz, Zaire, and our boys for general check ups. Meanwhile, I'm setting up Amala's new home - at least until she's better enough to go to the zoo...

She seems to like it here, but I bet she'll change her mind once winter sets in, haha. I've filled her little area with a flock of chickens to hunt, but it's part of the North Fields, and so, she'll have other things in here to hunt too. But I have to admit that she seems to prefer me to feed her. I KNOW she's a wild animal and not tame even though she tolerates me/us, but I really do think she's Slytherin to her core in the belief that she shouldn't have to do anything she can get someone else to do for her, hahaha.

Thus, I fed her one of those chickens, using cutting hexes to kill and cut it up for her, and she not only took it from my hand like Bear takes her treats from me, but she did that thing where she licked my hand without trying to eat it. I really do think she considers me a minion, ha!

I'm going to sign off and take a nap out here in the warm sun. My stomach is full from the delicious apple turnovers you made and a tall glass of milk. We got a fresh delivery today and I discovered that Amala loves milk. She nearly mauled me when she smelled it on me, but since I had one of those never ending cups with me, I was able to give her as much as she wanted. I think she senses that this will help speed up her recovery - which incidentally is why I don't mind feeding Zaire as many biscuits as he wants, because I know I can get him to drink as much milk as he can stand at the same time, and it's the MILK that will help nourish him.

But as I said, signing off now. Love you!

'Cuz I'm broken when I'm lonesome, and I don't feel right when you've gone away,  
Draco


	70. Chapter 70

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zaire's first movie night.

Wednesday October 21, 2009

My Love,

I really debated whether or not we should come for movie night or not. We just got home yesterday morning, everyone is exhausted, and four of our kids had healer's appointments today. I thought we could just skip it tonight, but I know especially Siri and Zwei were looking forward to seeing all of their friends here and telling them all about our trip to Africa. I thought about just having one of us bring whoever wanted to go and having the other one stay home with Zaire, but the last time one of us tried to leave him behind did not go well.

Seeing as we're waiting a bit on having a circle dinner to welcome Zaire until he's settled and feeling less guarded, I thought this might be a good opportunity to introduce him to whoever shows up for movie night. He wouldn't have to interact, he can just sit back and watch the movie while observing the people around him. And I know he wasn't particularly comfortable at Unity Africa, but it's such a similar atmosphere that it's not like we were trying to take him to Unity Park and really freak him out!

I think it went better than I imagined. He did remain wedged solidly between the two of us and right next to Jaz who was obviously in your lap, but he didn't seem scared or upset, just reserved. We, of course, watched The Lion King as we requested. Sometimes I need a break between viewings of certain movies. Dogma is still my favorite movie, but I couldn't watch it two days in a row. It needs time between viewings. But Lion King is certainly one of those movies where I could watch it every day and still be just as excited about the songs and the beautiful animation.

I think the fact that our body language left no doubt to anyone that he should not be approached helped. Some of the littler Kids came up to talk with Jaz of course, but he didn't see them as much of a threat and just kept an eye on them to make sure they didn't hurt his sister. And the sheer amount of snacks we had out was probably the biggest factor in movie night being a win. He still has that wariness in his eyes like he's not quite sure he's truly allowed to eat to his heart's content, but he's no longer trying to sneak food while we're not looking. Because of the fact that Unity Africa thought he was barely two up until a few days before he left, he had never had popcorn before. So tonight was his very first time experiencing it. I may love popcorn, but once I saw his face light up after his first hesitant bite, I didn't have a single kernel. I wanted my boy to have as much as his little tummy would allow.

I was a little surprised that your mum came with us, all of her kids are at Hogwarts, and it's not like she's particularly interested in seeing muggle cartoons, but I think she either really missed us while we were gone (it was a very long holiday) or she didn't want to let her newest grandson out of her sight. She hasn't been able to cuddle up with him the way she wants to, so she's been settling for watching him from across the room. But, there may have been a third diabolical reason behind her inclusion. She made her way over to 'Mione, cleared her throat, and then nodded her head towards where we were sitting on the couch. And then Hermione reached into her carryall and handed her money!

Draco, I think Hermione and your mum bet over whether we would come home from Unity Africa with another child. They're betting on us. And for all of the faux disbelief at his arrival, you mum bet that we WOULD!

The five of us that went to Healer Rowe's today barely made it back to Unity in time for the movie, we didn't get a chance to talk during the movie, and you went to bed with the rest of the kids the moment we got back to the Manor. So I suppose I should let you know exactly how everyone is doing.

Siri and Zwei are doing wonderfully. Following their own growth charts, meeting their milestones, etcetera. They both talked Rowe's ear off about our trip. I think they may have enjoyed our most recent holiday more than anyone else. The only concern is she wants us to bring Zwei to an optometrist, she thinks it's quite possible that he'll need glasses. Not a big deal, and won't he look so sweet in some teeny tiny glasses?

Jasmine has made so many developmental jumps since the last time Rowe saw her. She was amazed at how much more communicative and engaged Jaz was. She's still a tiny bit behind compared to others her age, but there are a lot of factors at play here. First, she does not hear, she missed out on months of communication that most children her age will have experienced. We knew that, and we're working on it. Also, she is the youngest of a large family, often times the youngest of a larger group of siblings will be later to meet certain milestones because the older children get everything for them before they even know what they want. They're less likely to ask for something, or attempt to get it for themselves, because they know if they wait long enough someone will bring it to them.

So, as of right now, Healer Rowe is keeping her on the modified developmental charts she originally created, but she believes if she sees as much growth in the next few months that she witnessed in the last few, it's likely Jaz will just be on the traditional charts by the time of her first birthday.

And onto the not as great, but not unexpected, news. Zaire is suffering from malnutrition and has some vitamin and mineral deficiencies. She's prescribed a fairly basic nutrient potion, but believes his best bet is just exactly what we've been doing. Encouraging him to eat. Giving him access to all the healthy foods he can handle. And because his stomach is smaller from his past, she wants him grazing throughout the day. And just as you've been pushing, heavy on the full fat dairy. So keep pushing the milk, but also cheeses and yogurts would be great for him. And nutrient or calorie dense foods. If he's only going to have room for a small amount of food, make sure it's food that packs a punch. Nuts and beans, dense veggies, that kind of thing.

She didn't really assess any of his other milestones. Right now her priority is to get him physically healthier, and safe in his environment. Talk with him, keep him active, engage with him, but at this point he's learning a new country, a new family, a new language, and healing from abuse. We'll worry about his development when we're finished putting out fires.

I am the worst Daddy ever, I hate that he's guarded, I hate that his past made him so distrustful, but I certainly enjoyed the silver lining which had him in my lap the entire time we were at Healer Rowe's. I love him so much, and I can't wait until he is open and knows how much I love him. Tomorrow morning I am actually going to bring him to the kitchens with me to make Lainie's birthday breakfast.

But I should sign off and get some rest, I always have to get up extra early to make birthday breakfasts for the children that are early risers!

Love you,  
Harry

 

Wednesday October 21st  
My life,

I know this may seem weird, but I love watching Sirius watch us. He seems much like a dog even when he's fully human. And no matter how much he sees us sing and dance as a family, he still seems to think that it's strange, absurd, and yet funny.

When the Circle of Life came on first thing, his eyes lit up in recognition. His lips twisted in an amused smirk and I swear I heard him whisper to Ron that you haven't lived until you've heard the song sung IN the actual Savannah, haha!

Even though Zaire has been exposed to English enough to mostly understand it - even if he can't speak it yet - I thought it would be helpful to him to tweak one of my translation devices so he can use it and hear his native language. Thus, he sat between us and practically strained his ears to hear everything that was being said by everyone. He ate the popcorn with such joy, growling at anyone who came near us as if he was certain they planned to steal the bowl from him/us.

Jaz was as happy as ever, sitting on my lap and watching Leah translate for her. I have a mad idea, but I want to develop it a bit more and see if it's feasible before I talk about it. As the credits of the movie rolled, you and I got a bit lost in kissing. Jasmine must have gotten a bit tired because she started rubbing her eyes.

Suddenly, she disappeared!

Trying not to panic, I assumed that she'd just gone home and put herself to bed. So, I quickly kissed you, told you that I'd go make sure she made it to bed safely, and then reassured Zaire that I was going after Jaz and that he should stay and sit on your lap and protect you from everyone who wanted to steal your popcorn. He nodded solemnly and climbed onto your lap to glare fiercely at everyone closer than about ten feet from you.

I'm now dictating this as I search for Jaz because she's nowhere to be found. I'm also taking deep and even breaths and doing my absolute best to NOT panic. Although I will admit that the panic is slowly taking over and fogging my brain.

She's not in bed! She's not ANYWHERE, and not even Muffy can sense her in the Manor! I'm wracking my brains to think of ANYWHERE she might have Apparated to!

Dictating this is helping to keep me relatively calm, but I am close to screaming... I think I'm going to go check on Amala very quick while I'm here, and then go back to you to see if maybe she just Apparated to the kitchen for a bottle and came right back - although I assume you would have Insta-owled me.

BLOODY HELL! Merlin buggering Salazar! Bend me over and fuck me dry! I FOUND JAZ!!! She's... snuggling with Amala…

Yes, I will admit that my first heart stopping assumption was that Amala was taking advantage of some easy prey - especially since she was licking our tiny and helpless baby girl, but... I immediately Apparated over to snatch Jaz into my safe arms, only to find that Jaz was smiling and petting Amala - who was returning the affection by giving Jaz a nice bath.

Be still my thundering heart!

I'm... going to stay here a few minutes because I feel a little woozy and faint from the relief. I promise that the MOMENT I no longer feel like I'm going to have a heart attack and die from shock and worry, I'll come to our room and probably take a bath with Jaz. And Zaire if he'll consent to join us. I have a feeling he'll be far too wary to do more than watch us like a hawk from the outside of the tub. After all, the man that hurt him might now be dead, but the memories of what he more than likely did are still there, and Zaire barely trusts us enough to sit in our laps while he's eating snacks.

 

Love you!  
Draco


	71. Chapter 71

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Elena's birthday and everything was going well until Harry went to bring her breakfast in bed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm going to post two chapters in a row again because THIS chapter has some pretty heavy stuff happen in it and I don't want to leave you with it any longer than it takes me to post the next chapter.  
> WARNING!!! This chapter contains a reference to PAST child abuse, specifically, the sexual abuse of a young boy. If this might trigger you, please skip from the part in Draco's email where he talks about sharing a cake with his family to the next chapter. I will recap what happened in non-triggering terms in the beginning notes of that chapter.   
> That said, I've been hinting at what happened since Draco first mentioned there was a particular boy he wanted to adopt, and this reference is really just a confirmation without going into any details of what happened, so hopefully, it won't be triggering, just upsetting. Brace yourself.

Thursday October 22nd  
Bloody Buggering Hell,

If you are looking for me, just know that I am attempting to drown myself in the bathtub. I assume the permanent safety charms and the fact that I am madly in love with and plan to live at least a century with my family will abort that attempt, but that's where I will be.

First, I cannot believe last night. I had no idea you were searching for Jaz. You popped off to go find her, never sent me an insta-owl, never sent Muffy to come get me, nothing. And when I got home, Muffy took Zaire to bring him to bed and never came back to tell me you weren't in there. So I was just sitting out in the sunroom (which I don't like calling the sunroom at night, it just feels weird. The moon room?) emailing away. Catching up about the Healer's appointment, babbling away about how much Zaire enjoys popcorn, and there you were searching for our child who was cuddling with a ferocious man-eating animal!

Ok, I may be exaggerating. While cheetahs could eat a baby easily, I don't think Amala actually would. But I certainly didn't want to test that theory! Can you check me for grey hairs sometime soon? I haven't seen a single one, but I am certainly assuming they're on their way with this troop of drama bringers that is my family.

Anyway, I woke up nice and early this morning, you were in bed sound asleep as was Jaz and Zaire. But as soon as I started wiggling my way out from under the pile of limbs I managed to wake them both. Not you, you sleep like the dead! So off to the kitchens we went to make Elena her birthday breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, a mountain of fresh fruit, fresh whipped cream, and the absolute yummiest maple syrup to exist that we get from our friends still living in Canada.

Zaire babbled away, I have not heard him speak this much in total since I've met him. Something must have really clicked for him last night, because while he was still wary about the food, and startled a bit at some of the loud noises when I was cooking, he just kept talking. He mentioned all the different animals in last night's movie. He talked about how much he liked it when the singing came on, although he did say that it wasn't quite as good as his lullaby that you sing him. I typed out and deleted the sentence, "it's like he's a brand new kid". It doesn't feel right to say, I love who he is, and I didn't want him to be brand new. But it's like he's feeling comfortable enough to use his voice with us. I think letting him use the altered translation device was a fantastic idea.

Obviously, I think it's important that he eventually learn English as well as BSL so he can communicate with our entire family, but I have to keep in mind what Healer Rowe was saying. Right now we need to focus on him feeling safe and getting healthy. If we wait to really start with the language part when he's feeling comfortable here it will probably be so much easier.

While I cooked, Siri, Zwei, and Padfoot joined us in the kitchen. Those five demolished quite a bit of the breakfast while I cooked, and we just had a lovely little early morning visit in the kitchen. Finally I managed to have made enough food to feed the beasts sitting around the table as well as have a nice full plate for the birthday girl.

And that's when the poop hit the wind charm. I brought Elena's food to her room, let myself in, and was about to present her with breakfast in bed. Oh, but she looked odd with her head sticking out of the covers. When did she cut her hair? I just saw her yesterday! And she straightened it too? No!! She had a man in bed with her! There were two brunette heads sticking out of her covers. I squeaked in a very manly way, apologized profusely for not knocking, and dropped her food off on her little table in her room.

Now, I am obviously hiding in the bathroom writing this while the tub fills. You know, for the drowning.

Come get me in, oh I don't know, a year or two.

Mortified,  
Harry

 

Thursday October 22nd  
My silly little mutt,

After I had a quick word with Elena about how she *really* should have expected (based off of EVERY year prior to this) that you were going to go in and give her breakfast in bed, therefore, if she planned to have a guest, should have left a note or told her elf to tell you to wait until she was awake enough to send her guest home. She was a little embarrassed that she'd been a bit too preoccupied to remember that little detail, and so, sought you out in the bath and apologized.

Our day has been lovely so far. We've had a 'morning' of being Elena's minions as she directed us all in the parts she wants us to play for an act performed during the Halloween ritual. Mum just so happened to pop in around mid-afternoon - to let us know that the buffet late lunch/early dinner was ready when we got hungry - JUST as we were practicing the song to reveal your pregnancy.

I can't remember if we were going to do that tonight at Elena's party, or wait until the next circle dinner, but for at least one person, it's already too late. She quietly listened to our song - politely waiting to speak rather than interrupt us - and the moment she realized what exactly it was we were singing, burst out with a positively giddy squeal and rushed over to hug and kiss your cheeks about six times each.

We migrated to the dining room, where my mother promptly blurted out 'her' exciting news to my father. He sighed and gave her a few Galleons. It seems my mother is on a roll!

We all ate lightly since we knew that more people were going to be arriving for Elena's party as the day progressed, but we DID split a cake the perfect size for our 'little' family. One of the things we've had to perfect as the parents of a deaf child (not to mention learn and practice as caregivers for hundreds if not thousands of needy children over the years) is the ability to read every little clue the child gives, no matter how small.

Thus, when I noticed Zaire grimace and rub first his lower belly, and then itch his butt as subtly as possible, I was fairly certain that he had to go to the bathroom. This concerned me because ever since he arrived at Unity Africa, he's had a case of constipation. The caregivers say that part of it was probably extreme reluctance to perform an act that could hurt or remind him of previous hurt since they'd healed him. The other part was that he was so malnourished that his body probably assumed that it needed to hang on to every bit of nutrients it had.

BUT now that we've feed him up rather a lot, his constipation has not gotten better. I've dealt with this mainly by using gentle internal cleansing charms on him to vanish the waste whenever he follows me to the loo and watches as me and Jaz do our business. Today, I assumed that I'd have to pretend I needed to go to the loo so that I could subtly entice him to follow me, but the way he looked like he was in a lot of pain as he rubbed his tummy, I wondered if maybe there was something much worse going on.

So, I whispered in your ear that I suspected there might be a minor emergency that needed dealing with, but that I was going to check to make sure before worrying either of us. Then I informed Zaire that I was going to pick him up and carry him to the loo because I needed to go and figured he might like to try. He whimpered but didn't really protest. In the bathroom, I gently felt his tummy until I noticed that he had blood staining his pants - not a lot, but enough to spot through to his trousers.

So I didn't think about anything at all except Apparating him straight to see Rowe. She was not on duty but since I called her directly and explained the situation, she also Apparated to St. Mungo's and had us in her exam room in about a minute flat.

So, as it turns out, there's quite a bit of scar tissue in Zaire's colon and last part of his large intestine that it actively interferes with his ability to go as he should. I have inadvertently been helping his problem NOT get worse by using magic to clean him out before things got out of hand, but still, it's an all around bad situation that our Dear Healer can thankfully fix.

But scar tissue is tricky to heal, even with specialized magic spells. So she put him into a bit of a healing coma so that she could perform 'surgery' on him. It's expected to take a few hours, and I decided that I had to sit and calm down for a few minutes and try to explain this all as logically and understandably as possible. Not that you're going to get a chance to read it any time soon, because I'm about to sign off and go get you. We'll tell my parents and our support staff to keep an eye on all the others, but that both of us are definitely needed to do nothing but worry as we sit in the waiting room.

Love you so much it still sometimes hurts to think about, but at least I know I have you to lean on at times like this,  
Draco


	72. Chapter 72

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has a heavy heart at the hospital, but then Zaire is home from the hospital and his daddies are spending a quite and restful day in bed with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so, if you skipped the end of the last chapter to avoid triggers, here's what you need to know: Draco discovered that his newest son, Zaire, was having complications from past abuse, and rushed him to Healer Rowe. He had to have a bit of 'surgery' but is doing better at this point.

Saturday October 24th  
My Rock,

I have no idea what I would do without you. I would not have gotten through the last two days without you by my side. I barely got through them WITH you by my side. I would have been a useless basketcase if the solid, steady, anchor of your hand hadn't been in mine.

It's odd, I have often emailed you while you slept next to me. I usually think it's a bit funny. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but seeing as you sleep so soundly I have actually taken your hands and had you type a word or two in the email I'm sending to you! I know, absolutely immature and ridiculous, but it was a silly little secret just for me.

But sitting here typing to you, while you're asleep on my shoulder holding our equally asleep son's hand as he sleeps off his surgery in a bed in St Mungo's is probably the worst moment I've had to write about. I feel so powerless. I want to squeeze him so hard he can feel my hug in his sleep, but I also don't want to risk causing him the slightest moment of pain. I want to wake you up so you can reassure me that everything will be alright, while also wanting you to get some rest. You've just been so tired lately, you need every minute of sleep you can. And the same for Zaire, I want to wake him up and see his sweet hesitant smile, I want to bake him a million biscuits and make him a giant bowl of popcorn, I want to hear his little voice, but I need him to rest and heal and not have to feel any of the pains that can come with healing.

I want to go home and hug the rest of our children and assure them everything will be alright and their brother and dads will be home soon. But I don't want to leave his bedside for even a minute. I want the rest of our children to come here so I can see they're safe and whole, but will never let them come here and see their brother in such a state. I have so many conflicting emotions trying to outdo the others that they won't fit in my chest. I hurt. I hurt for this sweet boy who didn't deserve any of this. I hurt for every moment he's had to live under the weight of his abuse. I just hurt Draco.

I'm actually a bit thankful for this sadness and despair I am feeling. I know that sounds insane, but they are balancing out the white hot rage I am feeling. I think if all I was full of was the anger, I would have blown up half of St. Mungo's. I want to go back to Africa and find every single person our boy ever encountered and make sure they know what trauma they missed. I want to find any person who may have had a hint of what was being done and decided it wasn't their business, and let them know just exactly what wasn't their business. But mostly I want to go back in time to the day I killed the scum, remove Zaire from seeing anything, and then make sure his end was much worse than a quick AK. I want to figure out how to create inferi so I can reanimate him and kill him again. I want to find his body and desecrate it.

I suppose if I were truly to go back in time, I'd really like to get my son before he had to face any of the trauma he did. I want to take it all away. I want him to be healthy and safe and happy. I want his smile to stop being hesitant. I want him to know that even if someone took some of his popcorn, I will always be able to just make him a bit more. I need him to know that he is loved without bounds. That I will do everything in my power so that he never sees another millisecond of pain.

And I know this one is ridiculous, Lainie understands and probably didn't think anything of it except for concern, but we missed our daughter's birthday. If anyone would understand, it's our Lainie who wants to make it her life's mission to help all the Zaire's of the world, but I feel horrible for how her birthday turned out. To be honest, I don't think I will mention anything to her, except to offer to have a late party once we're all back home, because if I try to apologize for missing her birthday she will probably call me a moron.

And I don't know if it's the nerves and anxiety, or the morning sickness thinking this was a great time to really go all out, but I haven't kept down so much as a glass of water since we got to St. Mungo's. I think I should probably have Healer Rowe give me a once over. I'm probably dehydrated and I certainly feel awful. But I hate to make anything about me right now.

Oh! One of the mediwizards just came in, I am going to see if there are any updates on his condition.

Love you,  
Harry

 

Sunday October 25th  
My strength,

We've been given the all clear to bring our boy home. So, we're currently sitting in our bed with him as he rests. He's awake and aware that he's laying across our laps, but he's still lethargic from the healing coma. He's also more or less content to just watch as Jaz and Bear play by our feet.

For the time being, until Healer Rowe is certain that he's 100 percent fully healed up, he's on a sort of restricted diet. She wants him on mostly milk and nutritive potions without denying him anything he actually wants/asks to eat - simply not offering anything. Then when he does eat something, he needs to take a few drops of a potion that will prevent things from getting too bulky or solid.

To that end, she made a rather startling suggestion. She said that it might help Zaire feel safe and bond with us if he does something he may never have done in his life - breastfeed. Well obviously, we CAN'T do that, but we can use a device that mimics it. Basically, sort of like wearing a bra, but the bra has an artificial breast in it that we can fill with milk and let him nurse.

Basically, let him have a bit of the babyhood we all suspect he never had.

To that end, you are preparing the device - which we've spelled so that it has a never ending supply of milk (provided we don't run out in the actual containers in the kitchen) so he can drink as much as he wants. That said, he still has a habit of gorging himself until I suppose he feels nauseous, and then stopping until he feels better enough to gorge himself again, and so, this device will help us help him in that it will force him to drink slowly and recognize sooner when he's full.

Aww, that's actually so precious! You've got the device strapped on and ready to go, and now that we've explained what it is and demonstrated it, he's curled up in your arms, letting you snuggle him as he nurses from the artificial breast. I strangely can't wait until it's my turn!

I'm typing this email as I use the time we plan to spend in bed working on a few of the things I need to figure out. Such as tinkering with combining the Magitablets with the Insta-owl Mobile. But also, I'm basically destroying an entire packet of stationary as I try to create a spell to 'program' the paper to write down everything it hears.

I'm honestly surprised that no one has ever come up with this before. One would think that it would be a popular and in demand item if a paper could automatically record notes during a class or while working on a project or something. But unless it's been developed and kept an absolute secret from the rest of the world, the closest anyone has come is a quick quotes quill - which is fortunate for me as I DO have a couple of spells to start with, although they are apparently not quite right for what I am hoping for. But I'm confident I'll get there, it's just a matter of time - Ah!

It seems Jaz wanted something and none of us were paying quite enough attention to her to figure it out fast enough. She's just disappeared, but before we panic, I'll do a quick search of the Manor. Actually! Fuck, I'm an idiot sometimes! I should use her soft little hair brush and the strand or two of hair in it to cast a point me spell.

Oh... looks like she might have gone to see Amala again. I'm going to sign off, give you a kiss, and go supervise our fearless daughter.

Love you!  
Draco


	73. Chapter 73

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amala is rather striking, as far as cheetahs go.

Monday October 26th  
My Draco,

I just had a really great, and enlightening, talk with Sirius. Even though he and I talk often, we rarely talk about our shared past. He talks about my parents, and he has asked some questions about my childhood, but those few years we had together before I lost him is a time we rarely talk about. I don't know if we're both still a bit too fragile with our feelings about him coming back or what but we've definitely skirted around those ugly years during the war.

Earlier today I had to drag myself out of our rooms. I can't stop staring at our little boy, still so sleepy and wrapped up in our bed. I want him to know I'm there for him, but staring at him twenty-four/seven might have pushed my behavior over the line from supportive to creepy. And it's been so hard not to just run my hands over his hair, give him little hugs, and I have to let him get the rest he needs.

I made my way outside, we're having one of those lovely fall days that is beautifully sunny and feels a bit more like the chill that sets in at the end of summer than the almost winter day it is. Walked through our gardens which I haven't been able to do much with since we've been back. I can't wait for next spring so I can really get my hands in the dirt and reconnect with my favorite part of our home. That's where I found Sirius, just relaxing on a bench in the sun.

I know what you mean, even when he's in his human form he has such puppy traits. He was sitting there with his head cocked like he was listening for something and when he saw me his eyes lit up and I swear if he had a tail it would have been wagging.

"Am I intruding on your solitude Sirius? I know how hard it can be to find a quiet spot in our chaotic household."

He let out one of his barking laughs, "That it can, Haz. I wouldn't want it any other way though. This house is full of life."

"You'd better not let Hazel hear you calling me Haz, that's been her name her whole life, even if I had the nickname first she might fight me for it. And I don't think I'd win! It's why I don't call you Siri anymore, my little Siri would not allow such nonsense." Yeah, I am not ashamed to admit that I am intimidated by a nine and six-year-old.

"I'll work on it Harry" he conceded with a bit of a chuckle that made me think he may not work on it very hard, "I'm surprised you left Zaire's side, how's he doing?"

And that's when the floodgates let go. I have emailed you my feelings. We've talked in hushed whispers while watching our son sleep. It's not like I thought I'd really been bottling anything in, just trying to be calm in front of Zaire. "Oh Sirius, my little boy is hurting so much. We've only had him for such a short time and I already feel as though I'm failing him. I want to get him the moon and stars. I want to make it so that he never had to experience any of this trauma. I want to hurt anyone who had any hand in allowing the abuse he experienced. I want to scream and rage and sob to any gods that will listen that my son didn't deserve this!" I let it all out in a rush and ended on a choked sob, "but I have to be strong and brave for him. It's so hard."

And in the most serious voice I'd ever heard Sirius use, (ha! serious Sirius!) he said, "I know exactly how you feel."

I spun so quickly towards him, I am sure my eyes were flashing, and my magic was sparking. "How could you possibly have any idea what I'm going through?"

Sirius got the saddest look on his face I'd ever seen, and yes he looked just like a puppy, "Harry, how do you think I felt when I knew you had been abused at the hands of those muggles? How horrified I was when I realized you had known me for about a minute and were willing to move in with me? How much I wanted to murder the muggles, and Dumbledore for making you go back to them? I had to watch the person who meant the most to me in the world live under the weight of abuse and an entire war that had been put on his shoulders."

Oh. I think he really did know.

And then he just held me and let me cry for a while. When I calmed from the big gasping sobs to just some hiccupping sniffles he said something that is probably what I am going to hold onto when I think I can't take anymore, "Right now, the pain is fresh, the rage is hot, the powerlessness is all-encompassing, but you healed from years of abuse, from a lifetime of war, and you have a life anyone would dream of living. Some day, and I'd bet it will be sooner than you think, Zaire will be able to live his best life. He'll grow up in a home where he will never wonder if he is loved, he will never go hungry, he will never be lonely. You and Draco are giving that to him. Give yourself a break."

I felt so much lighter. Light enough to come back to the room and check on my boys.

And that's when I laughed for the first time in days. Zaire was still sleeping, and you were on the floor with Jaz, the both of you petting Amala. I think I know now why she is so attached to you. Amala I mean, not Jaz, because I heard exactly how my posh, aristocratic, snob of a husband talks to his pet cheetah: "Who's a pretty kitty? You are, aren't you? SUCH a pretty kitty …" You absolute sap!

Zaire seems to be shifting around, he'll probably be waking up any moment. So I am going to go strap into my boob harness.

It's a bit weird, but it does feel really nice to be that close with him. All snuggled up and wrapped in my arms, looking just like the baby he was never allowed to be.

Love,  
Harry

 

Tuesday October 27th  
Silly little mutt!

You must have been seeing and hearing things as I did NO such thing! I would never DARE to talk to a wild cheetah like that, psh! Calling her a pretty kitty... She is pretty though. I've always thought so. I'm not normally a fan of 'leopard' prints, but those spots on her are rather gorgeous. And her fur can be surprisingly soft. She does love to be stroked in long smooth lines.

And Bear has gotten more used to her. Bear DOESN'T yap excessively or run around with far too much energy around her, but rather, sort of sits and stares at her as if not quite sure what to do. Amala seems to understand that since I bring her food that is already dead - or kill it right in front of her - that she doesn't need to or perhaps even SHOULDN'T kill things like Bear - who I also hold and pet.

Besides, she's given Bear a look that made it clear that there wasn't enough meat on Bear's bones to be worth the effort, haha.

The Halloween ritual is right around the corner, and since Elena and her team are taking a more active role, me and my team are taking a less active one. Still, they're all here and we're all working together to make sure that it's seamless. More than anything, we want the ritual to be smooth and worthy of the standard we've set. So, we're naturally spending the rest of the day choreographing and practicing a few dance routines.

Come kiss me when you want to distract me a bit and see me all flushed and happy. Love you!

You are my light in the dark,  
Draco


	74. Chapter 74

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry helps Zaire play at the Manor Park.

Tuesday October 27th  
My Dragon,

I hope I gave you all the kisses and distractions you needed. It felt good to feel normal for a bit and not be endlessly focusing on burying myself under the pain and frustration of Z's circumstances.

He is very small for his age, unfortunately takes after his Daddy and for the same reason, hopefully we caught his malnutrition early enough that he won't be tiny forever. Even though he's tiny, he's not exactly wrap carrier size. At least not for extended periods of time. I wanted to visit with the other kids, I wanted them to see their brother is safe and ok, but I knew he didn't have the energy quite yet to run around. I was talking with Hermione yesterday via insta-owl about the upcoming interviews for her job replacement and when she asked about Zaire I mentioned that I wanted to get him out of bed but wasn't sure how. 

This morning, right after the two ritual crews showed up for practice, 'Mione stopped by to drop off a carrier built for bigger kids. She went out to a muggle store, it's a bit like I'm wearing him as a rucksack. She also cuddled up with him a bit before she left. Not so shocking, she was teary-eyed at his problems, but I think she hid it well from him. I hadn't heard him reference his looks compared to ours since that first day when he told us Jaz looked more like him than us, but sitting with 'Mione he was rubbing her arm and said, "Auntie looks like me too." He called her Auntie! It was so cute! 

After she took off, I locked Zaire in place, wrapped Jaz in the regular carrier, and we made our way out into the sunshine. It was another gorgeous fall/not fall day, I am going to soak in all this warmth and sunshine since it will be gone before I know it. I brought them to the park, where Siri, Zwei, and the almost triplets were already playing. They surrounded the three of us and started talking at us a mile a minute! Jaz as usual, zoned in on Siri and Zwei who were making sure to sign as they spoke. I was a bit worried that Z would be overwhelmed and panic, but he just listened quite patiently. I think he felt safe being able to watch them from the safety of his perch behind my back. 

Eventually everyone made their way back to the park, Eris bringing Jaz to the swings. I asked Zaire if he wanted to try and play or if he wanted to just sit with me and watch. He seemed to consider his options very carefully and eventually asked, not said, asked, "I play?" Of course little buddy! I didn't want him to overexert himself so I acted like a complete helicopter parent, I brought him to the swings and pushed him a bit, I carried him to the slide and would place him at the top and catch him at the bottom. I thought he might argue at my hovering, but he seemed content to allow me my overprotectiveness. And eventually even that little bit of play tired him out, and that's when I brought him over to the blanket where I rocked him to a nap. It was so awful (that he tired so easily), but that meant I spent two solid hours just holding him while he slept. My life is so hard!

When he woke up he asked for milk and a biscuit. I had made sure to have multiple types of biscuits in my pockets, so he had quite a few to pick from. He ended up having a chocolate covered macaroon and washed it down with a few drops of the softening potion and his snuggle milk. Since he's taken so well to this newest form of comfort, I wonder if Donna would be willing to attempt nursing him the next time she drops off a milk delivery and stays to nurse Jaz. Nah, this may be weird, and a few years ago would have been totally out of my comfort zone, but I am kind of ok with it falling almost solely to me (and you of course). 

And everything else we did today you already know about. I brought the entire crew to your practice, and it didn't take even a full minute before we had all been dragged into joining the dance. I suppose we are the perfect dress rehearsal for you all, different ages, different talent levels, all being drawn together to dance for the same ritual. You took Zaire, who seemed to take to the dancing like a duck to water, and danced him around the room. Leaving me to dance with Jaz. She was obviously not impressed with my dance moves, she kept looking at you as if to say "what am I supposed to do with this talentless man?" but was kind enough to finish out the dance we started!

I just put Zaire and Jaz down for a bit of a nap before dinner. They're still out so I am going to head to the kitchens and make sure everything is ready for our massive group. I'll see you soon!

Love you,  
Harry

P.S. I know what you mean about not liking leopard or cheetah print usually. I think it's just because we usually see it on terrible muggle clothing. Leopard and Cheetah spots look gorgeous when they're right where they belong, on the actual animal they belong to!

 

Wednesday October 28th  
My heart,

I'm quite looking forward to this ritual. It's naturally on a Saturday so we don't have to feel bad about keeping the kids up later than usual on say a Tuesday night, knowing that they have classes the next day. But also, just being able to see what Elena and her crew do for the class portion of it. It sounds like they've come up with a way to incorporate the concept of trick or treat by basically having volunteers or groups of volunteers decorate some of the classrooms so that students can go from room to room and interact with them for treats.

Since this is a bigger co-ritual, we've toned down our dance number, which allows for more student groups to put on performances if they want. It also means that we don't have to rehearse quite as much. Which was good for me as I feel liked I got tired a bit easier than previously. I hate to admit it, but maybe I'm getting old?

As for right now, it's nearing midnight and both Jaz and Zaire have been fed - as has Amala, and actually, Bear and Venus both decided to be opportunistic and take advantage of the fact that I was handing out food. Thus, they've been fed too, and then the animals were taken outside to do their business.

SO glad Remus and Romulus sleep with Siri and Zwei!

You can have the 2AM feeding and I'll take the 4 AM one. But as for right now, I'm going to very quietly make use of your mouth so I can fall right to sleep. Love you!

This tainted love you've given, I give you all a boy could give, take my tears and that's not nearly all, oh tainted love,  
Draco

Around 4:30 AM  
P.S. When I was nursing Zaire - thankful that Jaz seems to be content enough to sleep through this feeding - I received an Insta-owl requesting my help again. So, I tucked Zaire back into bed with you. I'll be gone when you wake up, but I'm leaving a note in addition to this addendum to my previous email. I don't know how long this'll take, but I'll send my adorable worrier updates via insta-owl if I can. Love you!


	75. Chapter 75

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco participates in a raid and a merry chase.

Thursday October 29th  
Oi!!

I’m trying to remain all calm, but I distinctly remember you promising to keep me updated with some insta-owls!

Frustratedly Yours,  
Harry

 

Thursday October 29th  
The one who keeps me sane,

So... This was a complete and utter mess!

But before you worry, I DON'T mean that I was in any real danger at any point. As far as raids go, this one was probably as safe as it gets. What took so long was a bit of a merry chase - but I'll get to that.

See, at first, all I got was an Insta-owl from Robards saying that he could really use my help and would I please call him at my earliest convenience. So - since I was awake and frankly curious - I called as Zaire was drifting that last little bit back to sleep. That's when Robards explained that there was a snafu. A rather big fuck up, actually.

Remember how you once explained to me that there's now a department in the Ministry that conducts well checks on all muggleborn witch/wizard children and others that seem to have iffy circumstances? Well, there's a Wizard who's worked in that department since the beginning who eventually decided that he could use the information he collects as a source of extra income for himself and a couple of partners in crime.

The scheme goes like this: Whenever they come across girls in the system that meet certain requirements such as a minimum age of 12 and parents who don't really give a damn about them OR do give a damn but are poor enough to need help. These men will contact the parents, explain that they're from the Ministry and are just checking up on the welfare of the girl, and then proceed to convince her parents that they have a really nice home she can stay in and get a good education. On the Ministry Galleon.

We were actually given the brochure to look over and if I didn't know better, I'd agree that it sounds like a good alternative to a struggling family keeping their child. They'd already been told their child was special and would be invited to go to boarding school anyway, so why not send her to this one instead? The first grey area or red flag is that they will actually take the girls if they're going to be 11 by September 1st - same as with Hogwarts. It's not a flag to the parents as they're mostly muggles and have no idea that there's a difference between Hogwarts and "Miss Charlotte's School for Domestic Witches." It's supposed to be a sort of charm school that teaches their charges to become independent women in charge of their lives.

And to their credit, I suppose they DO educate the girls and intend to help them get basic jobs in the Wizarding World when they grow up.

You're probably wondering when I'll get to the point, and also, probably already see the point I'm headed toward. So I'll just state it bluntly.

This wizard - Charles Bardon - has collected around 2 dozen girls over the past five years or so so that he can use them as incubators for magical babies. He makes quite a bit of money adopting those babies out to Witches and Wizards who are adamant that they want babies - which has always been sort of rare at Unity House. He also has rather flexible standards for the adoptive parents, allowing those who probably wouldn't pass official Ministry checks or Psychological evaluations through his relaxed guidelines. And since money is his main goal, he will also accept prospective parents who cannot necessarily afford to put up a large amount of money at once so long as they enter a magically binding contract to make payments over the entire first 18 years of the child's life.

So, to sum this up in a different way - in case I've rambled or made this unclear - Bardon finds girls using information gathered via his job at the Ministry (which in and of itself is a crime he's definitely going to be punished for), goes out and makes a compelling case for the girls' parents to release them into his care. In a permanent way. They often get paid for the girl and agree to terminate their rights to see her or take her back. She's brought to "Miss Charlotte's School for Domestic Witches” and given a basic education.

As I understand it, this is part of the principle of keeping the girls occupied and happy. And since there's only two men working there other than Bardon, the girls each have their own computers and are allowed to learn any subject they want online. And because they're mostly muggleborn with no one to check to be certain they are learning proper magic, their magical training is actually the absolute minimum necessary to help them control their powers and not have bouts of accidental magic - but I'd be surprised if any of them learn more than first year magic - not even those that have been there all five years.

Once Bardon has these girls and they turn 12 and start menstruating (which apparently he has a potion to help bring it on if they don't do it naturally in the first two or three months after their birthdays), he artificially inseminates them using samples from himself and his partners. This part makes me sigh in relief that he's not raping them and impregnating them directly. Nope. At first, he tells the young girl that she needs to have important health checks to ensure that nothing is wrong now that she's menstruating. During the health check performed by one of his partners - who has Mediwizard training but never graduated - a sample that's been prepared and is in a syringe is inserted into her vagina and she's given a potion to help ensure that it takes.

Ironically enough, there was a younger Auror on the raid team that asked why none of the young witches protest a man sticking anything inside them during a basic health exam, and whether they do or not is not the point, the point is that I couldn't help but give him a funny look. He gave me a funny look in return.

"It may not be standard at the onset of menstruation, but I have daughters, so I can tell you that they do have things inserted in them at times during basic exams. They probably don't even think to question this," I explained.

Ginger nodded. "It typically waits until they're sexually active, but if there're frequent infections or anything of concern, a Healer may take a peek just to be sure that nothing's going wrong."

The Auror - which I just realized that I forgot to specify but is probably obvious at this point as male - looked utterly horrified by this prospect.

From that point on, the girl carries on as normal. When she figures out that she is pregnant, it's explained to her that she's bound by a magical contract to carry and give up the baby for adoption. I suppose that there must also be some form of brainwashing involved, making the girls accept this with a minimum of fuss. This particular part is still fuzzy and the Aurors are trying to figure it out.

Once the baby is born, it's given up for adoption - usually already arranged before birth as prospective parents will have been informed of its pending arrival and allowed to prepare. Some are even given visitation with it during check-ups performed by the Mediwizard. You've said it yourself that the newborns never last long before being adopted.

After giving birth, the girl is allowed to 'rest' for a couple of months, but then she's inseminated again.

As I said, the whole thing is a mess, but not because the raid itself was complicated, but because it involves a Ministry official and some rather egregious and embarrassing breaches of ethics and professionalism.

So, after several hours of being briefed and going over the plan - not to mention gearing up (which is required even though everyone was certain there was minimal danger involved) - we were ready to go raid Miss Charlotte's. Also in case it wasn't obvious, there is no actual Charlotte. It's an alias that Charles Barden came up with to make the place sound more trustworthy.

Robards has had to keep this entire operation extremely secret because if *anyone* had so much as whispered a word of it to a friend, it could have so easily gotten back to Barden and given him time to go into hiding - or perhaps add to the wards so that we couldn't find the place. As it was, they had to be very clever to find the place. They basically cast a spying spell in Barden's office and when he made note that a particular girl would make a good addition to his little school, they got to her first and cast protection and tracking spells on her so that when she arrived at the place, they would be able to find it and gain access to it.

And that's how I found myself called in to participate in a raid that they've been trying to plan for months. We Apparated to the designated coordinates, waited for the ward specialists to cast wards to prevent escape and protect everyone - especially the girls - as much as possible before bringing down the existing wards keeping us out.

When given the green sparks, we swarmed the place, doing as trained by using simple spells to put the girls to sleep and incarcerate the Wizards in charge. We got both partners, but there was a muggle style alarm we didn't know about that went off silently. It alerted Barden to our presence and he managed to use an honest to Merlin escape tunnel to bypass the anti-escape wards and leave the place.

I hope you will be relieved to know that our first priority was to ensure that all the girls were safe and accounted for. They were given real health checks by real Healers, and once cleared, sent to Unity House. Seeing as how there were 26 of them, you may have actually been called in by Tabitha to help out. I assume that it's definitely an all hands on deck situation, which means that Elena and some of our other kids might be there helping out as well.

The good news is that no one was mistreated nor traumatized, so it should be a relatively smooth transition.

Which brings me back to my merry chase. Barden was stupid in that he left a few things we could use to cast point me spells on. Well, as you know, a point me spell isn't able to give us specific coordinates but rather a general direction. So we came up with a search grid, each Apparating to various points on the grid and calling out where our spells pointed. And by that, I mean communicated via Insta-owl.

This is SO not the time to pat myself on the back, but I must admit that I'm rather proud of the fact that the Insta-owl Mobiles and the Magitablets are so useful that almost everyone in the world has one at this point, and that they are actually required gear for the Aurors. I'm not sure if I've remembered to tell you this, but our muggle hybrid tech company makes enough income all on its own that we never have to worry about going bankrupt.

But back to the important part. Surprisingly, using this technique, we were able to triangulate Barden's position and close in. Unfortunately, he had a foe-glass or something because every time we'd get near him, he'd Apparate away. We went back to our grid, but then I had to Apparate back to the command tent and basically help with the triangulation because Robards was being called in to report to Kingsley. I'm not complaining as it gave me a chance to rest and catch my breath. I was actually panting a little and - probably because I hadn't gotten my usual amount of sleep - found it just a bit hard to breathe. Plus I was so exhausted that my bones literally felt achy.

You'll probably be happy to hear this next bit. The repeated triangulation worked, keeping the raid team on Barden's arse until he ran out of magical energy and had to resort to running away on foot. He also had a muggle gun on hand because he was determined to NOT be caught. I suspect he probably had a chance to look up exactly what laws he was breaking over the years and knew what his punishment would be if caught.

Thanks to Hannah and Auror cooperation on muggle cases from time to time, everyone is equipped with those protective vests, but the reason you might be relieved is that I was still in the command tent for this bit. The raid team managed to overtake him and catch him with stunning spells, and so, despite his best efforts to get away or die trying, Charles Barden has been arrested and will face trial/punishment for what he's done.

I was required to go back to the Ministry to ungear, debrief, and write up an official report. I also took the opportunity to write it down in this email so that I could send you as accurate a report as I could while it's still fresh in my mind, but honestly, my mind is a bit foggy and I'm having a little trouble concentrating, so I may have missed some information, or it may not make sense.

Hopefully I'll be able to go straight home and crawl into bed to sleep until tomorrow afternoon, haha! But since I'm that nearly blurry eyed exhausted, I'm going to do the responsible thing and call for Muffy to Apparate me home and put me to bed. Love you!

You took the words right out of my mouth, it must have been while you were kissing me,  
Draco


	76. Chapter 76

Friday October 30th  
My love,

What day is it? What time is it? I have no idea. I am so exhausted I can't think straight (haha, straight!) Ok according to this clock, it's Friday October 30, and it's 6:00 in the morning.

I had a chance to peek at your emails but had absolutely no time until just now to reply (aside from the quick demand for an update). I am assuming and hoping you're at home. As you are probably well aware, I am not. You were right about one thing, I was definitely called to the all hands on deck situation here at Unity. The part you were wrong about was the smooth transition because they weren't traumatized. It has been an absolute nightmare. We are used to traumatized children, we are less used to brainwashed children.

We actually had to keep the new Kids separate from our current Kids because they were saying things like, "that's what we're for, to make magical babies" and "I'd already had three babies by the time I was sixteen, how many have you had?"

I was woken up yesterday morning to Tabitha's message asking me and any of our kids that are big enough to help to come to Unity. None of the girls had shown up at that point, but we knew it was coming. When I brought it up to our children, Elena, River, Viona, and the almost triplets were adamant that they wanted to come help. Siri and Zwei were willing, but I actually talked them into staying with your parents for the day. None of the Kids coming were younger so their special brand of "play with the traumatized Kids" wasn't needed. Jaz was obviously going to stay with your parents. And that left Zaire.

After shaking off the sleepy grogginess I realized you weren't home, glanced at my email and realized you were gone, and then had a bit of a panic thinking about if I could actually go help. Zaire is warming up to your parents, but he still doesn't want to be without you or I. I did not want to have another episode where he thought we were abandoning him. But I definitely knew I would be needed at Unity. Well thank Merlin for the rucksack carrier Hermione got me. I smooched the three littles that were staying home, strapped Z to my back, and our crew was off to get Unity ready for the influx.

The really good news is that Zaire was feeling so much better yesterday. He managed to play at the Park for a half an hour completely on his own power before getting worn out. Then after a rest and some food and a bit of time being carted around on my back, he went and played for another forty-five minutes. I cried so hard, he's finally getting back to being himself after his surgery. Although after that playtime, I strapped him back in to the carrier and he fell asleep hard! Within five minutes of carrying him I felt something wet on my neck, he had fallen asleep already and was drooling on me. Good thing he's so darn cute!

The earliest parts of yesterday were really just prep-work. Putting fresh linens on beds, making sure we were well stocked on toiletries, making sure we had extra food prepared for the upcoming meals, you know the basics. But the hours after they arrived were a whirlwind of insanity. By the time we realized what we were dealing with, it was less "all hands on deck" and more "all mind healers on deck." Then we were reorganizing bedrooms to room the new Kids together in a similar fashion as they were roomed where they had been. And then contacting the ministry to start digging through their records to find their original families.

And that's a whole other issue. Some of these parents were tricked into letting them go, whether it was because of money or because they thought this school would be best for their child. But some of them were crappy parents who couldn't have cared less what happened to these girls. How do we decide which is which? We can't keep someone's child from them if they were legitimately duped into signing away their rights. But how are we going to tell the difference?

It was such a long and late night that I just ended up crashing here at Unity. I had put Zaire to bed, and when I was finally finished, my options were wake him up and go home or just crawl into bed with him. Hopefully you weren't too panicked when we weren't in bed when Muffy brought you back last night. If I know you as well as I think I know you, you had a moment of "huh, where's Harry?" and then promptly passed out.

I'm so relieved you're safe. I am certainly pleased that you were not involved in the chasing the madman with a gun portion of the events. But mostly I'm so thankful you were honest with me. You know that I don't like how involved you've been with the Auror department. I may end up temper raging on Kings and Robards very soon. But I do recognize that it's your choice. I may not agree with it, but I am sure I make decisions you don't agree with either. I can't tell you enough how much better I feel during this situation, knowing that you've been up front and telling me what's happening.

I'm going to let Zaire play at the Park for a little bit before we head home. I wouldn't be surprised if we get home and crash into bed for a nap before you even wake up for the first time! We'll see you soon.

Love and Miss you,  
Harry

 

Saturday October 31st  
Dearest Harry,

I feel terrible! And by that I mean that I feel terrible that I'm MISSING the Halloween ritual! This may well be the first time I've missed a ritual since I started teaching them. But I can't help it since I'm so exhausted that I just literally cannot stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time. I must have really overdone it with my Apparating all over creation on Thursday.

I've got Zaire with me, watching TV and snacking here and there on a variety of fruit, plus drinking from an endless cup of milk. He and Amala seem to be best mates now as he is laying on her a bit like a pillow as he watches TV, and she mostly ignores him as she chews on the carcass of the chicken I fed her.

Muffy is keeping a sharp eye on both of them.

Meanwhile, I keep falling asleep and waking back up a few hours later feeling like I'm very thirsty. So I drink as much of an endless cup of milk as I can, chat with Zaire and Amala for a bit, wonder how you and the rest of our brood are doing at the Ritual, get a bit depressed that I don't get to see the funny looks on Padfoot's face as he watches something that is firmly established at this point but didn't exist at all when he was in school, and then fall back asleep again.

The weird thing is that I keep dreaming about this little girl. She's about the same age as Siri and Zwei, has long blonde hair and green eyes, and seems to be running joyously all around a meadow. I'm really hoping that this girl is simply lost and using a bit of magical help to call out to me. I would HATE for this girl to be kidnapped or even dead already and suddenly sending me dreams of what happened because it's Halloween and the veil between the worlds is thin enough to allow for easier communication.

Even stranger, in the dream, I'm a child about her age. She takes my hand and pulls me along as she runs. And then I realize that we're both being chased by a child that looks a lot like you - as I imagine you would look at around age five. Actually, very similar to how Hazel looked right before she confessed to being a girl and started dressing appropriately. Similar to Zwei. Hmm...

WHY am I dreaming that the two of us are running through a meadow with a little girl I've never seen before? Is she perhaps one of my ancestors? I sincerely hope not as that could imply that we're soon to be spending a lot of time with my ancestors. Now I'm spooked!

And oh so sleepy again. I'm signing off now.

Love you...  
Draco...


	77. Chapter 77

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is concerned and insists that Draco see Healer Rowe.

Saturday October 31st  
Draco Lucius Malfoy!

Your health is too important to play around with. I’ve been assuming you’re just exhausted from the drama that is our life, but I think it’s gone beyond that. I already called Rowe and she’s expecting us as soon as I can get you.

I’ll pop home and Apparate us to St Mungo’s. I assume we’ll bring Zaire as well, might as well have her check on his recovery while we’re there anyway.

Hopefully we’ll have enough time while we’re together to talk about this prophetic dream of yours! Usually your prophecy dreams are scary, this sounds lovely. I’ve always wanted a little girl with a mile of your platinum hair, maybe you’re dreaming of my bun!

See you in a minute,  
Harry

 

Sunday November 1st  
You...

You...

You WONDERFUL devious man you!

I'm in so much shock and awe right now! I...

I'm glad I'm typing because I don't think I can speak!

So, apparently you felt a little guilty and or sympathetic - or possibly just in a generous mood - that day I had you and Luna punish me oh so violently, so you decided to try to give me what I wanted and slipped me a fertility potion.

And now I'm... I'm...

*faints and accidentally hits the send button when his head hits the computer*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now I've caught up with the plot point I wanted to, so I'll go back to twice a day instead of up to four that I have been :-)


	78. Chapter 78

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry explains what happened at Rowe's office.

Sunday November 1st  
My pregnant Love,

I have seven million emotions right now and not enough brain capacity to process them all. No jokes about me being a moron or a dumb mutt you hear me!

I have been so stressed about your health for days. And stressed about you putting yourself into danger. I have just been so worried about you. I tried to remain as calm as possible, it helped that there were a lot of other things to focus on at the time, but it took everything in my power to not drag you to Healer Rowe's days ago. With this new information I'm wishing I had. You were putting multiple lives at risk when you went on that raid! I told you just yesterday that I was not going to put my foot down and tell you not to help. Well, I am putting my foot down and saying none of my babies are going on any more raids, do with that what you will.

I am very sorry I didn't tell you that I slipped you a fertility potion. I was going to keep it a secret until I noticed symptoms, similar to what you thought when you slipped me mine. But besides the exhaustion you didn't have any. I was vomiting, when I can keep things down I am eating for what feels like at least fifty, I have been obnoxiously horny. But you've just been tired. We went on a safari, a cruise, we adopted a child, we dueled his biological father, I killed his biological father, we flew home, you've practiced for your ritual, you've joined a raid and apparated all over the place … the exhaustion certainly didn't seem out of the ordinary.

The reason I didn't confess to my spiking when you confessed to yours is because I remember quite clearly how horrible it was for you when you thought you had gotten pregnant at the same time I did with Ori and found out you hadn't. If it didn't work, I didn't see any reason to tell you an attempt had failed. I'm sorry for keeping it from you. I suppose if you had known that this was a possibility you might have had an "aha!" moment when your exhaustion started really worrying you.

It's a good thing all of your apparating the other day just gave you a few days of exhaustion. I can't imagine how hard things would be for you if you were on severe magical restriction like you were with Eri. That was a nightmare. It's a good thing, but I can't imagine just how much crystal you needed to smash then to use up more magic than that many apparition jumps. Hmmm. I'm telling Muffy to board up the crystal room for the foreseeable future.

You're sleeping off your faint so when you wake up I have even more fun news for you. To recap:

We went to Healer Rowe's to check on you. But Zaire got really defiant when he saw Rowe point her wand at you. Poor little sweetheart, he will growl and throw himself in front of people to protect someone he loves, but he's so willing to take what people dish at him. Ugh, I want to murder that man all over again. I would do such terrible things ... I'm getting sidetracked again, sorry, focus Harry!

Anyway, Rowe decided to check out Zaire first. And he's doing wonderfully. She wants to keep up with an offered liquid diet while allowing any solids he requests for another few days, but is hopeful that within the week he should be completely healed and recovered, ready to eat any and everything we can throw at him. And oh I will throw! She was so good with him, she even managed to make him giggle a bit! I haven't heard it much, but doesn't he have the sweetest little laughs?

You were so groggy that Z was well aware something was wrong, and he wasn't willing to take the chance that she'd hurt you. He gave her a very serious face, pointed to me, and said "Daddy first!" He called me Daddy! Draco, he hadn't done that before. I mean, I know how attached to me he is. I think he's finally understanding that I love him. But up until this point he hasn't called me anything. So now Rowe is amused at our drama, Zaire is impatient, you're half asleep, and I'm crying. It's like the beginning of a terrible joke! When I nodded at her, she shot the spell at me that she knew would light up! And light up it did! My abdomen glowed that beautiful golden light that lets anyone watching know that I am pregnant.

Rowe and I were so focused on pointing out the glow and what it meant to Zaire that it took us both a moment to realize you were glowing as well. You must have been just out of it enough that it didn't quite register because you just looked confused until Zaire announced "More baby!" Once I am 100% sure you're not going to murder me for spiking your drink and then not telling you, I am going to put this moment in the pensieve for you. Your eyes bugged out of your head. Then they narrowed into little slits. You yelped, "Huh, what?!?"

I stammered out a "the day after Luna visited us I dosed you, I can't believe it took!” And then you got the biggest grin on your face before apparently getting a second wind and darting out the door.

We all set out after you, but we didn't realize you had only gone into the exam room right next door to her office. By the time we found you, you had somehow accidentally knocked yourself out and were laying quite oddly on the exam table. We decided to let Rowe perform a full scan on you to check you hadn't injured yourself (nope, just a little bump to the noggin combined with being so tired) and once we knew you were just getting some well needed rest, she decided to check up on you and the little one you're carrying.

And that's the fun surprise information that even you don't know yet. You aren't carrying a baby … you're carrying two! Twins Draco! Can you believe it? I'm not sure how it happened, it's almost impossible for twins to occur naturally in male pregnancies. I was so worried about possibly overdosing you or hurting you that I KNOW I only gave you one dose. The craziest things happen to us!

Anyway, the babies are healthy and growing exactly as they should. We're only due two days apart! We're going to end up with another set of almost triplets! Yes, triplets, I had her double check me as well, my bun is doing just well, and is completely alone in there!

Oh Merlin Draco! Your dream! It's our three newest! I'll get that girl with a mile of blonde locks and two more! One more Harry clone and whatever "you" looked like in your dream. Maybe it meant nothing and they won't look anything like that. But you know how much stock I put in these pregnancy dreams.

In nine months we are going to have three babies. Three babies, and two toddlers. Three babies, and two toddlers, and seven school aged children. Three babies, and two toddlers, and seven school aged children, and one adult child. That's thirteen. Thirteen children! Oh hell, I need to sit down.

Dizzily and overwhelmedly yours,  
Harry and the bun

 

Sunday November 1st  
MILK! …

Must. Have. Miiiiiilllllllk…

Thank Salazar for Muffy and endless cups!

Alright, now that I'm feeling a little bit better, TWINS?!?!?!?!

I... I don't just have ONE in there? I've got two?!

Merlin's tumorous gut! I'm going to be HUGE!!! I'm going to be bigger than an elephant or a whale! NO! THE MANOR!!! My stomach is never going to be the same again!!! I'm going to be hideous and you're never going to want me again!!!

Fuck, despite my best attempt at a stern voice, Muffy seems to be under the impression that I am distressed or emotional because she's just popped off to go get you, but I don't want you anywhere near me when my face is all messy like this. Maybe I can just hide under a pillow.

Oh!!! You popped into the room and you have a concerned but horny look in your eye. I'm going to just hit send and insist that you molest me, now, while you still want me.

Love,  
Draco


	79. Chapter 79

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Narcissa plays a prank on Sirius.

Sunday November 1st  
You are really the most ridiculous man to ever exist. Molest you while I still want you? I think I should bring you back to Healer Rowe, she must have missed something, she said your head was fine, but you obviously knocked something loose when you crashed into your computer!

Read this, read it over and over again if you have to, read it and take it in: I will always want you, I will always find you attractive, I will always need and worship your body in any shape it is in. I've seen you pregnant twice. You were smaller during each of your pregnancies than I was during mine. Did you want me less when I couldn't see my feet? One of the wonderful things about finally having some self esteem is knowing that you found me attractive even when I felt like I had my own gravitational pull. I promise you that I will want you no matter how large my children cause you to become.

My children. Your body is growing and nourishing and keeping safe my children. You took my seed into your body and are creating life. How can that be anything less than an amazing miracle? How can I not want to get.with.that? Too far? I made it weird didn't I? What I am trying to say is, without sounding like an absolute freak, knowing you love me enough to want to carry my children is just about the hottest thing I can think of. It takes all of my self control to let you out of my bed when you're pregnant.

Also, I have a new side effect that I've not had before during one of my pregnancies; over the top horniness. I could literally sit on your cock all day long. Try me, I dare you. I will do it.

Mmm, like I just did it earlier. You were all cute and flushed. And fucking fit. You quickly closed the computer when I walked in, I wasn't sure at the time what you had been doing, you could have been wanking to porn for all I knew but I obviously am aware now that you were writing to me. You were thinking about me and our babies and getting all emotional. Merlin, I could not love you any more if I tried. I am at max levels I'm telling you. There's no way anyone could love another human being more than I love you, they would explode. I set your computer to the side, banished our clothes … somewhere, threw some quick prep spells at myself, and impaled myself onto you.

I really did think about casting some denial spells and making things last forever. But I was too impatient and didn't want to hold back. It was truly a quickie in every sense of the word. But I will make it up to you later. After all of the kids are asleep I am going to drag you to the playroom and do a replay of earlier but in slow motion. Hope you're ready for that!

After that, you are going to sleep though! You need to rest up, and Healer Rowe prescribed you some magic boosters. You're not dangerously low or anything where you need to be on magic restriction, but you've needed them at some point with both of your other pregnancies so she's hoping that having you on a small dose before an issue arises might keep it from arising at all.

We have a few things planned in the upcoming weeks, but nothing so big that you shouldn't be able to get all of the rest your body so desperately needs. And plenty of time to drink all the milk it so desperately wants either!

I'm going to be helping Hermione interview for her replacement, I know you had offered previously to help too. If you're feeling up to it, you are definitely wanted, but we can make do without you if you think you need more time.

The triad is planning on having everything done and be ready to move right after the new year. So we have two months to plan a massive going away party for them!

Other than that, we can just spend time together. Get Zaire some mind healing now that his body is on the right track. Get you back on regular sessions with Yesenia so you can deal with whatever is in your head that's telling you I won't find you attractive. Really catch up with the older kids who've been so good about not getting much attention while we've been so focused on Z. And I know we have Saoirse to teach the kids, but Siri and Zwei both expressed interest in going to class with some of their Unity friends, so I was wondering if we should put them in the half day classes for a little while to see how they might like a traditional school setting. What do you think?

Hold up, Muffy just popped in, I hope you aren't having another freak out.

Merlin Draco! I just found out how you got a buy one get one free deal on your uterus.

Muffy popped in because she wanted me to give her permission to punish herself. I of course told her that was not happening, but asked her why.

"Muffy was only doing what Master Draco was wanting, but now Master Draco is upset. Muffy didn't mean to hurt him, I would never hurt my Master Draco. I needs to punish myself, but Master Draco is not allowing that. But if Master Harry orders Muffy, then I could."

"Whoa, slow down Muffy, what did you do and why do you think Draco is upset about it?" I tried to talk as softly as I could, even though I wanted to just start yelling and make her tell me what she did and make her promise to never punish herself ever.

"When Master Draco ordered me to put the potion in Master Harry's drink, Muffy heard him say 'I wish I could take this potion' so Muffy just answered his wish. I put one potion in Master Harry's coffee and one in Master Draco's tea." Tears were just pouring out of her big, sad eyes, "Muffy didn't know Master Harry had already given one to Master Draco. And now Master Draco won't even look at his Muffy, he just hides under his pillow."

Don't worry, I calmed her down and let her know in absolutely no uncertain terms that we are thrilled to pieces that you are pregnant with twins (even if you still need to roll it around in your brain a while, we are a united front telling Muffy you're thrilled!) and that she is a wonderful elf, and a beloved member of our family, and we couldn't do this without her. I think she's better, although she did cry when I called her our family, but those seemed more like happy tears than the earlier terrified tears.

So that's that mystery solved. You did get a double dose, one from me and one from Muffy.

But my libido is back and I don't think it wants to wait until tonight, I think I'm going to go find you and drag you to the nearest cupboard and have you thoroughly violate me.

Yours,  
Harry

 

Sunday November 1st  
My joy,

Mmm... Is there any man better than you?

Nope! Don't even try to tell me there is because I won't believe it.

In the last ten years, every time I've felt emotional and/or vulnerable, you've done exactly what I needed: Give me a little space to process it, and then come find me - sometimes just to sit there in silence until I feel like I can talk about whatever it is that's upsetting me. And if that doesn't work for any reason, you simply shag me until I forget what I was dwelling on.

And without fail, you make sure to tell me what I need to hear in an email so that I can process that on my own too. MERLIN! I love you so much that it takes my breath away!

Especially when you pop into the room, take my hand in yours, give me a small smile, and lead me to our playroom. MMM! We'd already had sex once today, and while that certainly doesn't mean we can't or won't have it again, we usually wait until bedtime so that we can go to sleep afterwards.

This was still the middle of the afternoon!

With infinite tenderness, you kissed my naked body - I hadn't even bothered to get dressed after earlier. From my lips to my neck to my chest and nipples. You kissed me about a hundred times before you even felt an urge to move on. Then you kissed a path down to my abdomen and kissed my belly at least a million times, whispering: "I love you, I love you, I love you SO much!" after every tenth or twelfth kiss.

I moaned and went weak in the knees, prompting you to help me sit on the bed and get comfortable. Then you worked a little of my favorite blend of oil onto my shaft to make completely sure that it was hard and ready to go. I'd have died of shock if it wasn't by that point!

Then, using my fingers to probe your tight ring of muscles, you proved to us both that you were still more or less prepared from our earlier shagging. I tried my best to massage your prostate and stimulate a quick orgasm, but you had other plans. Shifting, you seated yourself on my eager shaft once more, and then set about riding me with a slow and steady pace that brought me close to the edge and kept me there for a long time without the need for any sort of denial spell.

And that's how we spent a lazy afternoon reconnecting and reassuring each other that we're still every bit as much in love as we were when we first got together and impulsively decided to just get married and be done with it. I have to admit that my favorite part might just be when - barely a few minutes after I'd pumped you full and was holding you close as I drifted off - the evidence of your release cooling on my chest - we had an unexpected visitor.

"Harry? Are you up here? Narcissa sent me to see if either of you planned to come to dinner - OH! Sorry! She didn't tell me that - Sweet Merlin! Is this ANOTHER playroom?! She knows this, doesn't she? And she sent me up here to fetch you to dinner hoping that I'd be mortified and Apparate back to the cottage!"

I laughed even as you had your face buried in my neck. "Sirius! Calm down, my mother doesn't want you to skip dinner, she simply wants to have a good laugh over this."

You suddenly laughed and turned to grin at him. "Beware if she starts serving you a LOT of delicious alcohol when you are just having a chat with her and Lulu! She positively LOVES to get me and him drunk together and see what goofy shite we get up to!"

"Which is how you ended up inviting them to the Torture Garden with us!" I exclaimed, still unable to believe this had happened.

"Ooo! Ooo! When is the next party?! I would love to go again - before we start showing," you burst out excitedly. "Maybe since I can't play quite so hard, we can explore some of the OTHER kinks. Or! Or! We can do that thing I've talked about where I'm all tied up in a harness and subby at your feet, just holding your gorgeous shaft in my mouth!"

"And I can lay you out on a table and tease every part of your body for an avid audience to leer at. Maybe I can get a good dozen or two hands in on the fun, caressing your arse and pinching your nipples, mmm..."

"Fuck I love you!" You announced, putting a hand on the back of my neck and kissing me.

"I love you more!" I vowed, caressing your firm and shapely arse.

"I clearly need to leave the room!" Sirius blurted out, reminding us that he had been there the entire time. "As I was saying, dinner's ready - if you're more hungry than horny, that is." After that, he turned and walked back down the stairs to our suite.

While I am a bit hungry, I'm far more sleepy, so I think I'll just drink an ocean of milk and go to bed. Hopefully I'll be rested enough tomorrow that a good boosting potion or two will perk me right up and I can finish my tinkering. If so, I'll go visit Theo and make his day.

As I lay me down to sleep, yes I pray, that you will hold me dear, though I'm far away, I'll whisper your name, into the sky, and I will wake up happy,  
Draco


	80. Chapter 80

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zaire spills the news.

Sunday November 1st  
Hey you beautiful man,

I'm currently all snuggled up in bed, while three pieces of my heart are sound asleep with me. I'm not quite sleepy enough to fall asleep, so you know the drill, email it is.

Your mother is a deviant! After I left you to sleep I decided to take a quick shower before heading into dinner. I knew it meant I would probably be starting when everyone was finishing, but I was so sweaty and sticky and I am sure just reeking of sex that I felt a cleaning charm was not going to cut it. I tried to rush, but if dinner had already started I was very late showing up to the dining room. Ha! They hadn't even started! Narcissa was absolutely messing with Sirius. She knew we had a while to make it downstairs and she still sent him up to the playroom.

I gave everyone your apologies for not joining us. Just let them know you were tired and choosing rest over food. That definitely caused Sirius to go beet red, since he assumed I had just shagged you senseless and not knowing the real reason for your exhaustion. We hadn't spoken to anyone since we got back from the Healer's so unless you were shooting your news into your insta-owls, no one knew yet that you were pregnant. Well, I certainly wasn't going to give your news without you here so I just let them think what they wanted to think.

But we didn't factor Zaire into our plans. Partway through dinner I noticed he was hoarding food into a napkin. I hadn't noticed this before and it really worried me. Is he still wondering where his next meal will come from? Does he not trust us to feed him. I thought he was feeling much more secure. I tried to be very quiet about it but I asked him "Why are you tucking your apples into your napkin Love? I can get you more if you're still hungry."

"For Daddy's babies." Aw, that was so sweet, he was trying to feed his little brother or sister. I gently took them from him and decided to take a few bites so he could see I appreciated it and was going to give them to the baby.

And that's when he shouted, "No! That baby has food," pointing to my plate, "this for other Daddy's babies!"

That's the story of how your son spilled your news to the entire family without you even here. I'd tell you I'm sorry but you know I'm not. I wish you had been there for the reveal, but it was just the sweetest thing. He was so concerned about you not eating. And he called you Daddy too! I don't know if you'd heard him do that yet, but if it's as new for you as it was for me, I assume you're going to sob your eyes out when you see this memory.

I admitted, "Yes, Draco is pregnant as well. We just found out today. It's why he's been so tired. Everything's fine, everyone's healthy, he's just getting some much needed rest." If you notice, Z did say babies, but all I said was pregnant and glossed over how many babies there are. So you can still have a fun reveal where you tell everyone they're twins.

I know it's much much much too early to really start discussing names, but you know me, I'm going to anyway. I really love the name Caelum for a boy. I kind of like Vega or Nova for a girl. I know we don't know who's carrying what genders but if you're carrying two boys it might be sweet to name them Castor and Pollux. I like Elara. Eeek, this is so exciting. I love this phase, where we know new people are coming and we get to spend these months wondering and guessing who they will be.

After dinner, Sirius took the four smallest outside to run around with the animals. Yes, even Zaire. I was a bit surprised that he was ok leaving me, but I think after seeing Sirius turn into Padfood he's quite attached to him. That left me the entire evening to just check in and catch up and hang out with our older six. We played a few board games, which they kicked my arse at. I think I should force them to play me at quidditch and we'll see how cocky they are. Although I have a feeling it won't be long before Eri and Viona are better than I am. They both just take to anything competitive like they were born for it.

And we just have the best children. I apologized to them for our lack of attention, and they basically shut me down. The Princess even climbed in my lap, laid her head on my shoulder, "Mumdad, we know we're loved, there are enough people in this house that we're never lonely, and right now Zaire just needs you more. Don't worry, we understand. But presents for our understanding behavior wouldn't go amiss."

Yep, that's our daughter; loving, affectionate, understanding, and a manipulative genius. She's perfect.

I'm finally sleepy enough that I might be able to fall asleep. Good night my love, I'll see you in my dreams.

Yours,  
Harry

 

Monday November 2nd  
My love,

I've been thinking about when Zaire called you daddy. I'll admit that I was a bit out of it, but it sticks out in my mind that he was speaking English. I *know* that he can understand far more of the language than he speaks, but that he generally speaks in his native language. I think he might do that for some time to come, and actually, I think it would be wonderful for him to grow up naturally bilingual.

That said, when he said daddy, he spoke English. This sort of puzzled me since why would he go out of his way to use the English word for daddy when everything else he says is in Zulu. Then it occurred to me that he probably associates the word ubaba with the man who abused him. Plus, he would have heard the other kids call us dad or daddy. Not to mention, I think *we* actually used the word daddy when we explained to him that we had adopted him and he was ours now.

So, this whole tangent in my head somehow led to me decide that I'm going to go out of my way to buy things in Zulu for him. For example, his favorite movie, once he has one. If it's not already available in his native language, I'll see if I can get it translated for him. But also books and perhaps magazines. I'm not entirely sure what's available, to be honest.

But basically, it's important to me that he grows up knowing enough about his culture that he could make friends there and even attend the African version of Hogwarts if he wanted. I think I'm even going to pay Leah a bit extra to learn enough of the language that she can teach him to read it when he gets a bit older. Which might actually turn into a bit of a unit study once Saoirse gets wind of it, haha! But I think it would be lovely if the rest of our kids learn at least enough that they could say a few things to him.

Knowing the Princess and the triplets, they might just learn to speak it as fluently as possible JUST so they will have an entirely unknown to others language to communicate secretly in. I can just picture it now, the four of them - whether they are all sorted into the same house or different ones - sitting in class and someone says something to insult one of them for being the son of a death eater (such as the time in her second year that Elena got three detentions in a row and was nearly expelled for punching and flattening a Seventh Year boy who jibed her for being adopted by me), but rather than kick his/her arse - as they could easily do - they simply tell him exactly how utterly moronic he is being. In Zulu. Hahaha!

Anyway, with Muffy's faithful help (yes, I smoothed things over with her, even petting her a bit like a dog, which she loved even as she wailed that "Master shouldn't touch his unworthy house elf!"), I managed to figure out the secret to how to merge the already merged Insta-owl Crystal Mobile with the Magitablet.

So now, I have a device that is about 15cm by 10cm that can do everything an Insta-owl can do, everything the Crystal Mobiles could do, AND everything the Magitablet can do. Keep in mind that we'd programmed the Magitables to be able to do everything our laptops can do, so basically, I've just created a single device with the power of a God, haha.

Now that I'm feeling more or less normal, I'm going to finish up this email, eat dinner with the rest of the family, and head off to meet with Theo for a couple of hours.

But first, did you know that my parents came to visit me this 'morning?' They timed it almost perfectly so that I was waking up anyway, but I got the feeling that they were tired of waiting for me and would have cast spells to wake me had I not been doing so already. Mum practically flung herself on top of me so that she could hug me and press kisses to my cheek.

"Oh my darling boy!"

Well, I hadn't had an opportunity to read your email yet, so I didn't immediately know why she was gushing all over me.

"Gooood Moooorning…?" I greeted warily.

"Zaire was quite emphatic that he save some food so that *you* could feed your 'babies,' and Harry confessed that you're pregnant too," my father explained. "And your mother and I aren't quite sure what this means for our bet. We assumed that she won when Harry announced he was pregnant, but now I think I've won because YOU'RE pregnant."

"Although I insist that we've actually tied since you're both pregnant," mum added, stroking my hair out of my face.

"Erm... well, I suppose that since I'm carrying two of them, that tilts the balance in dad's favor," I reasoned.

"TWO!" Mum gasped in elation. "I just thought that Zaire was misspeaking, but he actually meant BABIES!!!!" She hugged me even tighter and kissed my cheek a few more times.

My father chuckled. "At this rate, in 50 or 100 years, Malfoy will be the most common family name in the Wizarding World! Every third person you come across will be a Malfoy!"

He seemed rather amused by this concept. Perhaps he was thinking that our name could no longer be associated with war and mud if literally a third of the population carried it. I suppose that in a way, you and I are singlehandedly saving a long lineage that could have easily ended with me.

Dad mildly rescued me from my mother by pulling her into his arms, and then held out a hand to help me sit up. "Congratulations son. I'm going to go collect on a bet now."

With that, he lifted my mother over his shoulder and strode out of the room.

"What? But no! LUCIUS! *I* won the bet!!!"

"Draco declared me the winner."

"But HE'S not the one in charge of you! I am!"

"Not for today, you're not!"

I couldn't help but laugh after he Apparated her away. It seems that my father occasionally likes to be the dominant one after all. I honestly have to wonder if *they* are going to make it to dinner, hahaha.

In any case, I'm hungry, so I'm *definitely* going to dinner. See you in a minute or so. I'll be the one snogging you breathless.

Wise men say, only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you,  
Draco


	81. Chapter 81

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Padfoot witnesses... something...

Tuesday November 3rd  
My Love,

Ha! No one saw your parents for the rest of the night last night. And judging by Lucius' absence at breakfast and how exhausted your mum looked, I'm guessing he definitely cashed in his winnings. I don't think your parents have the same dynamics as us, or at the very least I am pretending they're very different, but I have a feeling your mother's ownership is similar to yours, it's ever-present but every once in a while we can take charge for five minutes or so! And now I've thought much too in depth about their sex life and will be leaving the conversation now.

It's so ridiculous, I'm not a prude. Lucius and I get sloshed fairly regularly and brag about our exploits. Narcissa watches it all with an amused smile. I am glad they have a healthy and active sex life. I'm DEFINITELY glad WE have a healthy and active sex life. Hell, I've cleared out the MMM's and gotten a vivid front row seat to their exploits. But for some reason I start comparing their dynamic to ours at all and I become a toddler sticking his fingers in his ears and singing "lalalalalala" until the thoughts go away!

I think you're right that Zaire calling us Daddy in English is a mixture of having heard you, me, and the other kids using that term for us and not having good memories of "Ubaba." Whatever it is, I'll take it. And maybe in the future he'll be far enough removed from his trauma that he may end up using his native language word for us, for now I am in love with exactly what's happening.

When it comes to English versus his native language, I definitely agree that we should work on making sure he keeps his birth language. You know how strongly I feel about our children knowing their heritage. I wish I knew more about my own. Although living where we do, I think it's important that he learns English fluently. The translation devices are great for now while he's learning, but he can't wear them all the time. Especially if he's anything like me and gets headaches when he wears it for too long.

I am so so SO proud of you for finally getting your newest invention up off the ground. I of course knew you could do it, but I think sometimes you start to question yourself and start getting a bit down when it takes longer than you'd like. I think you deserve a reward! Anything you'd like? Anything.

Oh oh oh! I have some … not gossip but gossip-ish to talk about. So, remember the other day when we were sated and spent, covered in sweat and cum, and your mum sent Sirius upstairs? Was that yesterday? I can't even remember. Wow, I think I might need a nap. Or some food. Ooooh, or a shag! Yeah, that should help shake the cobwebs out of the brain. I could be naughty and have you throw me over your shoulder and drag me to the closest flat surface. Realizing the closest flat surface is a wall, you'll just rip off my trousers, throw me up against the wall, yank my knees over your shoulders and have at.

Wait. Gossip. Sorry, got a little sidetracked again. Anyway, so you know how I told you I think it's impossible for Sirius to be a homophobe? Well, that really comes from the fact that from my memories, he and Remus were REALLY close. Like, Re he he heaaallllly close. Ya know? Not that they ever said so, or did anything in front of me. And maybe they never actually DID anything at all, in front of me or not. But... they gave each other sidelong glances. And lingered on their bodies if one was ever shirtless or anything. Not that I blame them. What? They may have emotionally been my uncles but it's not like we were related by blood. And it's not like I was blind.

Shut up already, I was a teenaged boy confused about my sexuality! And keep in mind Sirius is a Black, you know how irresistible I find people with Black blood!

Like you should talk, I bet you had a thing for your Godfather too! I certainly didn't have a thing for your Godfather, he was so damn mean to me. But you have to admit, his voice was like liquid sex.

Anyway! Stop distracting me. Ok, so while we were sweaty and naked, and Sirius came and saw us, he was all flushed and kept averting his eyes. Well, obviously, I would do the same thing if I were witnessing sex I wasn't invited to watch. But, uh, shut up my eyes wander alright?!? The tightness in his pants made me think that his averted gaze wasn't from disgust but from … interest. Not that I think he is interested in either of us. And despite what fifteen year old Harry would have thought, I am going to HARD PASS on doing anything at all even remotely near him. But now I wonder if he's aware that his interests lean male or if he was so oppressed throughout his childhood that he doesn't even know what he likes.

Am I being weird? Well, weirder than usual?

I was asleep when you came home last night, so how did your meeting with Theo go? Was he excited about the progress? Oh wait, you're starting to wake up, I am going to go ask your face instead of your email.

And maybe do a little good morning groping.

Love You!  
Harry

 

Tuesday November 3rd  
Mmmmm.….

After waking me up very nicely and having a lovely chat about my newest device - which, by the way, Theo was SO HAPPY about! He practically sobbed tears of joy as he threw his arms around me and gave me a good hard kiss. It seems that a lot of the more muggle savvy wizards have been demanding this product for *ages* now. He called in a group of the people who actually do the manufacturing for us, and I gave a thorough demonstration of how I'd done it for them. We got about 15 of them produced last night as we needed to make up a few for testing purposes and to ensure that they got the process right without accidentally forgetting anything.

Which means that I have my original one and a second one for you. I've already transferred our numbers and mobile service to them, so if you've tried to make a call on your mobile and it didn't work, that's why. The only thing that will have to sort of wait a bit is the internet portion of the Magitablet. We technically CAN log onto our pre-existing account and get onto the internet via this new device, but Theo needs to have Derek go with him to the service providers and see about getting internet capability anywhere the Mobile has a service signal.

But I think I got off topic. I was going to talk about shagging. Yes, shagging, mmm...….

As I was saying, after our lovely morning (afternoon, whatever), Jaz popped herself into the room. Apparently, all she really wanted was a couple of snuggles and kisses, but this prompted Leah and Sirius to come rushing into the room with Zaire to make sure that Jaz hadn't popped herself somewhere else entirely. This gave me a chance to talk to Leah about what I wanted her to do while Sirius turned into Padfoot and played with Zaire, Bear, Venus (who did participate a little even though she mostly watched from a dignified distance), Remus, Romulus, Siri and Zwei (who came into the room with their puppies), and Amala. Apparently Amala thinks it's great fun to chase and be chased by Padfoot - now that they've worked together to protect our family and apparently reached an agreement.

As the minor chaos ensued on our floor, I worked on my other project, the dictation paper - name not set in stone. You decided to pop off to the kitchen to make some fresh biscuits, and once they were ready and cooling, made me a pot of tea to drink while I worked.

By the time you returned, our boys had gone to play in the park while all the dogs (including Padfoot, haha) AND Amala were laying in a pile of softly snoring nappers. Jaz had also fallen asleep and was in our bed, which was Leah's cue to go find Pippa and brainstorm about ways to learn to speak Zulu.

Which just left us. The moment you set the tray on my desk, I looked up at you and remembered that you'd sent me an email full of delightful suggestions. Such as me standing up and pulling you close so that I could snog the bloody hell out of you. And then help you wrap your legs around my naked waist (as I hadn't bothered to get dressed) and walk you over to the nearest wall.

I was in no hurry, so I simply kissed you and softly chuckled as you whined and ground your groin into me. Eventually, I granted your request by reaching a hand between us and stroking your gorgeous shaft. But I wasn't inclined to let you finish so easily, so when I sensed that you were getting close, I stepped back and steadied you for a moment before leading you over to my desk and forcing you to brace yourself with your hands so that I had access to spank you if I wanted.

You purred happily, probably assuming that THAT was exactly what I was going to do. I even gave you a nice smack as if to confirm your assumption, but really just to tease you. Then I dropped to my knees and busied myself licking and fingering your beautiful hole. This pulled interesting gasps and squeals from you.

It didn't take long for you to reach the stage where you were begging me to take you in every way possible. I played with your prostate a bit longer, until I decided that you were as wound up as you were going to get without orgasming. As I shifted into position behind you, kissing a path up your back until I was able to bite your neck, I only half registered the thought: Oh, looks like the dog is watching us. Oh well, not the first time.

Then I shrugged it off because I was ready to enter you and shag us both senseless. Your begging turned into babble along the lines of: "Fuck, yes! Like that! Deeper, harder, POUND ME!" Whereas my babble was more like: "Merlin, fuck, Harry! Gods you feel so good! I love you so much! Uh!"

We were both so into it that despite having a stabilization charm on the desk, it was wobbling and making noises of protest against our abuse. As you got closer, you started begging again.

"Spank me Dragon! I need it! Spank me hard!"

I repositioned us so that I could spank you as requested and still shag you - even if not as hard. Your cries turned downright sinful, nearly ending things for me right then and there, but I was determined to hold out.

"Come for me, love," I ordered as I spanked you again.

You threw your head back and squealed as you obeyed. I groaned happily, holding still so I could give you the spankings I know you wanted. After you slumped onto the desk, I pulled out and flipped you onto your back so that I could kiss you again.

"You did so good for me! You are so good, my good little mutt, I love you so much," I assured you as I slid back home and finished off.

You held me to you and purred happily. "I love you so much."

"I love you more," I stated, unable to stop myself from turning it into a competition.

You laughed. "As much as I would love to continue this fight until it leads to more shagging. I actually have to go check up on Z and the boys. I know they're probably fine, but I can't help but worry about Z."

I kissed you. "Go. I'll just be here, eating your delicious biscuits and working on my project."

You kissed me, in no hurry to actually leave. But eventually, my limp shaft slipped free from you and you took that as your cue to figure out what we had done with your trousers and pants (which I must have magically banished to the floor at some point without even thinking about it). Losing patience after only about a second, you simply summoned them, spelled them back on you, and kissed me again before running off.

I sat and started nibbling on a biscuit. Suddenly, a prickling on the back of my neck reminded me of something very important. I slowly turned to find Padfoot burying his face under both paws. I found this rather amusing and even laughed.

"You know... If you find that you can't help but watch us and wonder what it's like - sex with a bloke, that is - I know a good club or two where I could bring you and you could do a little experimenting."

Padfoot returned to his human form, and blushing a deep red, refused to look directly at me as he walked over to sit in the other chair next to my desk. "I, er… yeah. I think I would like that..."

"I hope you realize that no matter what you learn about yourself, Harry will love you as much as he ever did," I reminded him.

He smiled, actually looking at me as he did so. "Yeah. I figure that anyone who can love their child so completely that she's comfortable being her true gender, well, he could probably love just about anyone for who they are."

I chuckled. "Besides, it's not like WE have any right to talk if you should happen to be bent."

Sirius blushed. "I suppose not."

"But there are so many options out there," I added. "You don't have to settle on a single preference. Unless you want to."

Sirius looked rather vulnerable all of a sudden. "I thought for a couple of days that I really liked Leah, but... She's, erm…"

"She's a loving person and SO giving. Thus, she's a safe choice. If she finds you even slightly worthy of her love, she'll be loyal to you forever. But I think that what YOU need is someone who is the complete opposite of safe. Someone who pushes you out of your comfort zone and forces you to face your past mistakes, accept them, and love yourself anyway. Like Harry did for me."

"Sounds like you think I should date a Mind Healer," Sirius observed with a laugh.

I shook my head. "Never date a Mind Healer, you'll just end up as a never ending project for them. Although, if you just so happen to fall in love with one, I could see that working out surprisingly well. Just... perhaps give yourself time to play around a bit first. Find out what you like and what you don't. Considering how much of your life has passed you by, you're a bit like a teenager who is entering the exploration stage. Take some time to just enjoy it."

He bit his lip in thought. "You know... I grew up in the 70s. It WASN'T the 60s with it's big push for free love, but still, it was riding the wave. Even so, it wasn't anywhere NEAR as open and accepting as this time seems to be. Hell! We went on a cruise in which EVERYONE seemed to be on the pull, and NO ONE seemed to find this odd."

I shrugged. "I'm sure there are still a lot of people who disapprove of such things, but I try to avoid those sorts of people."

He laughed. "As a way to try to protect Harry from unnecessary prejudice?"

"Exactly!" I agreed.

He gave me a small smile and held out his hand. "I definitely misjudged you... cousin..."

I shook his hand. "Just as I don't think I ever truly knew anything about you. I'm glad to find we have something in common after all."

"Harry?" He asked in confusion.

"Blood," I stated with a grin.

He chuckled. "So... when can we go to that club?"

I shrugged again. "Let me talk to Harry and see if he wants to join us, either way, we can probably go this weekend."

"I look forward to it," he murmured, sounding almost shy again.

And so, that's how I ended up with plans to bring my cousin to an LBGT club. And I'm not entirely certain HOW this came up, but at some point today, an idea for something new to work on popped into my head, so I'm going to tinker with it for a bit before talking about it. I love you, and just in case you were hoping to get some feedback, those biscuits you baked were FABULOUS! Did you try something new, or am I just partial to them now because I'm pregnant?

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine, I got a love, and I know that it's all mine, oh, whoa-oh,  
Draco

P.S. JUST as I was about to hit send, Hannah arrived and Muffy brought her in to see me. Sirius found this rather amusing considering that he expected me to be at least a little embarrassed about someone he'd never met before showing up while I was still naked. However, I have very little shame and Hannah (aside from liking what she saw) is so very much in love with her fiancé that she could be in a room full of naked men and wouldn't be tempted at all.

Well, at least not enough to act on it, haha.

In any case, she had something unique to talk about. An old case. 25 years ago, a little boy named Jacob disappeared and Hannah is hoping I can use my whatever you want to call it to find his body so that his family can get some closure. So that's probably what I'll be doing when you come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this bit didn't really fit in the story anywhere, but we feel it's important to remind everyone that it's canon that while in Animal form, the mind is simpler and runs more on instinct. Yes, they can still understand human speech and know that they are human, but they don't necessarily *think* like humans do. Thus Padfoot wasn't *trying* to be a perv. His dog brain was just like: "What's this? Hmm.. that's rather interesting..." Which was why he ended up watching until it was over and he had a moment to realize what he'd done and get embarrassed by it. :-)


	82. Chapter 82

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco helps Hannah with and old missing child case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ends on a bit of a sad note, but I wanted to post it tonight because something happens in the next chapter (that I'll be posting tomorrow) that I'm super excited to get to ^_^

Wednesday November 4th  
My Deviant,

Maybe I need to up my shagging game if you can concentrate on something other than me. Although I suppose a giant black dog watching us is probably fairly distracting. Obviously not enough to distract ME, but I am completely oblivious when I am otherwise occupied. I feel as though I should be embarrassed of just how filthy my mouth was, but I think I've finally gotten to the point with Sirius where I am un-embarrassable. And no, that was not a challenge, Draco Malfoy!

The shagging was obviously delightful, but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids and animals … feel free to place Padfoot into whichever category you think best fits him … playing around. I feel like I have been so focused on putting out fires lately that I haven't been able to truly enjoy our family. I had such a lovely evening with the big kids the other day, and I spent a few hours yesterday signing with Jaz.

I think today I am going to cast some warming charms around Malfoy Park and really go all out playing with the kids. The other day when I played with them, I really just followed Zaire around like a helicopter. But he's basically healed at this point so I think I am going to take on all challengers on my climbing wall. I was really hoping the faux summer weather would hold on a bit longer, but seeing as it's November I'm well aware I'm just being greedy. I wonder, now that Zaire seems to be opening up a bit to people besides you and I, if he would be interested in Grampy Lulu showing him the owls or the peafowl? I could always send River with them, he always enjoys time with Grandpa.

And speaking of Grandparents, Molly and Arthur are chomping at the bit to have their newest grandson over for a visit. They totally understand that he is in no way ready for a sleepover and probably won't even be willing to let us leave, but I told her we would definitely set aside this coming Sunday for a full day Burrow visit. And while we're there you can thank Molly for that biscuit recipe. I think your pregnancy probably had a lot to do with you devouring a plateful, but yes they were a new recipe. When we told her we brought Zaire home, how vulnerable he was, and especially when my Molly heard about a malnourished child, she went all out and decided to stress bake.

The biscuits were her attempt to create something that would taste familiar to him. We're used to making biscuits or any puddings really, using local fruits. Well, she looked up what fruits are native to South Africa so she could bake some sweets that would give him some familiar flavors. The batch you sampled yesterday were mostly flavored with wild plums. The next recipe I plan on trying is heavy on the "Evil Medlar" fruit. Which the fruit isn't evil, but the trees are rumored to possess evil powers. Silly muggles and their superstitions! The fruit is described as sweet-sour so I'm hoping it gives some really unique flavors.

I have a feeling Zaire will get along like a house afire with Grandma Molly who will feed him nonstop and Grandpa Arthur who could be talked into sitting in a cozy chair to cuddle and read all day.

I'm wondering if later in the evening on the day of the visit would be a good time to take Sirius to the LGBT club. Zaire will be full and exhausted after a Burrow day, so he should pass out hard and we can take off for the evening. We're pregnant so it's not like either of us can get tipsy, and we can put Muffy on alert that if he wakes up to come grab one of us immediately. And probably add Jaz to that warning, not because I think she'd panic if she woke without us, but that we probably don't want a baby apparating in the middle of a club.

Anyway, I need to find out what happened with Hannah yesterday, so I may wake you up so lovingly, get mine, and then start questioning you. I love you, and I am alright with you helping out with informational things, but this is my foot going down that you are not stepping foot in the police department or anywhere near anyone involved in this case. Ok?

Love you!  
Harry

 

Wednesday November 4th  
My heart,

Before I get into my vision, I just want to say that I think you're brilliant. I mean I ALWAYS think you're brilliant, you've just proved it once again. Taking Sirius to a club on Sunday after Zaire and Jaz are asleep from a full and exhausting day at the Burrow, sheer genius!

So, onto my vision.

Before anything started, Sirius and I moved from my desk to the table in our suite so that Hannah had room to sit too. Then I ordered Muffy to bring us all some tea and biscuits - along with a fresh cup of milk and a plate of seasoned steak tartar on crackers for me. With sauerkraut.

We had a lovely chat about her wedding plans. She and Davis are undecided about their honeymoon destination, so I recommended some of the places we've been over the years. As we talked, she lay out a few things. The case file, bits of evidence the police had found at the time of his disappearance, and the official statement declaring that he had likely fallen in the river and drown - except that they could never find his body and the entire river has been dredged a few times over the years in an effort to find him.

The last thing that Hannah placed on the table - with infinite care and gentleness - was a teddy bear the boy had cherished. It was extremely worn and probably fragile. Hannah informed me that it had once been full of him - bits of drool from when he slept, stray hairs, even a blood stain from when he had skinned his knee. However, over the years - as technology advanced - most of the hairs had been removed for analysis, the bear had been sniffed by countless dogs trying to find the body, and the bear had been handled by at least a dozen Detective Inspectors hoping to finally solve the actual mystery of his disappearance.

Thus, the chances of anything left on the teddy bear to activate my ability were low. That said, Hannah wanted me to at least try and see what I might 'see.' As I ate, she told me more about the case, reading the file so that I didn't have to hold it while eating.

By the way, when she found out that I'm pregnant again, she squealed and gave me a hug of congratulations, calling us utterly mad when I then told her that you were too. I updated her on Jaz and told her about Zaire, and she is now convinced that we belong in an asylum. Can't exactly argue with her, hahaha.

So, when I was ready, I gently picked up the teddy bear, looking it over to find all the little bits of this boy that had been mentioned, finding it strangely adorable that his name had been embroidered on its right foot. The blood stain was extremely faded, but still there. I focused on it as I closed my eyes. I hummed softly to myself - a lullaby that I don't recall ever singing before, although I have heard it. It's called Papa Can You Hear Me? As I hummed, I fell deeper and deeper into a sort of hazy darkness.

After about a minute, the darkness grew brighter and I saw a boy of about twelve smiling at something. He had bright golden hair in a short but slightly shaggy style, and eyes that were an indeterminate shade somewhere between brown and green. I think that's called Hazel, but since I personally associate Hazel with the bright green eyes of our daughter, I can't be certain.

Hannah exhaled in relief and muttered a prayer of thanks that it seemed to be working. She hadn't shown me his picture or described him to me because she wanted to be certain I was picking up on the right boy and not projecting what I think might have happened on a similar looking dream figure.

Slowly, the area around the boy filled in. I felt like I was standing next to him and looking around, describing what I saw as I went. There was a creamy yellow house and a yard with a rustic wooden fence. The yard was large but the house was modest. It sort of reminded me of a farm, but I didn't see crops or animals grazing, so if it was a farm, it didn't appear to be active. The most distinctive feature that I could see was a very old and rusty red truck. It looked like it belonged in the... 50s? 40s? I am not an expert on muggle vehicles as I've only really ever noticed the most iconic looking ones.

But Hannah told me that I was describing the truck that Jacob's father had, and in fact, I seemed to be describing his house and yard too.

Suddenly, Jacob noticed a girl ride her bike up to him. She was about 14 and Jacob looked at her as if she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. She gave him a shy but perhaps interested smile in return.

"Hiya Jacob. I was wondering if you wanted to ride bikes with me."

"Oh, erm, yeah," Jacob replied. "Mum said I could go to the park by the river if I want - just so long as I'm back by dinner time."

She pushed a wisp of her reddish brown hair behind her ear and looked up at the sun. "That's hours away! We could bike all over the country in that time!"

Jacob chuckled. "That we could! Let me just grab my bike, Eva, and then we'll go for that ride."

The vision seemed to fade for a bit - or more accurately blur. I felt as if I was riding a bike at speeds so fast I couldn't quite see anything as I passed by. As I hummed, I could hear Hannah muttering to herself as she searched through the files.

"Eva, hmm...? I think... yes, there was a neighbor girl with that name. But I don't see how she could be involved, all accounts have her staying with a cousin that day."

Sirius chuckled. "Perhaps he simply loved her and couldn't stop thinking about her. If so, that would explain why this memory is embedded in the toy."

Hannah sighed in defeat. "You're probably right..."

Meanwhile, my vision started to clear up again. I found myself on a tall hill overlooking a forest on one side and lots of farmland on the others. If I squinted just right, I think I could see a river in the distance.

"So, he wasn't near the river..." Hannah murmured, jotting this information down.

"What are we doing here?" Jacob asked curiously as he looked around.

"This is one of my favorite places to be," Eva informed him. "I'll come up here at night and just look at the stars. My cousin lives just there." She pointed to a house a little down the road from the base of the hill.

"The forest looks interesting," Jacob murmured. "Could play a good game of hide and seek."

"I'm not interested in hiding at the moment," Eva told him just before she took a deep breath and kissed him.

Jacob reacted by gasping in astonishment, but then he had a look on his face like he'd be the stupidest boy on the planet if he turned her down, so he smiled at her and returned her kiss. This lead to my vision sort of speeding up again. It looked a bit like I imagine it would look if I was watching a video and fast forwarded it. If this is true - that I was basically witnessing time speeding by - then they spent a LOT of time kissing while standing, then sitting, then laying on the grass.

The vision suddenly jumped to the end, in which they were naked and curled around each other, giggling over nothing at all as far as I could tell. Well now, he certainly developed in that area years before I did! I know they couldn't see me there - because I hadn't really been there - but I felt awkward sort of spying on them at the moment, so I turned to the side to see if I could find any other clues about the vision I was seeing.

I heard Sirius harrumph softly. "Told you. He was just in love with the girl and this memory stuck out in his mind for obvious reasons."

Suddenly, Jacob spoke. "Looks like I still have an hour or so before I have to get home for dinner. I should probably get dressed and bike back so that it doesn't seem like I was planning to skip dinner, and honestly, I'm rather hungry now."

Eva giggled. "Me too!"

The couple got up and pulled their clothes on. When done, they glanced at each other and started giggling again. Eva kissed Jacob, then pushed him slightly away.

"Chase me a bit! If you catch me, I'll not only reward you with another kiss, but I'll meet you here again tomorrow!"

"Alright," Jacob agreed with a grin. She ran and he really did chase her around the hill a few times. JUST as he was closing into to catch her, she squealed in fake alarm, turned to run in a different direction, and lightly pushed him.

Everything would have been fine, but as Jacob stumbled back a bit, he tripped over a rock. This sent him tumbling down the side of the hill, but not rolling over the axis of his midline - which probably would have been harmless. Instead, he was doing a sort of backward somersault. I felt a jolt of panic and an urge to cast some safety spells on him - or even just run after him - but I was basically rooted to the spot.

As I watched, he hit a fairly large rock, and even from this distance, I could see that it probably broke his neck. It was at that exact moment that Eva noticed that Jacob was no longer chasing her and spotted him tumbling down the hill.

"Jacob!" She screamed in horror and ran after him. I seemed to be pulled along with her. By the time we arrived at the bottom of the hill where it met the forest, Jacob had stopped rolling. He was... clearly dead. As I suspected, his neck was forming an impossible angle and there was blood oozing from his head in at least two places.

Eva threw herself to her knees and shook him. "Oh God! Jacob!!! Wake up! PLEASE wake up!!!!" After some time of this, it became apparent to her that he was never going to wake up, and she sobbed all over his chest. Then, she seemed to realize that she had been the one to kill him, and this caused definite panic in her.

She leapt to her feet and wailed things like: "I didn't mean to kill him!" and: "I don't want to go to jail for murder!" Suddenly, she inhaled a gasp and stopped crying rather abruptly. "The marsh! It's like quicksand!" With surprising strength - probably from working on a farm - she dragged him through the forest until she came upon a place that looked like a bit of a clearing covered in multicolored leaves fallen from all the trees surrounding it. By the look of it, it was definitely fall - although it must have been unseasonably warm since they'd managed to get naked and shag without freezing. That said, I think we've done that on the Manor grounds, so perhaps it was a chilly day after all.

In any case, she hefted him up with quite a bit of difficulty and threw him into the middle of the leaves. Slowly but surely, he sank out of sight as she cried and sobbed. Repeating: "I'm so sorry!" over and over. Once he couldn't be seen anymore, she walked back to the hill, grabbed his bike, and brought it to the same clearing so she could toss it where she'd tossed him. After that, she took a few minutes to calm completely down, wash her face in a stream, and then collect her bike and ride to her cousin's where - as far as I could tell - she threw herself onto a pile of hay in the loft of their barn, and fell into an exhausted sleep.

The vision ended there and all I saw was white until I opened my eyes and looked at Hannah. She was crying silently and tried to wipe the tears away. "Those poor kids..."

Sirius shrugged. "Not to sound heartless, but that boy died after having what was probably the best day of his life, AND he probably didn't even feel it when he died. So... I feel more sorry for her than him."

"Perhaps," I murmured sadly. "But still, he should have had an entire lifetime of shagging ahead of him, and he only got to do it the once. Also, I'm not sure I can sympathize with her too much, as she did go out of her way to hide the body and keep his death a secret."

"She was just a scared baby..." Hannah murmured.

I sighed. "I feel so tired all of a sudden..."

She kissed me on the cheek. "Go on and rest. That probably used a bit of magic."

I shook my head. "I don't think it's that. In any case, I would like to rest. Muffy, bring me my boosting potions since I forgot to take them when I woke up."

"Yes Master Draco."

After taking my potions, I crawled in bed and fell right to sleep.

So... now you know what happened.

Numb and not quite sure how to feel,  
Draco


	83. Chapter 83

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A LOT happens in such a short amount of time that Draco can't even recap it all in one go!

Thursday November 5, 2009

My Love,

Maybe we need to ask Healer Rowe for some stronger boosters. You've still been so sleepy. Your magic levels seem fine, but you've still had so little energy. I'm used to you jumping from place to place and having a million projects happening, and this listlessness is worrying me.

Maybe it's not physical. How are you doing with all of the emotional mess we've been dealing with lately? I know you're happy about being pregnant, but it was unexpected. You had to deal with witnessing the death of a young boy in memory form. We've had to watch our son get surgery and heal from it. Did you make your standing appointment with Yesenia this week? You couldn't have, because that's when you were with Hannah. Hold on.

Alright I sent a message to Yesenia and she'd like to see you this evening since you definitely didn't get to talk to her on Tuesday. We all have up days and down days, but I definitely don't want to see you settled into a funk. Let's deal with any emotions before you have a chance to bury them!

So while you're doing that tonight, I promised Siri, Zwei, Eri, and Viona to do some serious dirt biking this evening. I don't want time "away" from Zaire per se, but I want him to get used to us being out of sight for short periods of time so that he can learn we'll always come back. I think little separations when he's with trusted people and while one of us is still on the property is probably the gentlest way to do this. Worst case scenario, they bring him outside to see we're all safe and sound. I can't wait until he's old enough to join us. All of my research when I got the bikes was that they're safe with training wheels for kids as young as four, and by five and six can start zipping around themselves. Which seems to line up pretty well with what we've been doing. Zwei was the wobbliest at first, but now he's a little maniac on his.

Oh! With all of the craziness lately I forgot to tell you that Unity Africa finally sent us Zaire's original birth certificate and his updated one to reflect our adoption. We originally thought he was two. Then we found out he was "about three and a half" but we now have his actual birthdate. Draco, our son was born May 2. He was born on the 8th anniversary of the end of the war. Could there be a more blatant sign that he was meant to be ours? Also, he was never given a middle name. So his birth certificate now just has him listed as Zaire Malfoy.

So now we just need to decide if we want to give him a British Wizarding name, or something rich in his culture. I thought about Eos, I think it flows beautifully with his first name, and it's the goddess of the dawn which I thought was a beautiful idea of his new life with us dawning. I know it's female, but when have we ever let things like that stop us. Otherwise I was looking into Zulu names and came up with a few ideas. Themba, means hope. Thando, means love. Phila, meaning get well, or live. And my favorite, Langa, which is the Zulu word for the sun. Our son, who's our sun. You know how I feel about nature names! And I never even thought about nature names until you gave our Princess the middle name Skye.

I'm sorry you had to go through all of that reliving Jacob's last moments. It sounds like it really took quite a toll on you. I hate that it was at the expense of my husband's emotions, but I'm so relieved to know that his parents will have the closure they've been needing for twenty-five years. I have no idea how I would manage the loss of one of our children, but I can't even begin to imagine the horror in always wondering what happened and where they were if I just didn't know for twenty-five years.

Ok, I need to get my mind off of that. I may have to take a sleeping potion tonight to keep away the nightmares.

Anyway, if you wake and wonder where I am, I brought our crew to Unity and I am at Traditions with 'Mione to start sorting the resumes and start scheduling interviews. And by "with 'Mione" I of course mean with 'Mione, Zaire, and Jasmine who had no intention on letting me out of their sight! If you wake up and have a ton of energy, feel free to join us, otherwise enjoy your quiet afternoon to yourself. Soak in the silence! You deserve it.

I love you my Draco,  
Harry

P.S. Monday, 9 November, I am bringing Sirius to the Ministry to sit down with the Unspeakables to hopefully figure out just what exactly happened to Sirius. Again, you're welcome to come with if you'd like.

 

Thursday November 5th  
Dearest Harry,

I woke up feeling wonderful this morning. I'd assumed that I was going to have nightmares, but instead, I had the loveliest dream. In the dream, that little girl with the blonde hair and green eyes, the little boy that looks like you, although now that I got a better look at him, he has my eyes, and the little boy that looks like me, except for your eyes and skintone - honestly, he looked a bit like a god, all golden and bright - anyway, they were playing in what I had first thought was a meadow, only now I recognize it as part of the Manor grounds. They played a game a bit like tag, laughing and giggling merrily.

And then, before I realized it, older versions of Jaz and Zaire entered the dream, joining in on the game and just generally being happy and healthy and wonderful.

I think I woke up crying from sheer joy.

So, with my spirits high and feeling great in general, I decided that it would be a good time to visit Greg and discuss the next project I want him to work on. See, even though I DO have a hotel in the planning stages (possibly two), I think that this playground I want should be a relatively quick and easy build. Especially since I've already located and bought an appropriate place for it. Now that Greg and Millie are back from their Honeymoon, I want them to do the planning and hire out the work to locals who need jobs.

Which means that they will be able to oversee the building of the park while hammering out the details of the hotel. Millie is actually the one hunting for a location for it, as none of the spots off Diagon are just right - unless she demolishes two or three of the buildings that aren't being used yet and combines their lots into one. Which hmm... I might just have her do. It's not like I've been able to develop them in the past 10 years.

Anyway, after a spot of tea and some initial discussion, the three of us Apparated (via Dibly) over to the place I'd picked out. The most complicated part of this whole thing might just be the fact that since I want it to be accessible to as many kids as possible, I actually chose an uninhabited, rundown, and decrepit building in almost the middle of all the other 'still habitable' buildings. So, this building needs to safely come down, I need to help find shelter for the few homeless people squatting in it, and then the newly empty lot needs to be transformed into a park.

I've also decided that since I'm going to subtly expand the inside dimensions of the lot a bit - to give them more room - I may as well add something of a community garden in there to help feed any child that may not have access to food otherwise. Who knows, maybe since I will be offering this park to the children of the community as a safe and free place to be, maybe I'll consider it a type of charity and fund a small staff to actually cook and provide food to anyone who needs it. But that's not something I can truly decide until after it's built and I see if anyone even uses it.

After Greg and Millie inspected the site, they were positively bursting with ideas and rushed off to draw them out. Also, they have worked with a muggle construction company over the years and think that it might be best to contract them for the initial deconstruction phase. With them taking charge like that, I know that I have absolutely nothing to worry about.

With that in mind, I lingered at the site for a while longer, letting my imagination flow over all the possibilities. Would the slide be better here, or here? Would the kids like a climbing wall? Would they like a climbing tower? What about a small splashpad? If I do hire a small staff, maybe I could also hire things like yoga instructors and self defense teachers - OH! I could pay Antonio to give at least one lesson a week here!

Utterly lost in my thoughts, I almost ignored the slight sound of Apparation, but the tingling up my spine prompted me to turn around and see you looking at me as if you'd never seen me in muggle public before.

"Harry!" I greeted, throwing my arms around you and giving you a happy kiss. "What a surprise, love! You didn't mention coming to see this - what HAVE you done to your hair?! Is that a new tattoo? Did you spend the morning getting a haircut and a new tattoo??? And - DELLA??? What are you doing out of school? Our parents are going to be so mad at you for skipping - HAZ?!?! Y-y-y you look like a boy!!!"

"I *AM* A BOY!!!"

Haz glared murderously at me while you eyed me with suspicion so deep I almost felt cut by it. I was at a complete loss for words.

"Listen, Malfoy, I cast a spell to bring the kids and me to safety, and for some reason, it brought me to you," you said, as I was busy trying to figure out who the other two kids were. One boy looked so very familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I tried my best to find the 'Teddy' pendant, but it was missing. The other kid looked a lot like you had at about age 11. But he wasn't one of ours.

"Erm... did you have *another* kid without us knowing it?" I wondered in confusion.

This made you look a little taken aback. "You've met Tommy before."

"Er....." I droned, having NO IDEA what was going on. I was actually relieved when my Magimobile rang and I had something else to focus on for a moment. To my surprise, it was you calling. THIS MADE NO SENSE!!! Hesitantly, I answered the call. "Heeelloooo?"

"Hi love! What's the matter? You sound discombobulated," you asked in concern.

"Erm... I seem to be dealing with a minor emergency..."

I had to hold the phone about a foot away from my head as you roared. "DRACO, I SWEAR TO MERLIN THAT IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN ANOTHER RAID, I'LL MURDER YOU MYSELF!!!"

"NO!" I denied hastily. "I'm not helping the Aurors with a raid! I'm not in ANY danger! I promise! I just, erm… I think this might be, erm… Sort of the opposite of an all hands on deck situation. Can you see to it that all the kids are busy being occupied with something for the next few hours, Harry my love? And, erm… you should probably call Hermione. And Ron. Wait! I thought you were with Hermione. Maybe we can just pop into her office. No... This'll probably be better at home. Drag her to our house no matter what you have to tell her. Tell her the world is about to explode for all I care!"

You chuckled nervously. "I came home for a bit so Zaire could have some calm and quiet while I nurse him. He actually ASKED to be nursed! As for the rest of the kids, Elena and River are at Unity with Siri and Zwei. The Princess and the almost triplets are busy watching Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon in the entertainment room, and Jaz is with Leah. So, it's just me and Zaire. Also, I just Insta-owled Mione and she promised to grab Ron and come over in a few minutes."

"Alright, thanks love. See you in a bit," I promised.

"Love you," you stated in valediction.

"I love you too," I murmured with a soft smile.

"Was that… *me*...?" You, er, the OTHER you asked incredulously. I could tell that he probably couldn't hear most of your words clearly, but the initial shouting was clear enough that he probably recognized his own voice.

I swallowed because my mouth was suddenly dry, and then nodded. "I think so..." Then I turned to look at the ground. "Dibly! Come here and Apparate us home."

"Dibly lives to serve Mast - AH! WHO'S THAT?!?!" Dibly blurted out.

"That's an excellent question, Dibly. Let's find out, shall we?" I held my hand out to him expectantly.

The other you narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why can't you Apparate us yourself?"

I shrugged a bit helplessly. "My magic levels aren't too low, but because I know I'm going to need every drop of magic I can muster for the next few months, it's just simpler all around if I don't use it when I don't have to."

He and the children with him gave each other wary looks, before seeming to reach an agreement. "Alright..." he permitted cautiously. Dibly asked us all to hold onto him, and then Apparated us to you.

"BAD MAN!!!" Zaire shouted in Zulu and promptly launched himself out of your arms so he could climb around and hide behind your back.

"Calm down love," I murmured.

You were staring at you in shock. Actually, BOTH of you were staring at you in shock. The OTHER you seemed nearly gobsmacked, and I have no idea why, but I got the feeling that this was something that had not happened to him in a long time. And I don't think it had much to do with the fact that you were wearing the boob harness and had been nursing Zaire.

Before I could say so much as: "Erm, surprise?" I had another minor emergency to deal with. Bear was yapping shrilly, Remus and Romulus were barking from the safety of behind Bear, Padfoot and Amala both had their hair raised and were growling extremely threateningly.

I got between them and our guests, holding my hands out placatingly. "Everyone calm down..." This made absolutely no difference. Sighing, I made a few quick decisions. "Muffy! Dibly! Take Remus and Romulus outside and take them for a nice long walk."

"Yes Master," they agreed, each taking a dog and popping off with him.

I grabbed Bear. "Hush girl!" She responded by doing something very strange; growling fiercely in their direction while trying to reassure me by licking my cheek. I couldn't really focus on her because I had an upset cheetah that needed calming still. "Amala, there's no need to growl. There's no threat here. Calm down," I murmured soothingly, and then cast a quick glare at Padfoot. "And YOU could stop as well, Padfoot!"

Sirius returned to his human form and put a hand on Amala's head. "I don't think anything on the planet will get her to calm down right now. She senses a very clear and dangerous threat - as did I - and even if you sent her to her magically impossible to escape enclosure, I think she'd just seriously hurt herself trying to get out and come back to you."

"SIRIUS!!!" The other you blurted out incredulously "BUT YOU'RE DEAD!"

Sirius shrugged, looking more guarded than I've seen him yet. "Well, I was, but..."

You finally managed to respond, standing up and patting Zaire's hand as he nearly strangled you in his fear and worry. I handed Bear to you, stroked Amala soothingly, and pointed at the table so Sirius would move out of my way, which he mildly surprised me by actually doing.

Feeling like the situation was as in control as it was going to get, I took a deep breath. "Alright, so... Er... HARRY - the one with the tattoo of a snake on his neck - MERLIN BUGGERING SALAZAR! IS THAT NAGINI?!?!"

"Actually, yes," he replied with a short nod. "She was put on me very shortly after the war ended and she has free reign all over my back - including my neck."

"Er... setting that aside," I said because I had no idea what to do with that information. "Erm... Can you try to explain what happened? You said that you cast a spell to bring you and those kids to safety..."

He gave us all a deeply probing look, even staring at Amala for a few long seconds before she took a step back. Not exactly conceding defeat, but sort of letting him know that she wasn't going to attack just yet. Then he nodded as if satisfied that there was no immediate trouble.

"About a year ago, word somehow got out that one of my kids was fathered by Voldemort."

All four of the kids growled and glared at us as if daring us to say a bad word about them so they'd have an excuse to teach us a lesson.

You chuckled nervously. "Probably Della. WE thought for a moment or two back before she was confirmed as having Lestrange blood that she might possibly be Voldemort's."

I rubbed my forehead wearily. "Salazar's saggy tits! Could you just IMAGINE the uproar if my sister turned out to be fathered by the Dark Lord??? Oh sure, WE would love her all the same, but she'd probably be bullied at Hogwarts. I don't think our parents would have let her go, to be honest."

"And oh wow! That looks like Haz would if, well, you know, she were a boy..." you added awkwardly.

"I *AM* A BOY!" The child in question roared indignantly.

"Right," you hastily assured him. "I'm not saying you're not, just that OUR Haz is... different..."

"How can YOU have a Haz?" The other Harry asked out of sheer curiosity. "After all, I gave birth to him while still in Voldemort's so-called care. Did YOU get impregnated by him too?"

The both of us gaped at him in profound astonishment.

"You... you mean... he really IS Voldemort's child?!" You somehow managed to ask.

The other you narrowed his eyes in a fiercely protective manner. "They ALL are."

I'm dead certain we were both having minor heart attacks over that. I had my hand pressed to my chest and felt like I couldn't quite breathe for a long moment. This apparently pulled you out of your complete shock and made you rush over to me and pull me into your arms.

"Are you alright, my dragon? Is this too much for you? Do you need to rest for a bit? I would HATE if you lost either of the babies because of this!"

I shook my head. "I'm fine. The babies are fine, I'm almost certain. I'm just... having a hard time wrapping my head around all of this. If I take the boosting potions I'm supposed to take but forgot, I should be back to normal."

"Alright," you murmured, summoning the potions for me to drink. "I don't care WHAT else is going on, I'll make you go on bed rest if I have to! I'll call in Healer Rowe to make it an order if that's what it takes to get you to listen!"

I shook my head again. "I'm fine. Let me just sit at the table. We'll call for some tea and all of us can calm down."

"Good idea," you agreed. "But we sent both our elves off to wrangle the dogs."

"So call for Anise since Orion almost certainly doesn't need her at the moment," I suggested.

"Good point! Anise! Can you please bring us tea and biscuits for 8 people - and add a few biscuits and some applesauce for Zaire."

"Yes Master Harry."

"Oh, and I could really go for some golden starlet caviar on rye crackers. With some tuna sashimi on the side," I added.

"Yes Master Draco."

"UGH! You're having weird cravings already??? I was hoping they would wait until closer to your second trimester!" You exclaimed in dismay.

"My cravings are not weird!" I insisted defensively.

"Are so!"

"They're far better than your horrible *coffee!*"

"Fuck off! My coffee is lovely, ta ever so! Actually, Anise! Make my tea a coffee!"

"Yes Master Harry."

"That way I can blow on it in your direction and make you suffer," you threatened me with a playful smirk.

I smirked at you in return. "I happen to think that the smell is the only good thing about it."

"Ugh! Stop flirting while I'm in the room," Sirius groaned even as he petted Amala - who was sitting between me and him and still very much ready to pounce on the other Harry the very second he tried anything.

"Never!" I promised.

Anise popped into the room with our requests, handing everything out silently. This sight - of food ready to be eaten (all the better that it included biscuits) - managed to help you convince Zaire that he would be safe in your lap. We all more or less automatically took a sip of our drink and sighed in relief as the warmth helped us to relax - even if only a little.

The other you decided to continue his explanation. "As I was saying, word got out that one of my kids was fathered by Voldemort, and this kicked off a sort of hunt - a vicious and NASTY hunt. People who are still trying to recover from the horrors he inflicted - even nearly a decade later - have made it their mission to obliterate every last drop of blood he passed on. To that end, no matter WHERE I try to hide my kids; no matter HOW MANY wards I put up so that no would should be able to find us, someone always does."

He paused to gesture to Della. "Delphini IS the one they assume at first because she looks so much like her mother."

I stroked my chin speculatively. "Hmm... I have to wonder if mum purposely uses color spells on my sister Della, because now that I think about it, her hair is a somewhat fake looking blonde and has been for as long as I can recall."

You chuckled. "Actually, during her last firecall - I think you were in bed resting - Narcissa was aghast that Della has added a bit of a soft blue to the tips. When your mum tried to order Della to change it back, Della told her that she looks fabulous with them and will not give them up - besides, YOU occasionally add blue tips to your hair, so why can't she?"

"OH, I'm dead certain mum did NOT like that!" I replied with a chuckle.

"Nearly threatened to stop sending an allowance until Lulu convinced her that it was nothing but a harmless youthful indiscretion," you said with a fond grin. I leaned over and kissed you.

"Er... well, it seems that your *Della* and I have something in common," this Della interjected, giving us both strange looks. She pulled the hood of her jumper down to show off that she had pale fake looking blonde hair with light blue tips. "I decided that I needed to stop looking so much like my stupid mother."

I smiled at her. "Beautiful."

The other Harry was starting to look as if he was more and more certain he simply HAD to be dreaming. "Anyway, when people manage to find us, the moment they see Bel, they change their minds." He gestured to the boy that I thought looked so very familiar, but couldn't quite figure out why.

You solved the mystery for me before I could even think to ask. "He looks like Tom did at that age..."

The other you nodded in agreement. "It's harder for me to remember these days, but I do recall having a fairly clear moment when I remembered looking into the Pensieve with Dumbledore, and seeing young Tom Riddle. With a start, I realized that I was actually staring at Bel."

"Bel?" You questioned curiously.

"Bellerophon," the other you explained. "Which - despite being an actual mythical hero - Voldemort chose simply because it was the closest he could get to Bellatrix. I always thought it was somewhat odd for a man who couldn't feel love for anyone or anything to be so attached to Bellatrix, Nagini, and myself."

He paused to take a sip of tea, and then pointed to the older of the two remaining boys. The one I had originally thought was a younger version of you - or possibly another son we didn't know about. "Tommy is the first child I actually gave birth to. Bellatrix had had Delphini before I was captured. I had Tommy about a year later, she had Bel, and then I had Harrison."

You looked surprised. "You named him Harrison???"

The other you shrugged. "I didn't name any of them, Voldemort did. He had them taken from us the moment they were born and placed in semi adequate care. They were well taken care of for fear of his wrath, but never shown genuine love or ANY real affection. Voldemort didn't believe in such things. He simply took them, gave them names, and then sent them away."

Now you looked confused and even scratched your head. "And... he named HIM Tommy???"

Other you shook his head and laughed. "No, he actually named him Lord Voldemort the Second. We just call him Tommy since our only other real option is Mort... or Voldie…"

Tommy stuck out his tongue in revulsion. "No thank you!"

Other Harry pointed at Harrison. "And when he was born, Voldemort decided to keep it simple: Harry's son. Harrison." Then he grinned at the boy. "I call him Haz - as you somehow knew. The moment I finally managed to kill Voldemort, I went out and searched everywhere I could think of until I found them. From then on, I've done nothing with my life but raise them to the best of my ability."

They all reached over and placed a hand on his hands and arms. It was clear they loved him every bit as much as he loved them. I felt myself smile at this fact even as I felt horrified by the knowledge that the Dark Lord had somehow managed to have four kids, two of which YOU gave birth to. Sort of...

You looked teary eyed, and it seemed to be a combination of the things I was feeling plus several other things I couldn't even begin to guess at at the moment. There was a moment of silence as we stared at them and they stared at us, Harry - the other one - seemed drawn to Sirius in particular, and even though he was REALLY good at hiding his thoughts and emotions, a little bit of longing shone through when he looked at his Godfather.

It was then that Hermione and Ron Apparated in. With Blaise. And Kisa. "What the emergency?" Hermione asked and then gasped when she realized that she was looking at two of you. Ron was bugged eyed. Blaise was definitely confused, and Kisa looked amused.

She walked over and kissed me on the cheek. "Nephew. Why have you Polyjuiced someone into Harry? Are you planning something Kinky? If so, I should probably leave. And come to think of it, that would explain why Blaise and I weren't invited in the first place."

I kissed her cheek in return. "You're looking particularly lovely today, Auntie."

"Oh, Blaise and I are getting along extremely well now that they're all moving to Russia with me."

Meanwhile, the other Harry was gaping at Hermione like he certain he was seeing a ghost. We both seemed afraid all of a sudden that HIS Hermione had been killed in the war or something. But thankfully, we were wrong.

"Mione! You're BLACK!!!"

Hermione gave him the most confused look I've ever seen on her face. "I've ALWAYS been black..."

"Not in MY world!" Other Harry blurted out.

"This calls for more tea..." I muttered.

But as for right now, I'm actually tired again, so I'm going to leave off my recap here and finish up once I've had a nap - since I will more than likely be woken by one or both of the kids for a night feeding.

Good night, love you,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to Wesley who was hoping that the Sirius arc was actually headed toward an evil Harry twin, lol. I apparently churned that around in my mind for a bit, and then I remembered that I have a storyline (in a different fic) that would be PERFECT for this, et voila!
> 
> For those who are interested and haven't already read it, the backstory for OTHER Harry is straight out of a different fic of mine. It's not necessary to read it as it will be explained in the coming chapters, but if you do want to read it, here's a link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10072061


	84. Chapter 84

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry isn't sure what to think and Draco finishes his recap.

Friday November 6th – around 2AM  
MY Draco,

I feel badly for those kids. I feel terrible for the other me. I feel so sad for a world that had to deal with Voldemort even longer than we did. But I don't like him and I don't trust him. Other Harry, not Voldemort. I mean, I also don't like or trust Voldemort, but I was saying that I don't like or trust other me.

He's. He's just so. He's hard. Ok fine! He was captured by Voldemort, forcefully impregnated, and then had that baby taken away. Twice. And then when everything seems over and he's in love with his children, the "good" guys start coming after his kids? Fuck, ok, I don't blame him for being hardened by that, I would be as well. I just worry that his arrival is going to mean bad things for my family, and we've had such a rough time of it lately that my immediate response is to remove the threat.

Stop giving me that look! I know they're just innocents. I know they need saving. I know they need our help. Can I just mope in peace for five minutes before I do the right thing? Ugh, stop making me be a good man.

There's a chance that it may be my hormones talking. I just did not like the way he looked at MY Draco and at MY Sirius. It's like, get your own man and your own back from the dead Godfather! Right? Alright there's a chance that he wasn't looking at you the way I look at you, probably just confused because YOU KISSED HIM! Yeah, left that out of the initial introductions didn't you? I know, I know, you thought he was me, and it only makes sense that when you saw me you would want to get.with.this. Stop being so damn reasonable!

Zaire freaked out when he saw the group, he hid behind me in terror and called him a bad man! That has to mean something right? Kids are intuitive. Or he was crazy confused, saw someone wearing his Daddy's face, and is automatically distrustful of strangers and men in general.

Alright, I will be the softhearted, naïve, ooey gooey savior everyone expects me to be. Those poor kids obviously deserve all the love in the world. And if they adore him, and he so obviously adores them, I suppose he has to be a fairly good guy. Doesn't mean I haven't already ordered Aster to shadow him. What? I may be nice, but I'm not stupid. Viona agreed with me, it's why she let me use Aster for this. Operation Hardow (get it? Harry-Shadow, shadow Harry, Har-dow!)

Shut up, I'm hilarious.

I suppose we've got quite the ordeal ahead of us. First thing I guess we need to do is figure out how to get them home. Or, if his magic knew they were in such danger as to send him to another universe, or dimension, or reality, whatever you want to call it, then sending them home might be the worst thing we can do. I'm going to have to talk to him aren't I? So then we need to figure out logistics. There CAN'T be two Harry's, Della's, and Haz's. Well I suppose there's only a Harrison and a Hazel so that one's not such a big deal. Where are they going to live? How is he going to support them? How has he already been supporting them?

Oh, and if they are staying, step number one needs to be changing Tommy's name to something that ISN'T Lord Voldemort the Second. We'll have to contact Kingsley once we have things figured out and get them all documented. Names and birth certificates and back stories. Good thing that ghastly tattoo on his neck makes it quite obvious that he's not me. Fuck, now I feel bad, it's not like he chose to put it there.

Merlin, no matter the universe people will just continuously let you down won't they? In both worlds the war was won, the light persevered, but there were enough people who thought they were the good guys and used that shield to become monsters. We had the vigilantes trying to take out any child born of a death eater, and in his world they try taking out children born from Voldemort. "Blood status shouldn't matter!" shout the half bloods as they try to kill people over their blood. "No shite!" yell the rest of us that aren't morons.

I hope you're enjoying your rest, I was too wound up to sleep so I took all the night feedings. It's alright, I got some much needed quiet snuggle time with my two littlest loves. But now I think I might be sleepy enough to join the rest of you in your dreams.

Wait! I forgot because of all the drama, but your playground you're building? I have an idea. I know you were talking playground and how needed it was. But as usual, you went big and started talking about hiring people to cook and hiring people to teach martial arts. It sounds like what you're thinking of is a community center. If the funding can be figured out, often underprivileged communities will create a safe space for their youth to keep active and out of trouble. Depending on how much space there is, you could do a park with an attached community center. Then you could have the occasional class or affordable meal, whatever the community needs. And it will be especially important during the very cold months that those kids have somewhere to go that is nice and warm.

I love you,  
YOUR Harry

P.S. Hermione's white in his world? So weird.

 

Friday November 6th – After Draco wakes up, BUT talking about Thursday still.  
My reason for living,

You don't trust the other you? Hmm... Well, I suppose that makes some sense as he really is like a viper just waiting to strike. I think he's had way too much to deal with in his life, and he's no longer quite as concerned with what is good so much as what keeps his family safe.

But getting back to my recap.

After Hermione and Other Harry stared at each other for a long moment, I gestured for our friends to sit down. The table had already been a bit crowded, but now it was positively overloaded! We don't usually have any of our actual meals in here, and so this table is really only for the occasional quick snack or tea break - but that's not really important.

Once the new arrivals were seated, I gave them a quick recap. "This is actually another Harry - as far as we can tell. He's from a different, erm… world. A world in which the Dark Lord captured him and forced him to give birth to two of these kids."

"*FUUUCK!*" Blaise exclaimed in extreme commiseration. "That's rough!"

Other Harry tilted his head to the side as he nodded in agreement.

"But apparently, Harry managed to kill The Dark Lord at some point and find his kids. Now he's trying to raise them but they're in so much danger from vigilantes who want to kill his kids for having the biological father they do, that they cast a spell to bring them to safety, and it brought them here," I explained, essentially bringing them up to speed.

"And Della was still Bellatrix' daughter, I take it?" Hermione added curiously, looking Delphini over with a soft smile.

The girl in question nodded in confirmation. "I prefer Delphini, or if you MUST call me a nickname, Del. Della sounds like a baby's name."

"Ah, well, that's one potentially awkward name mix up avoided," I murmured dryly as I took a sip of tea. "I suppose we might have to make a point to call Haz Hazel for the foreseeable future."

"Where is Hazel?" Ron wondered, looking around.

"Viona and the almost triplets are watching anime in the entertainment room," you answered. And then, because you could see Kisa open her mouth to ask, you added: "And Lanie is at Unity House."

Kisa held up her Insta-owl Mobile. "Actually, I was going to say that I just sent her an Insta-owl asking why she wasn't here witnessing the drama first hand."

Sure enough, before we could respond, Elena Apparated into the room. "What drama?!"

Kisa grinned at her unrepentantly impishly. "You have another dad!"

"I WHAT???" Elena blurted out incredulously as she gaped at Other Harry. "DADS! How is this possible???"

We both shrugged and muttered in unison: "I have no idea."

"Did you check him for Polyjuice? Glamours? Have you made him submit to Veritaserum or Legilimency???"

"There hasn't been time!" I cried out.

"No. body. say. a. word! I'll be right back!" She announced.

"Elena!" I called out even as you cried: "Lanie!"

A moment later, she was back with River, Siri, and Zwei. Holding up a finger, she ordered. "Still. no. words." Then she disappeared again. It took her a couple of seconds, but she reappeared with Viona, Eri, Ori, and Haz. "One more minute, please." She disappeared again.

"Daaaaads… What's going on?" River asked since he was staring at Other Harry and periodically looking around at the rest of us. Zwei took advantage of the fact that my lap was empty and climbed in it.

"HEY! Della's home! Wait, what the? HAZ???" Viona blurted out, pointing at first Delphini and then Harrison. And THEN Hazel. "But, but, but..."

Hazel and Harrison were gaping at each other, both blurting out: "Bloody hell!" And no one had the heart to chide them for it.

Elena returned for the final time, sounding a bit out of breath. She had Miles, Colm, and Sammie with her.

"Miles!" We both cried out joyously. "Sammie!"

"I'm here too," Colm muttered, rolling his eyes.

Miles kissed your cheek before kissing mine. "What's up, da- aaaads…" He had now spotted other Harry in the crowd and was definitely confused.

I sighed and rubbed my temples. "This is exactly what I was hoping to avoid."

"Am I missing a party?" Leah asked as she entered the room carrying Jaz. Before giving us a chance to answer, she held up Jasmine and grinned. "Little madam showed off her signing skills by demanding her daddy, rather than Apparate right to him."

I shifted Zwei to the side a little so that I could be ready for Jaz when she inevitably popped into my arms. Which took her about a second. "Hi there love."

She smiled at me and tapped her mouth in the sign for food.

"You could have Leah feed you," I somehow managed to sign with her and Zwei in my lap. Then I couldn't help but count out loud: "Elena, River, Viona, Eris, Orion, Hazel, Siri, Zwei, Zaire, and Jaz makes ten. Plus Miles and Sammie!"

"Hi Grandpa Draco," Sammie said as she kissed my cheek. Once again, she was dressed as a boy to the point that I'm just going to call her him for the rest of this email. "Hi Grandpa Harry!" He kissed you too.

I KNOW you knew that we had far more important things to talk about, but you were staring at Colm's abdomen significantly and seemed dying to ask if the potion had taken. I laughed and tried to grab your hand, but Jaz grabbed the hand I was reaching out with and used it to tap her mouth. So I gave her a cracker full of caviar.

"DRACO!!" You cried out in alarm.

"WHAT?!" I wondered, baffled. "Viona was eating caviar at her age!"

This seemed to take you back for a moment and you pinched your chin in thought. "Oh... I suppose she was. Just don't feed her the raw tuna, ugh..." You ended with a sigh because it was already too late.

"See? She LOVES it!"

"DRACO..."

"DADS!!!!!" All (well, most of) the kids shouted. "Stop flirting and tell us what in the fluffity fluff is going on!!!"

Sighing, I recapped things YET AGAIN! When I was done, our kids were silent for a shocking three or four seconds. Then River cleared his throat.

"So... What you're saying is that we now have MORE brothers, a sister, *and* another dad?"

"I suppose," I said in a tone of defeat.

Ron waved his hand as if dismissing that. "NO, the REAL question is: Are you eating Sashimi? And you didn't offer me any?!"

I pulled my plate to me protectively. "Oh hell no, Ron, I NEED this! If you want some, get your own!"

Ron snorted in amusement. "What are you, pregnant again?"

"Welllll…" I rolled out, looking away and rubbing the back of my neck.

"YOU ARE!" Hermione squealed happily. "Our babies are going to be the same age! They'll start Hogwarts together - well, IF they decide to go."

"Oi! I'm pregnant too," you blurted out, probably a teeny bit jealous.

"OH HARRY!" Hermione wailed, throwing her arms around you since she was sitting right next to you.

"FUCK! That's TWELVE kids!" Blaise roared in disbelief.

"Thirteen if you count me," Miles volunteered, holding up his hand with a devilish grin.

I cupped a hand alongside my face and tried my best to focus on my food.

Ron gaped at me before roaring: "NO! You're having twins! Aren't you?!"

I cast a helpless look at you. "So much for planning a special announcement."

"Erm... Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Other Harry demanded, looking a bit overwhelmed by all the people in the room.

"Oh hell no!" Elena shut him down. "You can just sit there and wait your turn, mister dad from another world!" She slung her arm over Miles' shiny sequined shoulder and gave him a smirk. He must have been snatched while getting ready for a performance later on, because he was in full dress with makeup on, but his hair was his own, heavily pinned so that he could put on a wig when ready.

He smirked, apparently reading her mind. "Ooo! A serenade?"

"Definitely!" Elena confirmed. "Since our dads are both pregnant, we absolutely CANNOT pass up the chance to sing to them!"

"Definitely!" Miles agreed.

"Baby Mine, don't you cry," Elena began.

"Baby Mine, dry your eyes," Miles added.

"Rest your head, close to my heart," they sang together.

"Never to part, baby of mine," the princess, the triplets, and Sammie joined in

River sighed, and then joined in with: "Little one, when you play, pay no heed to what they say."

I reached over (now that Jaz was 'helping' me demolish the food on my plate. As was Zwei) and took your hand in mine. Since you couldn't kiss me, you kissed Zaire, and then Siri, who was half trying to sit in your lap too. Our boys must still ask for Elena to sing this to them from time to time, because they were able to join in too.

"Let your eyes sparkle and shine, never a tear, baby of mine."

Neither of us could resist any longer. "From your hair down to your toes, you're not much, goodness knows, but you're so precious to me, sweet as can be, baby of mine..."

At this point, you were sobbing, I was very close to tears, Hermione was leaking, Ron was shaking his head at her in amusement, Padfoot was chuckling and rolling his eyes at you, and Other Harry looked a bit aghast.

Not daunted in the slightest, Elena picked a much more upbeat song. "You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you."

We all joined in right away this time. "You'd be like heaven to touch, I want to hold you so much. I LOVE YOU BABY -"

You know what? I NEEDED this so much! After everything that has happened in such a short time, I needed to just let go of everything and relax. It only got better when we clapped or drummed on the table to keep the beat.

No fools, the older kids all summoned their instruments, knowing Elena had at least one more in her. Sure enough:

"WE. ARE. FAMILY!" This was naturally a favorite, so all the kids had the music to this in their mental repertoire, and we were ALL singing it at the top of our lungs. Ron, Hermione, Blaise, Kisa, and even Sirius joined in on this one since he knew it from his childhood. Only Other Harry and his kids weren't singing, and looked baffled.

When the song was finished, we all burst into laughter, which bubbled around the room for a minute or so, but as everyone was sobering up, I wiped the tears of mirth from my eyes and took a cleansing breath.

"Ah, anyway, so. As I see it, the problem at hand - first and foremost - is making sure you five have a place to stay until and while we figure things out. What do you say, Harry, my love? Shall I order the elves to prepare a suite in the Manor?"

"Manor?" Other Harry questioned, suddenly looking around and smacking himself on the forehead. "I should have noticed sooner."

"Problem?" You asked slowly.

He glared at you. "How can YOU ask that? Malfoy Manor was where Hermione was tortured by Bellatrix! It served as Voldemort's base of operations until he moved it to the Minister's Mansion after winning the war!"

"VOLDEMORT WON?!?!?!?!" You, Hermione, and Ron roared even as Blaise and I shouted: "The Dark Lord won the war?!?!?!"

And then it was a sort of jumbled mix of: "What?"s and "But!"s and "HOW???"s

Other Harry sat back warily. "Of course he won the war. How do you think he hasn't???"

"But HARRY won the war!" Ron cried out, jabbing his thumb in your direction.

"By killing Voldemort in the Final Battle at Hogwarts on the Second of May, 1998," Hermione added.

"Ah, so that's where things went different in this world," Other Harry murmured, biting his lip in thought. He then tilted his head and frowned at me oddly. "Leading me to somehow have kids with *Malfoy* - a LOT of kids!"

"We're married too," I informed him with a playful smirk.

"Yep," you confirmed, holding up your left hand to show off your ring. "I've been Harry Malfoy for over ten years now."

"MALFOY!!!" Other Harry roared in shock.

You shrugged. "Why be Harry Potter? Harry Potter never had a choice in anything, but Harry Malfoy has the best of everything."

I kissed your hand. "Naturally, only the best for a Malfoy."

Other Harry looked a bit peaky at this point. "I think I need some fresh air!"

I swept a hand out to invite him to take a stroll if he wished. "You can go anywhere on Manor grounds you like. MY Harry has a nice running track he likes to keep worn down. If you feel the need to Apparate away, you'll need to return to the gate and ring the bell to be let in," I said even though I'm honestly not sure. He might have access through the wards simply because he is you. "When you're feeling better, we should have a suite ready for you and your kids to stay in."

Other Harry looked ready to start shouting again, so I held up a hand. "At least for tonight. Let us feed you, give you a place to rest, and maybe give us a chance to talk again when we've all had a moment or two to process this. THEN if you have ANYWHERE you want to go, feel free to leave in the morning."

I could see Other Harry do a trick I used to do all the time, take a deep breath so he could compose his thoughts and face. "Alright. Fine. Just, erm… You said that Voldemort was killed, but what about Bellatrix? Or Lucius Malfoy, for that matter?"

"My aunt was also killed in the battle," I assured him, and then tried to sound casual as I added: "And my parents are both alive and well, and NOT a threat to you or your children."

You shook your head. "They really aren't. Narcissa will act like the perfect hostess while you are here, and Lulu will glower and glare at you, but never actually do anything."

"WHAT will I not do?" My father asked curiously as he and my mother entered the room. "And are you having a party without us?"

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID?!" Leah yelled, then blushed and tried to cover her face. "Sorry..."

With a sigh, I set about explaining everything. AGAIN...

Sugar pie honey bunch, you know that I love you, I can't help myself, I love you and nobody else,  
Draco  
P.S. Except for our kids. And my parents. And my siblings. And our circle. Wow, that song is rather selfish, isn't it?

P.P.S. Yes, I did make it to therapy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and then the shite hit the wind charm, lol.
> 
> No actually, I think other Harry is in a bit of shock as he's sort of just going with things at this point, assuming he'll wake up sooner or later, lol ^_^


	85. Chapter 85

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A family dinner, but no family dinner is ever quiet at Malfoy Manor.

Friday November 6th  
My love,

I think the Viper and I have come to an understanding. Yeah, saying "other me" and "other Harry" has gotten confusing, so I am just going to refer to him as the Viper. Except, damnit, that sounds like a cool nickname. I get "Chosen One" and "Boy Who Lived" and he gets "The Viper"?

I absolutely needed a run this morning. Not only had it been a few days since I'd had a solid run in, but I had so much steam I had to let out somehow. Well, I made my way to my track and there he was just jogging away. Yeah, jogging, he's obviously not really a runner. Ok, apparently I got an extra dose of bitch hormones this pregnancy. Please feel free to take everything I say with a grain of salt ok? I preemptively apologize for any flying off the handle I do in the future, I'm sure I won't mean it. I caught up with him, he and I just ran silently next to each other for probably a kilometer or so before I broke the silence.

"I have sympathy for everything you've gone through, I thankfully can't even imagine what you went through carrying two children and having them taken from you. I want a good life for you and your children, but I can see what the others are ignoring because you're wearing my face."

"What's that?" he said a bit snidely, and a bit out of breath as well.

"You're willing to do anything to save your family. That's a policy I can get behind. But I will not let you hurt my family in the process."

He scoffed a bit, "I've no plans to hurt your family."

He was much more Slytherin than everyone was giving him credit for, but I was almost sorted there for a reason, "I can hear the double edge to those words. You may not have plans to hurt them, but you will if you think you have no other choice." His lack of denial was exactly what I was expecting, "I am the happy Dad, I am a pushover, the kids know if they want extra sweets I am the one to go to. But I killed a man less than a month ago and the only regret I have is that I didn't make it painful. Your children are safe from me, but I will not hesitate to end you if you breathe wrong near my family."

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared me down like he wanted to call my bluff. Whatever he saw in my eyes seemed to convince him I was telling the truth. He took a deep breath and seemed to shake off his mask a bit, seeing as it wasn't working on me, "I trust exactly four people in this world, and they are inside watching cartoons with your children …"

I cut him off, "Anime"

"Sure, anime, whatever. I think we're both more alike than we gave the other credit for. We'd both kill for our children, you just have more of them."

I had to laugh at that, "yeah, a lot more!" Then I sobered up a bit, "Look, I feel I already know your children Harry, two of them look so much like children I already love it's uncanny. It never takes me long to fall for a child. I promise you I will protect them from anyone, I just need to know if I need to be guarding my back from you while I do it."

"You'll protect them like they were your own?" He seemed confused by this.

"I will, it's not something hard for me to promise."

"Even though all of them are Voldemort's and two of them are also Bellatrix'?"

"Their genetics don't make any difference to me. No one in our home will hold the biology of their birth against them. And I know more than anyone, they're not Voldemort's or Bellatrix' - not really. They're yours."

For the first time he seemed genuinely emotional, "I've never heard anyone say that about them. Even those I'm closest to are good to them, and treat them well, but I can see reservation in their eyes, like they're just waiting for them to start torturing muggle children or for their eyes to go red."

I saw red, for him and for his children, "No one will treat them that way here. I won't allow it."

And for the first time I saw my own grin pointed at me, "Then you'll never need to guard your back from me."

We shook hands, and I laughed a bit, "I'm glad that's over, now I can stop running like an old man!" and I took off at my regular pace.

I think they'll end up staying for at least a short while, it's not like they really have anywhere else to go anyway. Although now that Sirius is pretty much a regular in the Manor, the five of them might be more comfortable in the cottage. But I think this evening after all the children are in bed, we should all sit down and have a discussion just the adults. Not that I didn't love our giant sing-a-long, but we definitely got way off track.

I think everyone was trying to keep the mood light and joking around, but I am actually upset about something. You know how much I hate putting my foot down. But... I know he's biologically me. I know he needs help. I even understand the fact that if he stays, he and his children are going to be a huge presence in our lives. But. He is not my children's father. He will never be their father. I could feel my blood boiling every time someone joked about him being a third father or an extra dad.

I don't actually mind if the kids see each other as extra siblings, I think cousins might be more appropriate since they have different parents, but I suppose it's really all about how long they stay, how connected we all become, and how the kids themselves want to identify.

But speaking of lightheartedness in the drama that was yesterday, I cannot believe Ron figured out you were having twins! He can be the most oblivious person I know. He had no idea Hermione was carrying Roderick and Bianca, and he was sleeping with her! One flushed look and averting your gaze and suddenly he's Trelawney making one of her two legitimate predictions!

And of course I sobbed through Baby Mine. I'm not dead inside!

I love you Husband Mine,  
Harry

 

Friday November 6th  
Mi Corazon,

Well, it seems as if tonight went a lot better than yesterday. Although, it didn't seem like it was headed in that direction. My mother set her house elf on us all until we were gathered in the dining room for a family dinner. Even the Viper and his kids.

See, what we had forgotten was that it was one of the nights in which my siblings were planning to come home for the weekend. We were all sitting at the long formal dining table - since it was just about the only way we were going to fit all of us at the same table - when the clock chimed six and my parents stood up to stand by the fireplace. I stood next to them.

The fire turned green and Eliza leapt out of it. "Eliza Malfoy reporting for family dinner! Mum, Dad! I missed you so much! Draco! I heard you adopted another boy since we left for Hogwarts!" She exclaimed joyfully as she passed out hugs.

Before we could do anything other than hug her, Sebastian emerged from the fire. "WHY did I have to come home? It's always so noisy here!"

"We missed you too, son," my father remarked sardonically, pulling him into a hug, which I notice he returned even though he looked like he'd rather lick acid.

Della burst forth next. "I don't care WHAT you say, mum, I'm NOT getting rid of the blue!"

Mum sighed a bit wearily, and then smiled at her. "Good thing it seems to be growing on me." She gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Draco!" Della exclaimed as she hugged me next. "Is it true you adopted a little boy?"

"Definitely," I confirmed. "His name is Zaire."

"Where is he, oo! I think I see him!" She rushed to give you a kiss on the cheek and put her smiley face right in Zaire's. "Hello little man! I'm your auntie!"

"Can we just eat now, please?" Gavin asked, having already hugged our parents and then me.

"What's wrong?" Mum asked.

"Nothing," Gavin denied smoothly.

"Uh-huh," our parents both murmured in disbelief.

Della laughed. "Gavin got caught snogging Daniella and has to serve detention Sunday night!"

"BUT YOU'RE ONLY 11!" Our mother protested.

I held up my hands and walked back to the table. "Don't look at me, I didn't have my first kiss until I was 14."

Mum rolled her eyes at me, and then faced Gavin again. "NOT that any of you are actually old enough for that yet, but if one of you had to be caught snogging already, it should be Sebastian!"

Eliza snorted and ruffled her brother's hair. "Sebastian's not going to snog it unless it's made from a potion!"

"Oi!" Sebastian protested with a dark glare at her.

The Viper was staring a bit bug eyed at Sebastian. "Did Snape shrink?" He asked, making a gesture with his hands as if illustrating something getting smaller. You shook your head with a smirk, but didn't have a chance to explain before:

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!!!" Della shouted as she spotted Delphini.

"Della! Language!" Our mother chided.

"But! But! DO YOU SEE THAT?!?!" Della protested.

I laughed. "Della, meet Delphini. Delphini, this is Della Andromeda Malfoy."

"You know, I didn't really believe you existed until just now," Delphini remarked. "It's WEIRD having a lookalike!"

Della turned to look at me. "And... HOW do I have a lookalike???"

"Oh no," I stated, waving my hands back and forth. "I'M not going to tell the whole story again. Let the Princess tell you."

"On it!" Viona stated with a wicked grin. "So, dearest Auntie, it seems the Dark Lord shagged your mother so hard she had twins! Surprise!"

"VIONA!!!" We blurted out incredulously.

River stroked his chin. "Well if you think about it, she's right."

You held up your hands to nip any speculation on the topic in the bud. "I'LL explain it!" So you did.

"Whoa..." Della exhaled in awe, now looking at Delphini from about an inch away from her face. "So... you're what I would look like if I had insane snake face for a dad instead of Rodolphus?" She then turned to look at our parents. "I'm really scared all of a sudden! I don't see a difference!"

Mum had the grace to chuckle rather than look worried. "Oh, my love, we are absolutely CERTAIN that your father was Rodolphus."

"Are you?" Della pressed in concern.

Sebastian hit her upside the back of the head. "Don't be ridiculous! OF COURSE they know! Remember? That WOMAN - Gina Mitchell - had Eliza with Rodolphus, had me with my father, then had Gavin with papa, and YOU were able to confirm Eliza's paternity because you have the same father. Unless you're saying that Gina Mitchell somehow managed to have Eliza with the Dark Lord."

Our dad shook his head. "No, of that we're certain that not only had she not met our Lord at that point, but we've also had paternity verified by testing Rodolphus. Our girls are definitely Lestranges."

Della sighed in relief. Then she patted Delphini on the cheek. "I'm so sorry if it seems like I think less of you because of who your father is. I don't. We have the same mother, so that makes us like sisters."

Delphini rolled her eyes. "I have enough siblings, thanks."

Della chuckled. "Besides, it could be so much worse... You could have the same father as Sebastian!'

"Oi!" Sebastian protested indignantly. "Severus Snape was a great man!"

"IF YOU SAY SO..." Della sang out.

"That's it! I'm slipping a Draught of Living Death in your nightcap tonight!" Sebastian growled the promise.

"Sebastian Severus Malfoy, you will do no such thing! AM I UNDERSTOOD?!" Mum chided, staring him down.

He sighed. "Yes mum..."

At this point, the Viper stopped staring at Sebastian in fascination and looked around he table. "So... erm… you adopted all four of them?"

"Yes," my mother confirmed with a polite smile.

"Even though..." he was obviously struggling to figure out how to say it.

"Well," my mother answered his unasked question. "Della was born of my sister, so really, who better to love her and raise her to be a beautiful young woman? And Gavin is actually the son of my husband, of course we couldn't NOT raise him. Sebastian is the son of a dear friend, and Eliza is related to all of them in one way or another. THEY are a family with or without us, and it's so much better with us."

"Agreed," my father murmured, grabbing her hand and kissing it.

"Besides, Harry runs an orphanage and he and Draco seemed determined to take care of every child on the planet. It only seems right to do our part too," mum added with a playful smirk.

"Orphanages, plural," I added with a soft chuckle. "But don't ask me how many because I've lost count!"

You laughed and kissed me. "That reminds me, our next trip should be either Unity California or Unity Australia. That way, we can get a break from the cold once winter fully sets in."

I smirked. "You mean you DON'T want to go to Unity Canada next?"

"Arse!" You accused before kissing me again.

"Hey dad," Orion interrupted, wisely preventing us from getting lost in it. "Can we have our family bath in the Onsen tonight? I LOVE the contrast of the chill air and the heat of the water."

I shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"ONSEN!!!" Pretty much every child in the room (aside from our visitors) cheered.

The rest of dinner and even the family bath went surprisingly well. We told the story of how we came to adopt Elena and informally claim Miles as one of our own. Then we talked about how we fell in love with and adopted Jasmine - that from the moment we first held her, we fought over WHO would hold her and never wanted to put her down. Basically, that she was love at first sight, haha.

After that, we told the whole story about seeing Zaire when we went to Unity Africa, and both of us thinking that he might be ours, but not really sure because we already have SO MANY kids, and at that point, we'd just found out about the bun in your oven, and then talking about it on the cruise after many days of quietly thinking it over, and then just KNOWING that it was meant to be. So much so that we teamed up to protect him from his birth father when he tried to steal him back.

But the best part might have been when Hazel tossed her dinner bun at me from across the table to get my attention. "Hey, tell my story dad!"

"Are you sure?" I asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah! I LOVE hearing it!" She exclaimed insistently.

"Oh... well it started when Harry got a notice that there was a woman claiming paternity against him, but he thought it was a joke because he's never been with a woman. Only it wasn't a joke because a certain woman had used some of Harry's hair and a modified Polyjuice potion to change her boyfriend into Harry for the night. They miscast the protection spells and conceived our darling Hazel. We probably would have never known, except that the modified potion managed to transfer some of Harry's DNA to the most adorable baby boy in the world. He had Harry's hair and eyes, everything but the scar!" I laughed. "Even they thought so because they jokingly named you Harrison, not knowing why you didn't look like them."

Hazel flipped her long curly hair over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue. "Such a BOY'S name!

You looked a little teary eyed. "Then your birth parents were both arrested - one for stealing and selling celebrity hair such as mine, and the other for making and selling illegal potions such as the modified Polyjuice - and you were brought to Unity House. I held you in my arms and looked you over. Your perfect teeny fingers and toes. Your eyes - my eyes, my mother's eyes - your cute little nose. I had a major decision to make; do I give you a potion to strip away my DNA and turn you into who you would have been without me? Or do I strip away the other man's DNA? And then – either way – do I put you up for adoption - since your birth parents lost their rights to you. It WASN'T an easy decision - we'd both just had babies after all, and we had Viona and Elena and River - it just seemed like we already had too many children. BUT... my heart knew I had room for at least one more, so I gave you the potion that made you mine and brought you home to meet your other daddy."

Hazel grinned at us brilliantly. "For which I am eternally grateful! If I had to go back to my criminal birth parents, or be adopted by ANYONE else on the planet, I'm almost certain they would have made me pretend to be a boy my whole life!"

"I have no idea how anyone could do such a thing to a child," you stated, shaking your head.

"Barbarians!" I added in disapproval.

"WAIT!!!" Harrison blurted out, gaping at Hazel. "You mean to say, you're actually A BOY!!!"

Hazel glared at him. "AM. NOT!!!"

"But... They just said... you were born a boy..." Harrison murmured in confusion.

"Just because I was BORN one way, doesn't make it true!" Hazel defended fiercely.

"YES IT DOES!!!" Harrison roared, obviously confused.

"DADDY!" Hazel pouted at you.

"You know better than to care what others think about you," you reminded her.

"Malfoys MAKE the rules, or they bend the rules to their will," my father murmured. "They do NOT conform unless there's something in it for them."

"Oh sure, he says that NOW," I muttered.

"Wait," the Viper interjected. "So... you DIDN'T have your Haz??? You... got lucky...?"

You let out a full bodied, mildly sarcastic laugh. "Oh sure! It SOUNDS lucky now! But at the time, it was just another example of fate screwing with me!" Then you blew a kiss at Hazel. "But I wouldn't trade my daughter for the world."

"Aww, I love you so much!" Hazel purred.

"Love you too," we both told her.

"It's not where you come from," Elena began.

"It's where you belong," Viona and Eris joined in.

"Nothing I would trade, I wouldn't have it any other way," River, Orion, Siri, and Zwei joined in.

"You're surrounded, by love and you're wanted," we joined in.

Which means that our entire 'little' family except Zaire, Jaz, and Hazel were now singing to her. "So never feel alone, you are home with me, right where you belong."

Hazel decided to get up and walk around the table passing out kisses to her siblings and us. She ended by wrapping her arms around Eris and holding her tight. "Also, if they hadn't kept me, I wouldn't have my twin sister and best friend."

"Neither would I!" Eris replied with a loving smile.

"Oi! What about me?!" Orion protested. "I am ACTUALLY her twin!"

"Do you really think we don't love you?" Eris asked with a laugh.

Anyway, after dinner, we showered off and piled into the Onsen. The Viper and his kids were nearly gobsmacked to be invited to join, but since they *also* tend towards nudism, decided there wasn't a good reason not to. I apologize if you think I was staring at the Viper's body, but he just has so many scars that I couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten them.

After that, we put the younger kids to bed, sent the older kids to basically have a bit of a party in which they watched tween movies and ate junk food. As for us, we had Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Elena with us while we talked to the Viper.

He asked us questions so he could figure out what things about our world were different than his. Then we asked him questions about his world, and he pulled on a hard shell and told us:

"During the Final Battle, when Voldemort thought he killed me, he had me taken away. Everyone had no choice but to believe that he'd killed me, and so Voldemort won the war. He then set about taking over as much as possible, and whenever he had a chance, he and Bellatrix would torture me and just basically do whatever they could to try and kill me, but nothing they tried worked. Relatively quickly, Voldemort decided that I would make a good carrier for his progeny - which he wanted so that he could eventually groom them into generals of sorts. Successors to carry on conquering the world. Or perhaps rule over it once he had already conquered it.

"In any case, about two years passed, in which time they nearly succeeded in breaking me," the Viper continued stonily. "If not for the ability to shift forms and sort of exist in a somewhat purer animal body with a simpler mind, I don't think I would have survived with my mind intact. Voldemort regularly had me help Bellatrix torture others. He expected me to kill on command. We shared the Elder Wand, but even when I was 'armed,' I couldn't kill him, and believe me, I tried. The wand wouldn't kill him any more than it would kill me. So we were at a bit of a stalemate."

He paused, sighing heavily, the first time he'd shown even the slightest emotion since he began. "On the day that I gave birth to Harrison, the Draco Malfoy of my world arrived with a present for my Master." He sounded a bit far away when he said that, sort of staring THOUGH me. "He had the leaders of the resistance, those who were once my best friends, two of the only people I had ever loved. MY Ron and Hermione. I was dismayed because for as long as I knew they were out in the world working to thwart him, I could keep a tiny spark of hope alive inside."

He ran a hand through his hair. "To my surprise, Malfoy had turned traitor. He was working WITH my friends, and their 'capture' was actually a plot to murder Voldemort. They didn't even know I was still alive until they saw me sitting naked at his feet, him petting me like a loyal dog. When I had a moment to wrap myself around Malfoy as if I planned to poison him with my venom, I looked into his eyes and read his mind. I saw his plans to murder Voldemort, and I told him that I would help if I could, but that there wasn't much I could do unless he happened to have Basilisk Venom - as Voldemort was immune to mine."

At this point, he seemed to come back to himself and smiled faintly at me. "As it happens, he DID have the venom. He transfigured his wand into a dagger, covered it with the venom, and took the opportunity when Ron created a distraction to throw the dagger. He even made a lethal hit, but it was JUST outside the heart and would take a while. So I pulled the dagger out and plunged it right into the center of that evil organ that had no right to claim to be a heart.

"Voldemort died amused by my remaining spirit, giving me a kiss to congratulate me for finally managing to kill him. The Order was called in and set a trap for Voldemort's supporters - which was more or less the same thing as the Ministry by that point. Once that was done, I took off to find my kids. I feel like I've been more or less in hiding with them ever since. Even BEFORE people found out who their father is, it was never really safe for them because Delphini looks like Bellatrix and Bel looks like Tom Riddle, who some people actually DO remember how he looked. I was always afraid someone would recognize them. Even when I kept them from everyone but my friends, it always felt a bit like my friends were showing affection and hiding distrust. I had no idea what I was going to do when they were old enough to go to school and their names were made public."

He sighed again, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his head on them. "And then people found out anyway, and suddenly, NOWHERE in the world was safe..."

There was a moment of sympathetic silence until Hermione cleared her throat. "And... what spell did you cast to bring you here?"

The Viper shrugged. "I didn't really plan it out. We were cornered, hiding in a place they were slowly closing in on, and we had nowhere to go. I couldn't keep Apparating to new places because I was just running too low on magic to side-along four kids, so I hexed open a long enough slash on my arm to get a decent amount of blood flowing. I drew a circle with it, made sure everyone was inside it, and then knelt and prayed/intoned a spell. It was something like: By Merlin and my ancestors, please bring me and mine to someplace safe! ... I was just as surprised as anyone would be that it worked."

We all took a deep breath and simply thought about things in relative silence. But strangely, I think we all also felt a whole lot better. Lighter. Yes, things had happened - horrible HORRIBLE things, but... that was another world and they were safe now.

I don't think he will be able to cast a spell to bring them home, and even if he could, I'm not sure he should.

Ron did what he does best and lightened the mood. Specifically, by changing the subject. "I have excellent news! Blaise and Kisa have been getting along so well lately that their soulmate bond has relaxed to the point that he can shag us again. Sort of. But more importantly, he's back in our bed. I can't tell you how much I missed having him there!"

Hermione smirked. "It doesn't hurt that Kisa has been coming to our bed too."

You grinned at her. "That IS excellent news! It means our plans to throw you a going away party will work out! No one will have to miss any of the playing."

She came over and sat on your lap so that she could kiss you on the cheek. "Ooo… are we all going to Polyjuice into Draco and take turns shagging you again."

You smirked at her. "Well, I suppose you *could* - if you wanted."

"Oi! I think it's only fair that you all Polyjuice into Harry and shag ME to death!" I faux pouted. Then I changed my mind and smirked. "Actually, I'd LOVE for you to Polyjuice into Blaise and shag him for a change."

Ron roared in agreement. "See how well HE can take it!"

Sirius had his hands over his ears. "Ugh! You really have to stop talking about your sex life while I'm in the room!"

Elena sat forward on her chair. "Actually, Padfoot told me you're taking him out to a club this weekend. Are you by chance taking him to Blaise's club."

I shrugged. "I was thinking something a bit less overwhelming for his first time going on the pull like that."

Elena snorted. "At least you know he'll get laid!"

"Oi," Sirius protested with a blush. "I'm right here!"

She smirked at him, then returned her attention to us. "My POINT in asking is that if you take him to Blaise's club, Kisa and I can go to a different club and have a bit of a girl's night out. She's in the mood to just dance. And maybe start a fight. Kick some arse. You know, have fun."

I laughed. "Naturally! And what? You want us to keep Blaise occupied?"

She grinned, glad that I understood her. "Exactly."

"Boys against girls!" Hermione blurted out excitedly. "Blaise can go with Harry, Draco, and Sirius, and *I* can go with you and Kisa!"

"OI! What about me?!" Ron demanded. Hermione got off your lap and went to sit on his and give him a thorough kiss.

"YOU.... can stay home and watch the kids!"

Ron sighed in defeat, hanging his head just a little. "How did I know you were going to say that?"

Laughing, we decided it was time to go to bed, so we stood up to say our goodbyes. You hugged them and exchanged kisses on the cheek. Then I hugged them and exchanged quick smooches. Or, well, I intended them to be quick, but Ron decided to get back at Hermione a bit by snogging me passionately and groping my arse.

You laughed at first, and then you bristled. A moment later, you pulled me free and growled at Ron. "Mine!"

Ron laughed and patted you on the back. "No worries mate. I'm not trying to take him from you, I just remembered that it has been a LONG time since the last play night. I'm sort of tempted to invite us over for the night and race you to your play room."

You stroked your chin speculatively. "It HAS been a while..."

I crowded up behind you and bit your neck. "We can all take turns spanking you..."

"Last one to the play room has to orally please all the others!" You called out, pushing me in front of you so that I HAD to enter the playroom first.

"Yes!" Ron hissed, taking Hermione by the hand and running ahead of us.

We could hear the Viper shudder a bit. "You're all bloody mental!" He called after us as we went. "I can't even IMAGINE doing that with my Ron and Hermione!" Even as Elena cheerfully called out: "GOOD NIGHT!"

Laughing, we made it to the playroom a good minute after Ron and Hermione, who had already stripped off. And then the four of us proceeded to exhaust each other as much as possible. When we were done, our friends left, giving us more hugs and kisses (on your cheeks and neck - you might even have love bites, haha).

You and I went to bed and snuggled up until you fell asleep, and then I realized that I had to recap our day before I could get my mind to shut down, so, now that I've done that, I'm more than ready to sign off and pass out.

Love you like the flower loves the sun,  
Draco  
P.S. Oh, nevermind, it seems like Jaz is awake and ready to dance.


	86. Chapter 86

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry takes Harry to Unity, and then it's club night with Sirius ^_^

Sunday November 8, 2009

Hey Love,

You're off getting ready for our day at the Burrow. I'm pretty sure I have plenty of time to recap our weekend so far. You are the most beautiful man to ever exist, you are continuously flawless, you wake up looking better than I do after hours of prep, but apparently you still want hours to make sure every single person who sees you will be drooling over you. Not really sure why you're going to spend so much time on your hair, I will be running my hands through the silky strands as soon as I can. And not sure why you're taking such care with your outfit, no one at the Burrow will care, and once we hit the clubs tonight I am sure you won't be wearing the entire ensemble very long.

I knew this when I married you, I really should stop being so surprised.

Although, tonight is really about being Sirius' wingmen, making sure he gets a solid pull, and hopefully figures out a little something about his sexuality. So maybe you'll be keeping your hands to myself and letting Sirius have his pick of the crowd. Make sure you tell Blaise to keep his magic to himself; if I know Sirius as well as I do, he would be horrified to find out any of it was less than one hundred percent consensual.

I know, I know, we don't need to have that argument about Blaise's magic not overriding consent. I get it. His magic doesn't really make anyone do something they would NOT want to do, just lowers their inhibitions and societal constructs and brings them to their base sexual instincts. But I promise Sirius would not look at it that way.

Tell Blaise to save his sexy magic for his three loves! I am so relieved and happy that he's back in bed where he belongs with Ron and Hermione. And Kisa too, but I've known her since she was a little girl and I am happily sticking my head in the sand and not imagining that part.

Friday night with Ron and 'Mione was wonderful. It was nice, after a couple days of so much uncertainty, to end the day with the three people who really know me best in the world. You know me better and more than they do, don't worry, but they are certainly a close tie for second place. Being subby for all three of you was so good. Just being on my knees and caring for all of you.

And my spankings! I love when I get spankings from different people. You probably know this in theory, not in practice, but getting spanked by multiple people in one session is a very intense experience. You'd think a spank is a spank is a spank, but everyone really has their own technique. Not just physically either, the verbal part and the way you hold yourself, it's like a fingerprint.

You are obviously the best spanker. At least for me. You know exactly what I need and when. Which is why it made sense for you to go last.

Hermione started out, and her lifetime of bossiness came out as it always does when she gets a bit of power over me. For not truly being attracted to her, she can get me surprisingly hot when she goes all domineering. Her smacks are always fast and sharp. She seems to focus on heating the skin of my arse as quickly as possible.

"Count these for me sweet Harry, let's see how many you can take hmm?"

In my fog I can't remember how many I took, but it was definitely quite a bit. And all my counting was interspersed with her telling me that "Naughty boys get punished don't they Harry, tell me how much you deserve this."

"Oh Merlin do I deserve this! Make me better please! Please! Ungh, twenty!"

She always seems to dance on that edge between the spankings I crave, but my dislike of being degraded or humiliated. She's not ever crossed the line, but it's such a different experience than when you tell me how good I am for taking my spankings and saying that I "deserve" them in a completely different way than how Hermione means it.

Then it was Ron's turn. He goes the opposite way from Hermione, being so complimentary and positive. And his spankings are deep thuds, I barely feel them on the skin but deep in the muscles of my arse. He may as well have been using a paddle instead of those big hands of his. Then, because the night wasn't intense enough as-is, you and Hermione decided to shag right in front of my face. Close enough that I could smell the arousal, hear each wet noise, but not close enough to touch.

"Yeah, Harry, you're so good, best man I know, you deserve each of these spankings you love so much don't you baby?" I think I mumbled some response, but I was well on my way to floating so I have no idea what I was attempting to say. Ron just kept up his running commentary, "Look at our two, aren't they beautiful? You hear that? She's soaking wet, it sounds like a water park. He's making her feel so good, listen to her squealing. Does he make it that good for you baby? Huh? He had better, you deserve to feel good, you deserve to feel the best. See how well you're taking these spankings Love, you're amazing aren't you?"

I'm pretty sure that's the point I started crying. Just cleansing tears pouring down my face while the three of you took such good care of me and each other.

And that's when it was time for the best spankings, my Master's hand on me. You always know just what I need. Hermione, coming down from her most recent orgasm, and Ron resting his hand, just watched as you finished me off. You got all of those spots that were missed. You deepened the redness Hermione colored my arse with, and deepened the ache that Ron started. The entire time you murmured into my ear how much I was loved and wanted, fragile and strong, responsive and filthy.

The last thing I really remember before waking up Saturday morning, was feeling you sliding into me and watching Ron bury his face into yours and 'Mione's combined wetness between her legs. And then I was flying.

I woke up Saturday morning perfectly sore, and deeply sated. And yes, covered in love bites.

I grabbed breakfast and then did something I'd been rolling around in my head for a few days. I went and grabbed the Viper, told him as soon as he was fed and dressed I wanted to show him something. He got ready quickly. I shot a glamour at him, no need to have anyone beside those that already know panic over there being two Harrys. Grabbing his arm, I side-along apparated the both of us.

"The only thing I am prouder of than what I'm about to show you is my family. This is a very very close second. Welcome to Unity House, Harry Potter."

He just nodded and followed me into the house. It was fairly quiet as it was still fairly early in the morning. Kids were still sitting around in their jammies, having a nice lazy Saturday. Well, it was quiet until Maleah noticed me and started shrieking "Uncle Harry!" at me. It didn't take too long before Viper and I were swarmed with Kids. Trying to talk over each other to tell me something that had happened in the last few days, shouting questions about who I had with me, trying to get me to the Park so we could have one of our climbing contests.

I couldn't help but laugh, "You all know I can't do everything at once, you know I'll get to everyone, but right now I just wanted to introduce my friend, erm, James here to all of you and to this house. Just pretend we're not here, go back to whatever you were doing, and we'll find you eventually I promise!"

They all begrudgingly dispersed. Except for Kelly, who has hit that stage of terrible twos where nothing is going to deter her from what she wants. So I gave "James" the tour with a babbling toddler on my hip.

I started by telling him about my original plan and why I felt it was important. No child should have to grow up the way I did, or the way Tom Riddle did. And I obviously didn't know his Del, Tommy, Bel, or Haz at that point, but it was just as important for me that innocent children like his, who happened to be made from someone on the other side of the war, had the chance for a normal, loving, safe, and happy childhood. "Look at this group of children, Har-er-James. That group includes muggleborns, purebloods, squibs, and half-bloods, we don't right now but we have even had the occasional muggle child pass through here. There are children who were orphaned and children who were abandoned. There's at least one child of a death eater in that group, and multiple children from families from the 'light' side. Can't tell the difference can you?"

He looked so shocked, "There are kids like mine in there playing with everyone else?"

"As far as we know, in our world Voldemort didn't create any children of his own, but even if he had we wouldn't care. Until we tested our Della against Rodolphus' DNA, we weren't really sure, and it didn't matter to any of us. She was our little queen and we loved her. You see that tall kid giving piggy back rides to the toddlers?"

"Yeah, those little ones have him wrapped around their fingers don't they?"

"Hah! Yeah, he's a softie for the tiny ones. But the reason I pointed Revenant out is because he is biologically the squib son of Augustus Rookwood."

"Rookwood?!?" he shouted, thankfully quiet enough that he didn't get Reven's attention.

"Yeah, he knows it, we know it, and no one cares. The little curly haired girl on his back, Helena, is a muggleborn orphan. And already pretty powerful, she does more accidental magic than any of the other Kids her age." I watched her giggle and urge him on to run faster, "and that's Unity House; the squib child of a death eater hand in hand with a powerful muggleborn, the only drama is the fact that he is not running quite as fast as she wants him to!"

From there we went room by room, and Kid by Kid. They all wanted to show me things, introduce themselves to "James" and ask us both a million questions. I showed him the music room where there were, as usual, a handful of Kids availing themselves of the instruments. We went to the gym which was empty, no instructors on Saturdays and it's always a bit dead during the school year when most of the older Kids are at Hogwarts anyway.

We went to the kitchens where we snuck biscuits out from under Tabitha's nose. She just laughed and shooed us away so she could finish up lunch in peace. We wandered to the sitting room where Luna smirked at us, said "Hi Harrys, enjoy your visit" and went back to reading stories to Kenneth in her lap. I showed off the Park, which thankfully hasn't gotten TOO large in our absence, I suppose it's a good thing we kept Greg and Millie so busy elsewhere for so many years.

When we were at the Park, he did look around and finally had that "Aha!" moment, "This is Godric's Hollow! I knew it felt familiar!" That's when I explained to him that I didn't want this home to become a shrine to war. I wanted this space where I knew love for such a short time, to be a place where children who might not otherwise get it can know love as well even if it's for a short time.

When the tour was over, I brought him to my office so we could talk without a pile of Kids climbing on us. "Harry, in both of our worlds, the war was eventually won. And though in your world, Voldemort may have died, clearly not enough changed. We couldn't keep separating everyone into groups and subgroups then expect them to come together when they turned eleven and went to Hogwarts. Especially since we end up separating them into houses at that point. I know you're scared that someone will find out about your children's biology. And I can help you keep it a secret if you'd like, or we can be open about it, but I promise you this is not the world you came from."

He began that silent crying I know too well. The crying that you can't stop, but you know better than to make any noise that draws attention to your emotions or your cupboard. The sadness that is so heavy it has to pour out your face, but you can't risk giving the enemy more ammunition against you so you're silent. I just sat there with him until he was ready to talk, "It's been so many years of being scared for my children, I'm afraid of believing we're safe only to have them in danger again."

I know that feeling all too well, "You'll get there. Draco and I will do everything in our power to make sure you all feel secure. It's hard to tell yourself that everything is going to be alright, when nothing has ever been alright. It took me a lot of therapy and even then it took years, before I stopped worrying that everyone I loved would leave me. Some of it never goes away, I still get anxious when I don't know exactly where my loved ones are."

"Is that why you all spend so much time together then?"

I had to admit, "Partly, yes, I prefer to be able to see they're all safe. But mostly it's just because I truly like them all so much. I get my time alone, Draco and I get our time as a couple, but for the most part I had this huge family because I like being surrounded by them. Like any parent," I grasped his hand, "I want my children to grow up safe and happy, I want them to be successful adults, I want them to be fulfilled with whatever they choose for their life, but most of all I really want them to be GOOD people."

"Well Harry, from what I can see so far, I think you and Draco are managing that quite well."

"I'm glad other people can see it. Sure, they all have their flaws, they're a bit spoiled, sometimes they have pre-teen attitudes, and sometimes little boys sneak out of the Manor to play on their dirt bikes even when they know they're supposed to be with an adult for that, but at their hearts they're so good. It's hard to not want to spend time with that.

"Anyway, we should head back to the Manor, I am sure Draco is wondering where we went. And, probably unsurprisingly, I miss my kids!"

When we made our way home, you had been curious where we had been, but mostly you just wanted to snuggle up and tell me all about the business plans you and Theo figured out for your all-in-one devices.

And shag obviously.

But we really need to get over to the Burrow already, so brace yourself, I am about to come collect you from your beauty prep!

Love,  
Harry

 

Monday November 9th  
My sexy husband,

I had somehow forgotten how much fun it is to go to a club with you when we AREN'T planning to play around. Or drink. Or do anything but dance, really.

We were there for Sirius, but the Viper asked to tag along since he's never had a chance to just be lighthearted and attempt to relax. I think he might actually be reluctant to let Sirius out of his sight at the moment. Perhaps afraid that Sirius will turn out to be a figment of his imagination after all.

After a full day at the Burrow - which I managed to survive even though my skincare routine was cut short - ALL our kids (except for Elena) went home and Muffy was ordered to stay with Jaz at all times so that Jaz didn't have a chance to Apparate to us or call me to her. I'm not certain, but I think Muffy has some sort of magic that literally prevents Jaz from Apparating away. Or perhaps it's part of her magic that when I order her to prevent Jaz from Apparating, she can. In any case, it worked, Jaz was well fed and happy the entire night.

Molly had naturally 'heard' about our plans and volunteered to watch Ron's sprogs so that he could join us. Thus, from the Burrow, you, me, Ron, Blaise, Sirius, and the Viper Apparated straight to Blaise's club. Despite me wanting to go someplace less over the top to begin with, it just made sense that no matter where we went, Blaise's pheromones (or whatever you want to call it) would slowly fill the place until it was an orgy anyway.

And yes, I told him a few times to keep a firm reign on his sex magic so that he doesn't influence anyone into accepting Sirius that otherwise might not, but he honestly can't help his pheromones. They simply put people in the mood, as opposed to his magic, which actually CAN bend someone's will if he wanted to.

Once in the club, which was full of regulars that come here because they KNOW it's THE place to go for partying and sex all in one (which means they were already in the mood even before Blaise and his pheromones arrived), it didn't take long for things to progress. We all got comfortable at Blaise's permanently reserved table, and those that can drink alcohol ordered drinks while the two of us ordered water and a couple of non alcoholic drinks.

Since we were in muggle public, we didn't bother with a glamour for the Viper. So, he was rather surprised when barely two minutes in, a tall and rather effeminate man gravitated toward our table and purred: "Well now, I've always wanted to be in the middle of a sandwich comprised of dark and mysterious twins."

I kissed you. "You can go ahead and play, if you're interested."

You shook you head. "Maybe later, but for the moment, I haven't fully relaxed yet."

I kissed you again. "Sorry, luv, my husband isn't interested in playing at the moment, so go on and try again later."

He pouted but graciously blew the both of you kisses and sashayed away.

A moment later, you chuckled and smirked at Sirius. "I'd tell you to go dance with Draco, but honestly, the moment he steps onto the dance floor, NO ONE has eyes for anyone but him! I married the most gorgeous man in the world!" You kissed me.

"Hey now! I'm not bad myself!" Ron protested, puffing up a bit like a peacock.

You stuck your tongue out at him. "I have a specific type, and it's blond, arrogant, vain, and domineering."

I snorted in amusement. "Lucky I exist then."

You grinned at me. "You existing has shaped my entire life from the first day I met you."

I laughed and pulled you onto my lap since you were halfway there already. "I can say the same." We kissed as if we were all alone in our room rather than in the middle of a crowded club. Upon reflection, it's probably a good thing we came here after all, I'm not certain any other club would have had such an excellent selection on a Sunday night.

One of the die hard regulars came over and sat on Blaise's lap. "Hey there lover! It's been a while since you were in here. Are we going to shag in the loo, on the dance floor, or right here on the table?"

Blaise groaned in longing. "Sadly, I can't truly play. I have a new dedicated lover who wants me to restrict my playing to certain things," he explained, managing to convey that he wasn't able to fully shag others without going into magical bond restrictions. As I understand it, whereas before he could only use his hands on others a little, he's now able to use his mouth too and do things like frotting or intercrural sex, but he's still not able to penetrate anyone but Kisa.

As Blaise was nibbling on the regular's ear, a pair of twins came up to the table to smile lustily at Sirius. They were obviously fraternal as one was a man and the other a woman. The woman took his hand. "Come dance with us, luv!"

Sirius gave you a surprised and somewhat panicked look, but you simply smiled and waved/shooed him to go on. Taking a deep breath and swallowing nervously, he downed the rest of his drink before nodding and getting to his feet.

"Alright then."

I daresay that if things went even half as well as they looked like, he will probably have a damn good chance of figuring out which gender he likes better.

"Excellent!" You crowed in glee. "That means we can dance and it won't matter if you attract all the attention!"

"That we can," I murmured in agreement, kissing the back of your neck just to feel you shiver oh so deliciously in my arms.

As we stood up, we heard Ron say. "Listen mate, I know I'm not YOUR Ron, but until you feel comfortable in this crowd, I'll stay by your side. And if you want to try dancing, I can teach you a bit."

"Er... thanks mate," the Viper murmured. I looked back at him as we made our way onto the dance floor, only to find that he was biting his lip in thought and staring at a woman that looked a bit like Luna, before shifting his gaze to a man that looked a little like Bill. He looked utterly confused.

You and I danced several glorious dances, but then I had to take a break and get something to drink. So you accepted an invitation to dance from Ron while I went back to the table. The Viper was sitting all on his own by this point, making me wonder why Ron had left him. He must have seen my curiosity and guessed its cause.

"I sent Ron off to dance because I wanted to think in privacy a bit, but I'm glad you came back. I noticed that you seem to like men and women equally, and... Well... When I was captured by Voldemort, I was used by him constantly, and also forced to service everyone he decided was worthy of the favor. Thus, I got used to pleasing both men and women - especially Bellatrix, who liked her sex almost as rough and dark as Voldemort."

"Probably why they got on so well," I muttered, not really wanting to think about it.

"Right?!" The Viper asked and agreed with a chuckle. "My point is that I HAD been a virgin prior to that point, and then I just... had the dirtiest, slaggiest, most depraved sex on the planet for two years, and then... nothing. At first, I was SO HAPPY that I didn't have to let anyone touch me, and then, I was just too busy raising my kids to really think about sex. Thus, I never truly gave any thought to what I might prefer."

"Ah..." I stated in understanding. "Which explains why you're so confused. You should do what Sirius is doing. Take some time to just play around and see what you like. If you really haven't ever had CONSENSUAL sex, then it's long past time you gave it a try."

He looked at the woman who looked like Luna again. "So... You think I should just go over to her and ask for a blowjob?"

I laughed. "You COULD, but I think you might have better luck pulling her in close during a dance and whispering in her ear some of the filthy things you can do to her, and then see how fast she drops her knickers - if she's even wearing any to begin with. In the light of day, it will probably never be that easy, but here in this club, well, that's what they're all here for. Might as well go take advantage of it."

He was biting his lip again. Slowly, he nodded in agreement. "Alright..." It still took him a moment to gather up his courage - and down his drink - before he stood up and marched over to her.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that she'd noticed him watching her, because the moment he tapped her on the shoulder, she turned around and jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist and snog the bloody hell out of him. They disappeared fairly quickly after that.

And come to think of it, Sirius and his twins were nowhere to be found either. Looks like the night was a rousing success! And it had only just begun! By the end of the night, the club had once again turned into a big orgy right on the dance floor, and although none of us interacted directly (aside from me and you), we were all in there somewhere.

Hours later, thoroughly sated, we gathered together again so that we could say our goodbyes to Blaise and Ron and head home with Sirius and the Viper. They both said they were Apparating back to their rooms, and so it was just us. You Apparated us to our room where we climbed into bed and held each other as we drifted off to sleep.

It's now morning and you are naturally off accomplishing more than I will probably do all week. I should probably get out of bed and see if I can find you.

Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me,  
Draco

P.S. The manufacturing team has created a few hundred of our Magimobiles, which means that our entire family has been upgraded - as has most of our circle - simply for testing purposes while the product is marketed and hyped a bit before its official release. Theo is still quite beside himself with glee!


	87. Chapter 87

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's definitely busy and also has to help Draco break up a fight.

Monday November 9th  
My Dragon,

Yeah, I have definitely been accomplishing more than you will all week. My morning started out with breakfast, then I did a bit of winter gardening. Obviously there's not much to grow right now, but there are still plenty of things to get done. In theory, with magic at our disposal, we could just keep the garden warm all year long. But that fights against the earth's own magic; birth, growth, wilt, hibernation, and spring's rebirth, it's a cycle and all of the stages are equally important even if they're not equally as beautiful. Most of the prep for winter involves making sure we've left things natural enough for the local wildlife to have food and shelter, while also making sure they can get to water sources, and not slip around on molding or decaying plant material.

It was just a nice, quiet morning. The kids came in and out of the garden to keep me company at different times, but either the cold or the hopes of finding an activity that would be more fun meant none of them stayed long. Although at one point I made my way to the greenhouses where Leah brought Zaire and Jaz out and they all stayed with me for quite a while. My beautiful Jasmine sat amongst the flowers, signing away at things she noticed. My beautiful little flower the brightest bloom out there.

And she's really quite brilliant. Up until now she's used her latent magic to get your attention when she needs you, or she shows off and just apparates herself right to you. And now that she's mobile, she'll often crawl her way to whoever or whatever she wants at that moment. Yesterday at the Burrow she was crawling herself back and forth between Molly and Arthur, yanking on the hem of Molly's dress or the hem of Arthur's pants to either get snuggled into a lap or given a sweet. I'm really excited to see how she fares against another baby around her age, not quite sure how she's going to react to Frankie on Friday but it will be interesting I'm sure!

Oh, Friday. I suppose I forgot to tell you, Circle dinner on Friday. We have a few, or seven, new introductions that need to be made. At this point, most everyone has met Sirius, but he hasn't been here for an actual full group experience. And with finally realizing the Viper and his kiddos are here to stay, we should probably get the whole story out the one more time and be done with it. I'm so sick of telling it. And every time one of the children tries to sum it up, it becomes even more ridiculous. Eris' most recent recapped ended with "And then other Harry Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo'ed himself and the Riddle Bunch to our universe." And finally, FINALLY, I think Zaire is settled enough to not freak out in a big group setting. I'm sure he will spend the entire time safely ensconced in one of our laps, but he won't freak out and have to leave.

He was so sweet potting plants in the greenhouses with me. He probably would have been in the garden with me too, but he is still not acclimated to our cooler weather. He's certainly my summer baby. He's going to LOVE California and/or Australia when we go!

One of the things on Friday's agenda is talking about the Drag Show Fundraiser. Wait, you might not have any idea about that. I think we talked about it when you were chatting with the Viper. You know how Unity California is having some financial troubles? There just isn't enough funding coming in to cover the house. The muggle recession in the U.S. has gotten so bad it's filtered its way into the Wizarding World too, there's just not as much extra money for charity. So Blaise, Ron, and I were trying to come up with some creative fundraising ideas, a gala is a bit too traditional in times like they're having. Instead of getting a few wealthy donations, why not throw a big entertaining party that we can pack in the people and get a little money from each person.

So, what's more entertaining than myself, Blaise, Ron, and any other Wizards we can convince, doing a full Drag Show? Obviously we will force Miles into choreographing the entire thing. And in case you were wondering, you will be headlining.

And before anyone gets on me for gender inequality or excluding the witches, of course any witch is more than welcome to join our show as a Drag King.

I had a chat with Sirius a little while ago. He was just waking up and even though I'd had breakfast much earlier, I was willing to sit with him.

Fine! I ate a second breakfast. I'm a Hobbit! Two breakfasts! I regret nothing, they were delicious!

Anyway, it turns out he thoroughly enjoyed his activities last night. However he didn't end up with a definitive answer. Actually, he did find out he DEFINITELY is into guys. According to him, "No one gives a blowjob like someone with a dick of their own." Yeah, I know, I've been saying this for YEARS! But he also enjoyed his time with the woman as well. As he was telling me this I just assumed this meant his was bi like you. But then he kept going, "I'm just not sure, did I enjoy it because it feels nice putting my dick somewhere tight, willing, and warm? Especially after not getting any for decades. Or did I enjoy it because I want women as much as I want men?"

I laughed at him, "Sorry to tell you this, but I think you may need to do a bit more experimenting. I know, it sounds rough, but I believe in you Pads! But, you know, if all you got was a blowjob, you'll probably need to bugger or get a solid buggering before you know for sure that you're into guys."

"Oh, I will do that, but I got a solid Rogering last night, I am already sure that I want to go arse up for a good dick."

And that's when I decided to come back to our (empty? where did you go?) rooms to change from the juice I spit all over myself.

I should probably go find you. Huh, someone's yelling. Is that … Snape's portrait yelling? Weird. Off to investigate I suppose.

Love,  
Your Harry 

 

Monday November 9th  
My darling Harry,

Well now, that might just have been the most entertainment I've had (aside from shagging you, which is ALWAYS my favorite entertainment) in months!

After writing my email this morning, I got out of bed and stretched a bit. As I was doing a forward bend, there was a knock at the door, and since my arse was pointed away from the door, I figured that I had no reason to ask them to wait - although mentally, I was laughing at the image of having my naked arse pointed AT the door when someone entered the room, ahahahahahaha!

Anyway, the Viper entered and for a second, I assumed it was you, but then I realized that you wouldn't have knocked. I straightened up and twisted side to side before doing a few side bends and reaching my arms up as high as I could get them.

"Morning other Harry," I greeted as I stretched.

"Do you have a few minutes to talk?" He wondered.

"Sure, so long as you don't mind me doing my morning routine while we talk," I answered with a shrug.

"Morning?" He questioned, looking at his watch.

"Whaaat? It's still technically morning!" I defended.

"Barely," he grumbled.

Having finished my stretching, I walked toward the bathroom. "What do you want to talk about?"

He followed me, sitting on the counter as I decided to save a little time and skip my shower by casting cleaning spells instead. Then I started on my skincare routine.

"Erm, well, this may sound strange, but erm… In MY world, my best friends and only real family are Ron, Hermione, and the Weasleys. But - as I already said - even they were wary of my kids. I think I may have made them wary of me as well when I went around killing everyone who worked directly for Voldemort in his Minister's Mansion after he died. So, at one point shortly after word got out about the true paternity of at least one of my kids, knowing that I'd need a place to hide, I showed up at the luxury flat that my world's Draco Malfoy lived in. HE didn't live in the Manor because he couldn't stand to think about the things that had happened there - which got *really* bad after Voldemort won the war. I asked him for a place to stay for a while and some protection for my kids, and he granted it.

"Anyway, because of who he was and who raised him - things like that - he was about the only person in the world who didn't automatically look at my kids like they were mini-Voldemorts just waiting to grow up and continue on in his footsteps. So, while I didn't exactly trust him, I felt like I could relax just a little bit and talk to him from time to time."

"Alright," I acknowledged. "I can understand that since I am the same person and was raised the same way. I learned - as he must have - that blood doesn't have to determine your fate."

He nodded in agreement. "Which might be why I feel like I can talk to you. You might probably prefer that I talk to your Harry, but I... hmm, I suppose I do trust him, I just don't know if I like him."

I harrumphed a laugh because you have basically said the same thing. "You don't say!"

He grimaced a little. "Am I that obvious?"

I waved his concern away.

He sighed. "I just felt like I had to explain why I keep opening up to you when I am not generally a person that opens up to anyone. Try to make you understand why I don't just seek out a member of your world's Golden Trio."

"Alright I can understand that. Just try to keep in mind that I am loyal to MY Harry, and will more than likely tell him everything you say," I warned him.

He shrugged. "I'm not about to spill Ministry secrets, so that's fine. I only came here to talk about last night. As you know, I didn't even have to say a word to that good looking blonde woman, she just took over and basically dragged me off to a corner with a couch where a few other couples were doing everything from snogging to full on shagging. Things with the woman progressed rather quickly. I was feeling really good... until I wasn't. I pressed my head into the back of the couch and squeezed my eyes shut. I was suddenly reliving my past, and the weird thing was that when it actually happened, I wasn't particularly traumatized. I had already been so hurt and traumatized by EVERYTHING that had happened to me, that it this particular memory just felt normal at the time. Well, perhaps I was a bit numb, or..." he made a sound of frustration. "I don't even know how to explain it!"

He ran a hand through his hair and continued. "BUT as I was reliving the memory, I suddenly felt upset and traumatized and DIRTY! It, erm… probably worked in HER favor as I couldn't stay in the moment long enough to finish. Thus, she was able to ride me until she was satisfied. When she was done, I put myself away, honestly a bit furious with myself that I couldn't even enjoy a nice shag with a beautiful woman. So then I thought that maybe it was just a case of preferring men after all. I downed a couple more drinks to gather up the courage to chat up a good looking bloke.

"To my relief, that was exceedingly easy too. I didn't have to do much more than smile at him before I was snogging and frotting right on the dance floor, and that really did feel nice. Until he put his hand down my pants and stroked my shaft. Suddenly, I didn't like it anymore. So I decided that I just wasn't drunk enough and drank a few more glasses of that apple cinnamon stuff Blaise kept ordering."

I stopped rubbing moisturizer into my forehead and turned to look at him in sympathy. "And did it help?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I kept finding new partners to snog and experiment with, and it always started out nicely and turned not so nice after a few minutes. I ended up so drunk that I wasn't entirely sure I could walk a straight line if I had to in order to save my life. But then I saw something that... I fear confirms the fact that I'm an evil man way down deep inside."

"Oh?" I asked, both concerned and intrigued. "Why do you say that?"

"Because… I saw a woman using a whip on a man, and next to her, a man using some sort of electrical device to torture a woman. As I watched, I was filled with a deep and unshakable NEED to do exactly that. Torture and hurt someone. In those two years, I was forced to do so much more than just shag when I didn't really want to, I was forced to torture and kill people. A LOT of people! I..."

He growled and ran his hand through his hair again. "I hate the thought that I want to hurt people, but watching that happen right there in front of me in the club got me so much closer to orgasming than anything else! I watched it for so long that I started to feel a tiny bit sober again, and then... I was offered a whip and asked to whip a woman who liked it. I didn't even question it, I just did it, and then when she cried out that she was ready for me to shag her, I was so bloody hard and ready that I did that too! I... she asked me to choke her a little, so I did, and that's when we BOTH climaxed so hard I really thought I was going to pass out. But I didn't. But I think that's because Blaise was nearby, saw me - probably looking utterly wrecked - and fed me some chocolate and milk."

"I can understand your confusion," I informed him, and then purposely didn't look at him as I gentled my voice - pretending to be more focused on my face than him. "I know you probably don't want to hear this, but you need to see a Mind Healer."

He scoffed and growled at the same time. "What for?! So they can have me committed to St. Mungo's until I'm all fluffy and not evil anymore?!"

I shook my head. "That's not what they do. All a GOOD Mind Healer wants is to help you be the heathiest person you can be - mentally speaking. My Mind Healer helped me heal from the trauma of everything that had happened to me during the war - which I kept pushing into boxes in my mind and hoping that they'd just go away, except that I had to kill a woman who was trying to kill me when I was out shopping with my daughters - Viona and Eris, when they were just babies. That act of self defense traumatized me so much that it blew open all my boxes and I couldn't hide from them anymore. I Apparated straight to a Mind Healer I'd known for quite some time and sobbed all over her office for a good six hours. If not for her, I might have self destructed to the point of destroying my relationship with Harry and running away in an attempt to hide from myself and my past, only I'm sure you can guess how well that would have gone."

I could see that I'd made the Viper uncomfortable, which he confirmed by deflecting. "Merciful Merlin man! Just exactly how many things do you have to put on your face?!"

"What?" I asked defensively, willing to play along until he was ready to listen again. "I've got my cleanser, my pore reducer, my toner, my moisturizer, and lastly, a cream that's a bit like a shield to make sure that nothing can harm my skin."

"I do all of that in one handy little device called a bar of soap!" He taunted sarcastically, his hand forming a shape like he was holding a bar in his hand.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Barbarian!"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head in return.

"Come on," I beckoned. "Let me get dressed and tell you more about Yesenia. Then we can go for a run or something. Do you dance?"

"Not really" he muttered, shaking his head.

Once we were in my closet, I looked around for my favorite exercise outfit - which would be good to wear no matter what I decided to do. As I dressed, he grumbled and muttered about prats who had closets bigger than the entire suite he was staying in. When I was ready, I decided to lead him to the ballroom so that I could do some light dancing to warm up for running - if that's what he preferred.

On the way, I heard shouting and ran to investigate.

"You're dead and I don't have to listen to you, so do the world some good and keep your gob shut!" Sirius roared.

"I don't like you and I don't want you in the same house my son lives in!" Severus yelled from the portrait of a relative who had lived between 3 and 4 hundred years ago. She was nude and reclining on a fainting couch in a sort of languid pose, watching him with distaste. "You were always exceedingly arrogant and a bully!"

"Yeah? Well so what if I was a bully as a child?! I eventually grew up and became a better person! What about you? Huh? How do you justify bullying an 11 year old ORPHAN just because you didn't like his face looking like his father?!"

"I wasn't bullying him! I was TRYING to make sure that he didn't end up a spoiled arsehole like his father! And at the same time, I was protecting him because his mother was the only person I've ever loved in my life!"

"IS *THAT* WHAT YOU CALL IT?!?!?!" Sirius was positively livid now. He grabbed the portrait and shook it, making my relative scream and hold onto her couch for dear life.

Severus leapt into the painting of a different relative who was standing there defensively, also nude but holding her favorite pet snake. She raised her hand in Severus' direction and her snake hissed at him in a clear warning that a venomous bite would occur if he didn't leave immediately, so he jumped into the next portrait, which was a male ancestor, nude and sitting on a throne-like chair as he regally surveyed the room.

"AND I managed to convince the Dark Lord for YEARS that I was loyal to him, when the ENTIRE TIME I was loyal to Dumbledore above everyone else!"

"Except for yourself, I'm sure!" Sirius had released the first portrait, and was now stalking over to the new one. "And even that doesn't matter because you took the opportunity to TERRORIZE every. single. student who had the misfortune of entering your classroom. You bullied EVERY CHILD you ever saw! AS AN ADULT!!!"

I could hear the Viper muttering in agreement under his breath. He stayed next to the door as I rushed to intervene.

"Your sheer ignorance boggles the mind! YOU BELONGED IN AZKABAN!"

"SEVERUS! SIRIUS!" I chided very sternly. "Stop this nonsense and act like adults!!!"

"You stay out of this Draco!" Severus yelled even as Sirius growled: "Back off cousin!"

This seemed to prompt them both to shout at each other at the same time, as loudly as possible with me standing between them with my arms out as if I needed to prevent a brawl.

"THAT. IS. ENOUGH." The order was so firm and unyielding that I thought it was the Viper at first, but no, YOU had heard the shouting and come running to see what was wrong. Upon assessing the problem, you marched into the room and glared at both of them fiercely. "Haven't either of you grown up YET???"

Both of them cleared their throats and shuffled a bit nervously. "Sorry Harry..."

"Professor, please return to your portrait in Sebastian's room and stay there. I don't care how bored you get, if I catch you purposely verbally abusing a guest again, I'll have you locked in my vault. As for you, Sirius, I was hoping that you'd learned how to deal with your anger, but I see I was wrong."

Sirius flushed a deep red. "But! HE STARTED IT!!!"

You looked rather disappointed. "He's a bloody portrait. What's he going to do?"

"Follow me room to room and harass me!" Sirius cried out in frustration.

"Well, he won't be doing that anymore. Will you, Severus?"

He sighed. "I will be in my portrait in my son's room if any of you need me - unless it's YOU, in which case, kindly annoy Lucius instead!" He glared at Sirius, who harrumphed in return.

"Like I'd need you!!!"

Sighing, you decided to ignore your Godfather so that you could turn and smile at me. "There you are! And ooo... you look ready to go running with me." You wrapped your arms around me and gave me a toe curling kiss.

I grinned at you. "Well I WAS, but now I find that I'm in the mood to shag you up against the wall." As I said that, I'd backed you up against the nearest wall and was licking your neck."

"UGH! No wonder everyone keeps telling you two to stop flirting!" The Viper groaned. "You are FAR too likely to escalate to full on shagging before the rest of us can leave the room!"

"RIGHT?!" Sirius asked, sounding validated.

"So leave the room," I paused my quest to give you a love bite just long enough to suggest. As I said that, you gripped my shoulders and wrapped one leg around my waist so that you could lift yourself up and wrap the other one too.

"Shag me hard up against the wall, and then deny me my orgasm and torture and *spank* me! Force me to please you, and then make me beg like a slag to have my release!"

Sirius and the Viper both blushed at that, Sirius actually covered his ears to prevent hearing any more. "Don't you have a playroom for that?! What if one of the kids walked in and saw that?!"

I shrugged. "They've all learned to groan in mortification and disgust and leave the room - well the older ones have in any case." Then I licked the roof of your mouth. "But I suppose he has a point. If we're going to do all that, we might as well go to our playroom. Then I can tie you up and spend *all day* torturing you."

"Mmm..." you purred in agreement.

"Sorry boss!" Pippa called out gleefully. "You have a meeting with Rory and Nate in about a half an hour, and I'm dead certain that you haven't even eaten yet. Then at half four, you have a meeting with Greg and Millie to go over a few different projects. That's scheduled to last through dinner - and Greg has threatened to overcharge you if you don't buy him dinner - AND THEN you agreed to meet with Hannah tonight so that she can tell you how that case turned out. Depending on how long that takes, you MIGHT have time to shag before Harry goes to bed. Otherwise, let me see if I can find room in your schedule for tomorrow... Hmm... nope, you're booked up! You have your quarterly meeting scheduled for the next two days, isn't that lovely? And then Thursday and Friday are dedicated to the quarterly meeting with HARRY'S businesses. And a circle dinner. Shall I book the two of you for some shagging on Saturday?"

"YES!" You blurted out in alarm lest she come up with a few other things to fill up the available time.

"Alright then, shagging on Saturday at.... 1 to 2 sound good? Lovely! Then you've promised the girls to take them shopping since they want to get an early start on Christmas. And Sunday is going to be planning and preparation for our flight to Australia at Midnight on Monday. I'm sure you'll shag on the plane as usual."

I sighed and rested my head on your shoulder. "I should just call her mood killer from now on."

"I've already asked Muffy to have your breakfast ready for you the moment you finish changing - unless you were planning to wear that to your meeting."

I looked at my stylish track suit. "Actually, for a meeting about an adventure park, this works!"

"Brilliant, then go eat before you run out of time and have to survive off your never ending cup of milk until dinner. I'll just pop off to ask which of the kids want to go with you and which want to stay here and have lessons with Soirse. Viona is already planning to spend the rest of the week in meetings with you, but I think she wanted to skip these meetings. RIVER - on the other hand - sounded a bit eager to see your Adventure Park, so I think he'll volunteer to go to work with you today."

I was rather chuffed to hear that. "Really? Excellent! I can take him parasailing over shark cove!"

You narrowed your eyes at me. "If you let our son be eaten by sharks, I will let your mother tear your flesh from your body and feed it to hellhounds!"

I held up my hands and waved them hastily. "He'll be as safe as possible! I promise!"

"Hmm..." you hummed suspiciously.

I kissed you. "I love you."

You gave me a small smile. "I love you more."

"I Love YOU more!"

"No, *I* -"

"So sorry! We don't have time for a who loves who more argument right now. Shall I make time for it later tonight by pushing back the time that Harry goes to bed by a few hours?" Pippa asked.

We both glared at her.

"Stop glaring at me and put your husband back on his feet please."

You sighed and gave me another kiss. "Go on and go begin your week of making sure that we both still earn enough money to support our horde of kids."

I kissed you in return. "Alright. Meanwhile, YOU go make sure that our entire horde is healthy, happy, and full of biscuits. Especially Zaire. Give him lots of kisses from me and see if he'll eat some bacon or sausage or something to put a little meat on his bones."

"Sure thing love. Oh! Can you PLEASE put your no longer starving to death cheetah in her impossible to escape yard while you're gone. I logically *know* she probably won't hurt us at this point (she's practically slept in our bed the last few days) but I can't help but think that she's only waiting for you to stop paying attention to her for a few minutes so that she can get rid of the rest of us and have you all to herself.."

I laughed. "Alright, I will. That'll give me a chance to check her over and ensure that she's on track to full recovery herself. Love you." Another kiss.

Pippa grabbed my arm and yanked me away from you, making you stumble a little since I was no longer supporting you up against the wall. "Get your arse to the table and eat! You can't afford to skip a meal while carrying twins!"

I sighed in defeat. This is - after all - what I pay her for. As I left the room, I saw the Viper snickering at me, muttering something like: "The great Draco Malfoy, whipped by his personal assistant!" I expressly ignored him.

Business went well. River came with me and positively LOVED parasailing. The Park is nearly ready to open. It'll have its Grand Opening exactly a month before Christmas - Wednesday November 25th. They plan to have their first major sales drive be a: "Buy an adventure for yourself and get a gift certificate for an adventure to give to a friend for Christmas at half price - or buy two adventures and get a free one for a friend." Sale.

River seemed really interested in the planning session with Greg and Millie - especially since it involved dinner. Millie has not only drafted initial plans for the deconstruction of the building that WILL be the park or community center, but she has ALSO drafted plans to deconstruct and combine those three lots off Diagon to make room for my future hotel.

Which just leaves Hannah. I used the excuse of taking notes to write this email while eating/meeting with Millie and Greg. I have to sign off and come home so I can meet with Hannah. Maybe I'll see you there!

Love and too rushed to be fancy about it,  
Draco


	88. Chapter 88

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's decided that Pippa's got to go!

Wednesday November 11th  
Step One: We fire Pippa.

I know, she has been with us for nine years. She keeps our lives running like a well-oiled machine. I barely have to remember a thing because she is on top of our entire schedule. She's loyal, loves our kids, and has become a real part of our family. I love her. But she's kept me from a few shags with my husband, so she's got to go.

I mean, three days of meetings in a row? It's like she hates me. Maybe she hates me. Hmm, maybe she has teamed up with the Viper - who obviously wants to bang you so I may have to kill him - to make me die from a lack of shagging so he can take my place. Hmm, next time you see her, take a look at her planner and see if there's anything in there about getting me out of the way.

The Viper doesn't like me? What? What have I done? I am a delight. I work so hard to make sure everyone loves me, I only threatened his life ONE TIME and promised to keep his kids safe, how can he not like me? Well, fuck that guy, I don't like him either. With his stupid tattoo and his stupid face and his stupid hair. You open your home to a guy, let him come clubbing with you, and then he tells your husband he doesn't like you? Not cool. And the whole "I trust you soooooo much because I trust other Draco" business? You keep your eye on him, he's planning to steal my husband and I will NOT have it!

I trust you normally. You've never cheated, all of our playing has been consensual and pretty much according to MY rules and limits. You're such a generous man and give me my every desire. But you have a weakness for short men with messy raven hair, green eyes, and a mess of tattoos. He's kind of your kryptonite. And I DO NOT trust him. Maybe we should have a code word in case he sneaks in and tries to pretend to be me when you're doing your sexy, naked, morning stretches.

Fine, he's lonely and damaged and needs a friend and some mind healing. I won't kill him, and I probably shouldn't fire Pippa, but he needs to get his arse to some mind healing and you need to make sure he doesn't trick you into a shag. And I suppose we should help him find one that may specifically deal with sexual issues. It's not like I think anything is wrong with BDSM. I've been collared and loving it for a decade now. Just a few days ago I had you and two of my best friends absolutely annihilate my arse with spankings for hours. But it's not like I can't get it up or never want vanilla. But I've never been sexually traumatized. I think he needs someone that can make him understand it's alright to be a sexual sadist as long as your partner is a fully consenting sexual masochist.

You know that I always think talking with a mind healer is the right call. Especially for someone who's experienced trauma, or been through a war, both of which the Viper has done. But anyone can benefit from mind healing. What's the worst thing that can happen if you don't need it? You spend an hour focused on your emotions and making sure you're handling them well. You wasted an hour of your time and a little bit of money.

The fight between Snape and Sirius was hilarious but also so ridiculously immature. I tend to agree with Sirius that Snape was a horrible bully who used his shitty childhood as an excuse to go on and bully more. But also, seriously Padfoot? The man is dead, trapped in a series of portraits, and only has access to his son through the fabric he's magically painted on. You, on the other hand, are alive and well, enjoying a life that includes his Godson and his son in whatever capacity you want. Give the old bat a break. You won. Don't be a sore winner. He started it? You're alive, be the bigger man.

But the argument and subsequent chase through the paintings brings about an important question. Why are all the portraits nude? I know you're a shameless nudist, and yeah I am too at this point, and I do like seeing you naked. Mmmm you doing your morning stretches, I get to see all that pale, smooth skin pulled taut and then see those lean muscles of yours flexing underneath. And that curvy little arse of yours. And your gorgeous cock, even soft, is the prettiest fucking thing I've ever seen. And. Wait. I was talking about the portraits! Anyway, they're naked and it's weird.

But back to your cock and how much I love it. I just want to climb you like a tree. But Pippa is a monster and is keeping us apart. You're currently on day two of your quarterly meetings, which means you're on day three of meetings in general. I don't like it. I miss you. And tonight is movie night so I won't even get to shag you all evening. My pregnancy hormones are making me horny as hell and I've barely had you for a quickie before bed each night.

So, by the time you read this, Viona will have gotten a message asking her to head home to "supervise" a dirt bike battle. I figure open competition is probably the only thing that would pull her from business meetings. So, as soon as she gets home, I am going to pop to your meetings as quietly as possible. I've already been told which table you're at and which seat you're sitting in (I love house elf spies). I am going to apparate to your feet and finally FINALLY do that thing I have been wanting to do forever; kneel at your feet while you conduct business and keep you warm and wet in my mouth. I can suck if you want me to, or I can just keep it nice and warm. You could even make me stay very still while you throat fuck me. Whatever you want Master, my mouth is there for you. I have to help you relax during all this stressful business!

Oooh, Vivi is here! I am going to say hi and bye and I'll be right there!

Your Property,  
Harry

 

Wednesday November 11th  
Holy Buggering Shite!

I have NO IDEA how I got through the last part of my meeting! We had JUST ordered a lunch delivery from Café Exquis when Viona suddenly announced she was needed at home and took off through the floo. I was a bit surprised because we only had about two hours or so left of work, and even though working through lunch would make it take a good half an hour longer, we decided on that rather than wait until the conclusion of the meeting to head off to eat.

Suddenly, I was surprised to feel something touching my legs under the table. I was rather alarmed for a second and nearly shouted and leapt up to have the thing dealt with. But then I realized that I was feeling hands, which made me curious enough to take a look. Subtly craning my neck to the side was enough to confirm that it was you, or at least I had to assume that it was you because all I could see was your hair.

In case you were wondering, that's why I gently used a hand to pull up the back of your shirt a bit, so I could check for a snake tattoo. As I expected, there wasn't one. Here's the thing, I know you are paranoid that the Viper wants me, but I've never gotten that sort of feeling from him. In fact, aside from opening up to me a little, I really feel like he dislikes me as much as we used to think we hated each other in Hogwarts. I just happen to look like the person he came closest to trusting in his other world. The person that finally helped him escape from and defeat the Dark Lord. The person that accepted his kids were just kids and not mini dark lords in training.

Anyway, mmm... You didn't even really try to work me up, you simply got me hard enough that I fit comfortably in your mouth, and then held me there as you relaxed and prepared to do nothing else for the rest of my meeting. To my astonishment, I REALLY enjoyed having your mouth keep me warm as I ate my lunch and listened to reports and strategies.

You must have gotten bored about an hour and a half later, because suddenly you were rather active - licking and sucking on me. Teasing me and making my brain melt. The business owner speaking at that moment could have reported a catastrophic loss of income and I probably would have responded with: "Uh-huh... that's great..." It took EVERYTHING I had in me to hold back my orgasm as it continually ran up and down my spine and made my toes curl and my back arch slightly, but somehow I managed.

I must have looked suddenly ill or something because everyone started asking me if I was okay. I took the easy way out and told them I was suddenly a bit peaky and needed to call an official end to the meeting. That everything had sounded great and that I was happy with the current and projected profits in general, not to mention my portion of the income in specific.

Then I dismissed them, threw you on the table, and proceeded to have my way with you in a rough and grinding way that unfortunately meant that I didn't last very long at all. But SALAZAR! Did I ever need that!

Then you Apparated us home and we were able to start over and see to your needs for a good 20 minutes before you passed out. I'm currently writing this before getting a bit of sleep too. It's weird, half of me is so exhausted from being pregnant and working and shagging that I can barely focus on the laptop literally in front of my face, and the other half won't just shut down and go to sleep until I get this all out.

So, to start with, I have to laugh. You're JUST NOW asking about all the nude portraits? As I mentioned, those particular ones were all painted between 3 and 4 hundred years ago when - as I understand it - even the muggles were having something called a renaissance and painting mostly nudes. Or maybe not mostly, but a decently high percentage. In any case, our family DEFINITELY would have kept up with the fashion. If you look around, there's at least one nude tucked into each room somewhere, but the rest are other things like landscapes and fully clothed portraits. Secondly, that particular room just so happens to be decorated with furniture and things from the renaissance, and so, that's why almost every painting in there is a nude portrait. One is a giant landscape with the entire family at the time - plus a few good friends - frolicking naked around the meadow.

That room is actually rather interesting to go into for a good chat to relieve the boredom. The lady on the couch, Judith, is actually very smart and can talk your ear off about all the muggle inventions of the time - some of which I honestly have to wonder how they didn't become more popular and stick around until now. The Lady with the snake, Anodea, was good at defensive magic and was a good person to talk to when I needed to learn things to protect myself. And the bloke on the chair, well, he was a bit of an idiot actually, but it's hilarious to listen to him speak about how Malfoys are naturally better than everyone else.

He, erm… mysteriously died of a snake bite at some point, leaving his sister as the sole heir to the Malfoy line at the time. No idea how that happened... Do yourself a favor and NEVER ask the lady with the snake...

That just leaves my recap of my meeting with Hannah the other night.

So, Hannah went straight to the childhood home of Jacob and looked around until she found a hill that fit my description. Sure enough, there not only was one, but the forest on the one side contains a marsh that is NOW very clearly surrounded by a wooden fence and bears signs warning of the danger. So, she had just enough validation to request an official dredging of the marsh. She is certain that the body has probably completely decomposed to the point where they'll be lucky to find fragments of bone. Not to mention, all of the other animals and people who have fallen in over the years, it might be really hard to find bones from the RIGHT body.

That said, recovering a badly rusted and highly fragile bike was relatively easy.

With that in hand (er, not literally, but photos of it, yes), Hannah went to go look in on Eva to see if she would confirm the events I'd described after receiving a promise that she would not be in any sort of trouble for the tragic but clearly accidental death. It took her a bit of digging to find Eva, and here's where the case hits another wall.

Eva is no longer alive. It seems she turned up mysteriously pregnant and her family sent her to a home for girls that was reportedly a boarding 'charm' school, but was actually a way to cover up the fact that those girls were all pregnant out of wedlock. The idea was to let them give birth in peace and privacy, give the baby up for adoption, and then have the girl go home as if nothing had ever happened.

Eva made it all the way to the giving birth part, but once she realized that her parents were adamant about giving up the baby (and the home sided with the parents over her), she grew so depressed that she committed suicide. The only thing she left behind to give any sort of explanation was a note pinned to the same bear I'd used to trigger the memory (that Jacob's mother had been looking for for a while because it was the only thing she could think of that had his DNA on it for them to test as necessary). The note said: I cannot stand the burden I bear any longer! The weight of it is crushing me!

Hannah thinks this was a bit of a veiled confession that no one else understood at the time, because no one suspected her of anything. So, Hannah re-interviewed her cousin to confirm the alibi given at the time, and her cousin admitted that they'd found Eva sleeping in the hay loft at some point, had no idea how long she'd been there, and when asked if Eva really had been at their house that day, simply said yes, because it was true that she had. Also, it was really just a formality because the only thing the authorities were after at the time was wondering if Eva had talked to or seen Jacob that day, and when she said she couldn't have because she was at her cousin's and they confirmed it, that whole line of thought was dropped.

At this point, Hannah decided that my vision was accurate and completely explained everything. That the little bits of evidence that can be found corroborates it. But she wanted to do the one last thing she could to tie up all loose ends, and that was track down the baby. It took even MORE digging, but she found him. He's obviously an adult now, but he agreed to have DNA testing. He is a definite match to Jacob, and has now been introduced to his paternal grandparents.

That's the only silver lining in this whole mess. After grieving their son for so many years, Jacob's parents not only have closure, but they have a grandson who they can get to know and bond with. He's newly married and expecting his first child, so they'll have great-grandchildren they can adore and spoil.

I wouldn't exactly call that a happy ending, but it's better than the alternative of never knowing what happened. I myself feel more at peace than I did about the vision when I had it. Also, I think I figured out why the vision happened the way it did. I had assumed that it was Jacob's memory I was seeing, but really, it was Eva's - considering that she somehow had and kept his bear until she died (when it was given back to his mother, who gave it to the police) - probably planning to give it to their baby. That would explain why the memory kept going after Jacob's death until she fell asleep.

But speaking of sleep, I finally think I can, so that's what I'm going to do.

I love you so much that if I died accidentally before you, I'd come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your life, resigning myself to haunt our kids and grandkids for the rest of time, because I would in essence be giving up the chance to wait for you in the afterlife and continue on where we left off once you joined me,  
Draco


	89. Chapter 89

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry changed his mind about firing Pippa

Wednesday November 11, 2009

Draco,

I have changed my mind, we will not be firing Pippa. She's an integral cog in the Malfoy machine. As I'm sure you're aware, these pregnancy hormones have me wanting to impale myself on you and not let you go for the next eight months. Even with everything crazy going on in our lives, you have been able to attend business meetings and maintain some semblance of higher brain function. All I can concentrate on is you.

Remember that completely "unimportant" meeting Sirius and I had on Monday with the Unspeakables? Yeah, we missed it. I was so distracted gardening and then watching the fight between Sirius and Snape that it completely slipped my mind. Why didn't Pippa remind me you ask? Because telling her in the first place slipped my mind as well.

Tonight was movie night, and you were so sweet and cuddled up to my pillow sound asleep that I had to leave you home to get your rest. You take such good care of me, I need you to know I see you and can care for you as well. I hope you enjoyed the silence while we were gone. I assume you did seeing as you are still out right now. It was really weird not having you there, if I hadn't had a lapful of Siri, Zwei, Jaz, and Zaire I probably would have panicked. We watched Bolt, it was so fun. Except now Siri and Zwei are absolutely sure we could train Romulus and Remus to be action stars who save the world.

While I was there, I got an owl from the Ministry asking if Sirius and I had decided to not collaborate with them to find out what happened. Um, no sorry, I'm just a dunce and forgot. I sent back a hasty apology and a little begging for a reschedule. They just replied as I was sitting down to write to you, so when you wake up tomorrow with Sirius and I gone, that's where we'll be. If you're not awake by the time I leave (normally you wouldn't be, but with you going to bed at five in the afternoon it's certainly not out of the realm of possibilities) I'm also going to bring the four smallest over to Molly's. With how well Z took to her when we were there on Sunday, and how well he's been doing the last week or so, I think he's ready for a short trip without us, somewhere safe.

I didn't even intend to write much, really was going to do a quick note letting you know where I'll be tomorrow, but I read your email and had so many things I needed to respond to!

I am so glad there's some closure for Jacob's family. It's obviously not the answer they wanted, but it could have been so much worse. And they have a grandson and great-grandson joining their lives. I wish for the best for them, and I'm just amazed at how brilliant you are, and how much life changing you do. You gave them the closure they'd been needing for twenty-five years and connected them to someone whose presence should help them heal.

Draco Lucius Malfoy, if you somehow die accidentally before me, don't you DARE go ghost so you can haunt me for whatever time I have left and leave me alone for the rest of eternity. Unless we go down together in a blaze of glory, one of us is going to go before the other one. Whoever dies first is going to go to the afterlife and sit their arse down and wait patiently for the other one. I will NOT be spending eternity without you! Are we understood?

It's not that I never noticed any of the nude paintings in the Manor, but I guess I didn't realize quite how many there were. And I don't really spend much time in the room Snape and Sirius were fighting in. It wasn't until I was reading your description of the fight that I realized every portrait in there had some naked Malfoy lounging about. Mmm, naked Malfoy. Mmm, my naked Malfoy. Naked and lounging on some settee, letting me kneel at his feet and feed him grapes. Letting me put my head in his lap while he pets me like a good boy.

Shite, I may have to climb in bed with you and see if you're rested enough for a sleepy shag. I think I will spoon up behind you and very gently work you open. Slowly and softly enough that you stay nice and asleep, but stretched enough that when I am ready I can just slide into you. See if I can go gently enough to get you hard but keep you asleep. Maybe wake you up with a nice soft orgasm. One of those that ends with a sigh instead of a scream.

Ok if I am going to molest you and get enough sleep for my meeting tomorrow I should sign off.

I love you,  
Harry

 

Friday November 13th  
Dearest Harry,

So I've managed to make it to Friday. I squeezed every drop of business I could fit into the meeting yesterday so that all we have left today is just tying up a few loose ends. That means that I will be home in plenty of time to get ready for our Circle Dinner.

To recap this extremely quickly: All your businesses are doing beautifully. You earn a lot of money with very little effort. Not as much as me, but that doesn't matter because together, we can support and provide for our children. Although, they may not get quite as much when they come of age as Elena did. But they'll still get enough to never have to worry about money in their lives.

Moving on.

I am *seriously* looking forward to hearing about what happened with you and Sirius at the Ministry with the Unspeakables yesterday. The only question I really have is why did it spit him out at all, and was there a reason behind the amount of time it chose? The magical stasis bit makes sense, but when I gave myself time to think over the possibilities, I think I decided that it would have made more sense to me if he had been awake the entire time, swam about a bit, eventually reached the veil again, pulled himself out, and realized that time moved differently enough that years had passed. But that's not how it happened. He was in a sort of coma for all those years and then just spit out one day. That part doesn't really make sense to me. So yes, I look forward to hearing anything the Unspeakables were able to determine.

So, erm, I have a bit of a confession to make. See.. This morning... As I was drifting awake, I was having a nice dream about you. You were kissing me and stroking my chest in long lines all the way down to my groin, but you didn't actually touch me, you tease!

Suddenly, I realized that my dream was based off reality. That you were doing something very similar in real life. So I wrapped my arms around you and pulled you just a bit closer so that we could snog more and frot a bit. You made a noise like: huh...

Which reminded me that my breath was probably terrible, so I opened my eyes to locate my wand and cast the spell since my brain was still too asleep to do it wandlessly. After doing that, I set my wand aside and took a moment to just drink you in, and that's when I realized that you had Nagini wrapped around your neck and staring at me.

I felt like a bucket of cold water was tossed on me, making me shiver. Gently but firmly, I pushed the Viper away and sat up. "You may look like my Harry, but you are NOT him! Please leave my room now, and in the future, always knock and wait for permission to come in or I will figure out how to ward our suite so that you cannot come in here at all."

You might be relieved to know that the Viper didn't argue or fight me on this point, he simply nodded, sighed, and slunk out of the room.

I KNOW you don't like him and you think he just wants to steal me from you, but I think he was simply trying to see if there's something about *me* that makes *you* so happy, and thus, could potentially help *him* heal from his sexual trauma. He's confused and probably desperate to find a way to be even a little normal. I DON'T want you to Gryffinrage all over him. Forgive him just this once, please? If he does it again, I will personally evict him from the Manor.

Beyond everything, I love YOU!  
Draco


	90. Chapter 90

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is just a little upset with Harry, and Harry is really really sorry.

Friday November 13,

My Dragon,

I completely forgot that I had forgotten to tell you about the meeting at the Ministry. I feel a bit like Neville his first year at Hogwarts, constantly forgetting things but not remembering what I've forgotten. This bun of yours is using up every last one of my brain cells I swear.

When we got there yesterday I could not stop apologizing for my standing up our original Monday appointment. Eventually Unspeakable Onyx stopped me with a giggle, "We get it, if anyone can understand getting so caught up in what you're doing that you can't remember what day it is, it's us Unspeakables." Not sure if that was completely true or if he was just trying to make me feel better, but either way it worked and we got down to business.

No, not to defeat the Huns, to find out what truly happened to Sirius.

They started with a thorough health scan. According to the scans, he is thirty-six years old which was his age when he fell into the veil. So our theory about him not aging beyond the veil seems to have held true. And he's seemingly in perfect health. The only issues they could see was past malnourishment which resulted in some mild damage to his teeth and jaw. But both of those are fairly common in people who've been incarcerated for an extended time. They even said his current health was basically ideal for a man of his age. I guess living around our army of weirdos has been beneficial to his health!

The next test they did was on his magical signature. According to all records of Sirius Black's magical signature: taken when he received his first wand, upon his graduation from Hogwarts, and upon his incarceration in Azkaban, his current signature matches exactly. There are no doubts from Lady Magic that he is Sirius Black. Also, his magical levels are sitting on the higher end of the normal range for Wizards of his age range. So the trip to the veil neither heightened nor depleted his magical reserves.

That's when an emissary from Gringotts came in to do their own analysis. According to their magical scans, he is indeed Sirius Black, from the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, according to their scans his original birthday (which we just missed I can't believe it! I forget everything!) was November 3, 1959 which would make him fifty, but his file with the Goblins automatically updated his birth year to 1973 the day he was spit out of the veil. Again, more proof that he is who he says he is and did not age beyond the veil.

He took the time to ask the Goblins about what we could or should do about everything that had been willed to me since he didn't die. That was a super long explanation, and I wish you had been here because you probably would have actually understood what was happening. But from what I understood, it seems as though he has no legal rights to any of his possessions from before his "death." He named me heir, even though I am not a Black. Since I have no Black blood, when he came back it should have gone automatically back to him. Except for one little thing we didn't count on …

I created more Blacks. According to the Black family magic, the oldest of my biological children would automatically inherit. Unless I created a magical will that said something different, it's a given. Now, if I hadn't had children or had them with someone else, the magic would have had Sirius back as head of house as soon as he came out of the veil. But because I created children that are direct grandchildren of someone born a legitimate Black, their claim on the family name is more direct than either Sirius or myself. So officially according to Lady Magic and the Goblin people, Eris Lyra Malfoy is the official head of The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.

We probably shouldn't mention that to her just yet, I worry the power will go to her head!

Then they had their legilimency expert come read his subconscious to see if they could glean any information from his time in the veil. Well, I believe his memories that it felt to him as if he were asleep. But according to the extracted memories it was less sleeping or coma, and more like being black-out drunk. You know that phase of drinking where your brain and its ability to remember anything goes to sleep, but you keep rocking? That's what it was like. Minus actually drinking obviously. It seems as though he mostly drifted throughout the veil and at some point recognized the back side of the veil and aimed himself in that direction.

The unspeakables were a bit disappointed at this because they won't be able to use it as a time traveling device. I'm quite relieved they can't play with time but I didn't tell them that! But it sounds like it was a whole lot of coincidental flukes, he happened to fall in with his body still alive, he happened to make his way back to the arch without actively seeking it, and the timing of it all was random and just based on when he happened to float back around to the veil.

The only thing they were still seemingly confused on is how he had the power to get back out. According to all of their research, they thought only someone with Death's magic could manage to essentially go out an entrance. Sirius and I just nodded along but sent each other the "we will talk about this later" look. We did talk about it later, and it's just a theory, but we think he was able to because he has spent so much of his life around Death's magic! He spent his teen years constantly under Death's own cloak!

So, thanks for your honesty about the Viper. I appreciate it. I love you.

I will see you soon for circle dinner! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. I cannot wait to introduce everyone to our beautiful son. But besides the main goals of the dinner, I'm really looking forward to seeing Neville and Charlie. I feel as though we've had time to visit with all of our friends since we've been back, some more than others, but we've barely seen either of them!

Love,

FINE! Ok, I can't let you be all honest and wonderful and confess to something and be a filthy liar myself.

The good news is … I can cast and hold a rather convincing glamour charm?

You don't need to evict the Viper from the Manor. He hasn't done anything wrong yet. I know it's absolutely ridiculous and immature and manipulative. I trust you, I swear to everything I trust you, I just don't trust him and I wanted you to not trust him and I wanted … I don't really know what I wanted. Because I don't want you to kick him out. But... I just had to do it. So I cast a glamour on myself and set out to seduce you.

And you shut him down! Didn't even say something like "Harry doesn't trust you yet so we can't do anything but maybe the two of you can make a Draco sandwich with Harry bread when he finally comes around" - which as much as I trust you not to do anything, I wouldn't have put something like that past you! The amount of times you've searched a club to find the guy that looks the most like myself to join us for the evening is more than I can count!

I'm sorry I tried to trick you. You should punish me for this. And not the fun punishments that I love, I don't want to tell you what to do and get myself in even more trouble, but you should probably punish me for real.

I'll see you at dinner!

Apologetically and repentantly yours,  
Harry

 

Friday November 13th  
So wait,

You... tried to *trick* me? To trap me into doing something you *don't* want me to do? What if I had just NOT opened my eyes until it was too late? Would you have just kept going? Or would you have asked me to open my eyes and look at you at any point to see how I would have reacted once things had progressed?

Yes, I do think you need to be punished, but I'm going to be cruel and unusual about. Here's your punishment: The next time I open my eyes to find the wrong Harry in bed with me, I'm going to assume it's you testing me and I'm going to purposely FAIL that test as thoroughly as possible.

Along the same lines, I want you to think about that Draco sandwich with Harry bread. Think about it long and hard because now that you've mentioned it, that sounds brilliant. OR maybe I can punish you by letting him dominate me while you watch. He can whip me a bit and force me to let him fuck my mouth - choking me a bit in the process - without actually shagging me because he'll probably get off quickly.

Do you think I've punished you enough yet?

Circle dinner went well. My second favorite part was the look on the Viper's face when he was introduced to Neville and Charlie. I don't think he had a problem with them being gay - or however Neville is identifying these days - but rather that they are TOGETHER. I'm willing to bet that they're not in his other world, and likely even married to women.

My favorite part of the night was when you started whispering naughty suggestions in their ears and they gave each other a questioning look before Neville nodded and Charlie hissed: "Play night! YES!" And the Viper gave us all looks like we'd not only lost the plot, but lost it so hard that we wouldn't be able to find it with a slew of tracking and location spells.

I'm pretty sure he took you aside to ask something like: "HOW in the buggering hell can you just PLAY with all your friends like that?!?!" Only I couldn't actually hear what he said or how you responded. Based off the calm and serious looks on both your faces, you seemed to be having an in depth conversation on the wide array of consensual relationship dynamics.

Since Amala was out in her yard, after everyone was finished eating and mingling in small groups, I decided to rile my cousin Padfoot. I turned into my marmoset form and climbed onto his shoulder to pinch his ear and just generally provoke him until he turned into his dog form and chased me around the room. I'm not sure if this annoyed people or amused them, but Parvati danced in front of us after a few minutes and caught me.

"Change back into you and dance with me for a few minutes. I need a little help with something I'm choreographing."

I leapt from her hands and changed back into me mid-leap. Then I spun around and faced her. "Yeah, alright. What do you need help with?"

"I've been thinking about the firedance for the upcoming Yule Ritual, and I want to do a staff spin that should be easy enough, but it keeps fighting me," she explained.

I grinned at her. "Firedance, eh? Marvelous, an excuse to get naked!" Because why risk setting any of my expensive clothes on fire when I don't have to?

She laughed. After so many years dancing naked - roughly half the time in front of students - she certainly wasn't shy about stripping off. Elena cottoned on about a second later, stripping off to help out too, and for some reason, both of them were wearing less clothes than me, so it took me longer to get naked. Hell! By the time I was finished (WHY didn't I use an intangibility charm? Oh, right, because I'm pregnant and there's no need to use magic when I don't have to, sigh), LUNA had also stripped off and joined in on the fun. Although I'm half convinced she initially thought we were getting ready to have a different sort of playtime altogether!

I heard Tommy 'whisper' to Viona. "Whaaaaat are they doing...?"

She sounded gleeful as she answered. "Shut up and watch!"

"Muffy, four staves!"

"Yes Master," she replied as she appeared with them.

We each took one and cast the spell to light them (Elena lighting mine for me). Then Parvati walked us through a previous routine so that we had a chance to warm up a bit. Eventually, Parvati was ready to get to the point. She gestured for us to give her a bit of room, and then did a complicated maneuver where she twirled and shifted the staff back and forth between her hands before throwing it up so that it could spin in the air for her to catch again. Only the momentum was off just enough that rather than return to her hand, it drifted to the left.

I bit my lip in thought. "I see what you mean. Have you tried stepping to the left?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Of course, but then it looks like I messed up and had to fix it mid dance."

I gave her an impish grin. "Do it again, but this time, step to the RIGHT."

Giving me a look that made it clear I'd just said something stupid, she nonetheless did as suggested. At the right moment, I stepped off to the left of where she had been and caught the staff.

"Elena, stand there. Luna, there. See where I'm going yet, Parvati?"

"Ohhhh!" She exhaled in understanding. This time, we ALL did it, facing each other in a circle. When we got to the part where we tossed the staff in the air, we all rotated to the right of the circle, placing us in the perfect place to catch a different staff than the one we threw.

"Ooo, I like that," Luna purred.

"Daddy daddy!" Viona sang out, throwing her arms around my neck and kissing my cheek. "Can WE firebreathe? PLEASE???"

I looked at Parvati, who grinned at Viona. "Why not? That'll go perfectly with this dance. Get some firesticks and fuel ready while I walk them through the rest of the dance."

It took us about ten minutes to get it down enough to work through without making any big mistakes. Then Parvati walked River, the Princess, and the almost triplets through a very basic dance that started in a circle with us, stayed in a circle around us, and then ended in the line of us. The kids didn't *technically* need to get naked for their part, but they wanted to - except for Hazel, who kept her skirt on. However, since it had a lovely drape and a beautiful disk like spin, it worked out nicely.

Our dance was a bit primal and so very visually pleasing. There was fire going EVERYWHERE - but in a controlled way so that no one got hurt. The kids had a blast blowing out fire to the beat, and they did an excellent job of staying in the steps so that the fire they breathed out went where it was supposed to and not at an innocent spectator.

When we were done, the rest of our circle clapped, which wasn't necessary, but pleasing nonetheless. You apparently couldn't contain yourself any longer because you came over and leapt on me - wrapping your legs around my waist - so that you could snog me quite passionately.

"Merlin buggering Godric! You're so bloody fit when you fire dance! Not to mention HOT..." You informed me between kisses. "I can't get enough of you!"

I chuckled. "Well now, it sounds like you're skipping straight to playtime!"

"YES!!!" You insisted, now biting and kissing my neck.

I did my best to address our guests without getting completely distracted. "As always, feel free to stay and party as long as you like, but we're going to excuse ourselves."

Luna batted her amazingly long lashes at you. "You mentioned playtime..."

"Maybe next time, Lunes. We've already invited Neville and Charlie and they don't like playing in big groups - or with anyone else, really," you explained.

"Alright," Luna agreed, sounding a little sad. Several other of our slaggy friends outright groaned in disappointment.

I laughed. "Sounds like we might need to schedule a proper playnight!"

"Too right you do!" Ron cheered.

You gave him a *look* because not only had he played with us recently, but we had a going away play party in the works. Without another word, we led our two friends that were staying the night off to our playroom.

Mmm...

I hear you call my name, and it feels like home,  
Draco


	91. Chapter 91

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Play night with Neville and Charlie!

Saturday November 14th  
My Love,

I am so sorry I tried to trick you. I honestly don't know what came over me. And, as always, your punishment methods were perfect. And by perfect, I of course mean they were terrible and please take it back, take it back! I promise you that I will never, ever, EVER pretend to be The Viper again. Please don't go all the way with him if it happens again because it will definitely not be me. I mean, I don't like thinking of him whipping you, and I don't want to think about the Draco sandwich, but those are things I would at least be there for and could stop them from happening. I'm very very sorry. I shouldn't have done something so underhanded. I love you.

Hopefully between my hormonally charged libido, our amazing playtime last night, and the upcoming "going away party" you won't have any time to think about that sandwich nonsense.

You weren't wrong about the conversation I had with the Viper at circle dinner. I think he's trying hard to wrap his head around group sex events between our circle as different from the group events he had to participate in during his time with Voldemort. I think we may have to make him some sort of chart to describe the different types of play everyone is involved with. I just kept stressing how CONSENT is key. The people who join in the play want to be there. No one's limits are pressed.

Like with Neville and Charlie, they don't want to play with a bigger group than just the four of us. Full stop. They also have their own kinks and preferences. Safe words are necessary, and though rare, occasionally used. We're not going to surprise them with extra guests or try to get them to do something outside of their comfort zone, I'd never ask them to switch up their D/S dynamics and have Charlie take charge for example.

I tried to explain, but I don't know if I did well, the difference between our relationship and a relationship like Luna's. We play with others, but we're romantically monogamous. We bring other, consenting, adults into our play, but at the heart of it is just the two of us. Whereas Luna is living a polyamorous life. She has full romantic relationships with both her husband as well as their girlfriends and boyfriend.

And yes, we often use dominance or pain play, but it's absolutely nothing like with Voldemort's group. The only people dominating are those who want to, and the only ones receiving any pain want it as well. And even if someone has been dominant or submissive in the past doesn't mean they have to every time or ever again if they don't want.

We're also not going to take someone out of the circle or pressure them into play if that's not their thing. George and Angelina have never played, it's just not their thing. And Ginny has played in the past (although never with me, no thanks!) but once she married Viktor she never came to another playtime again. 

I think what Viper's issue really comes down to is all of his experiences were varying rape scenarios. It's hard to have a healthy view of sex if you've never had sex but were often forced into raping or being raped. He's got so much healing to do. I got a recommendation from Yesenia, and hopefully Viper will follow through, for a mind healer that specializes in sexual assault victims. Viper has this entire new, untouched world to start over in. I'm hoping he can drop off as much baggage as possible and start fresh.

But oooh, playtime was so much fun! It's been ages and ages since we last played with Neville or Charlie. I suppose you were probably wondering what naughty whispers I was using to get them to the playroom, but I'm sure it didn't take you long to figure it out. Oddly enough, we had absolutely zero pup-time last night. I just wasn't feeling it, but I am sure at some point the puppy craving will hit and we'll have to invite them back!

When we got to the playroom you just waited for a bit of instruction. Normally, unless you're subbing, you take over and start things up. But with Neville and Charlie, unless you've pre-planned things with Nev, you tend to sit back and wait to see what the evening holds.

"Come on Charlie, let's strip off so our husbands can take care of us," Which we did with lightning speed. No, we did not do the intangibility thing, we were just that fast! As soon as we were down to just skin, Charlie and I sat next to each other on the loveseat. "Draco and Neville, you two can go ahead and kneel at our feet."

You looked so confused. I'm a sub, but I do occasionally take charge, either in a bossy little sub way or the occasional domming for you. But Charlie NEVER doms. Well, confused until you saw what I had summoned to play with. Our shiny new toys! And I often say something is "shiny new" but it is rarely shiny. But these Sounds of ours are definitely shiny! Add lube to them and they are extra shiny!

I handed them over to you, you gave the smallest one (the 4mm) to Nev to start on Charlie and pulled out the 7mm for me. Raising your eyebrow in question, the biggest I'd taken so far was the 6, so this would definitely be stepping things up for me.

You started out with the posh professor voice of yours that I love. Even not having any idea what we were doing up until that point you knew to take the lead. The looks on their faces, an even mix of excitement and terror, probably gave it away that this was their first time. "Neville, your boy is going to love this so much, getting stimulation inside and out heightens everything, but we must be careful not to damage them. You want to just drown the Sound in lube, don't push it let gravity do all the work. This is the part where I'd say we need to make sure they're hard but look at them." You weren't wrong, just knowing what was coming had Charlie and I already hard and straining.

This was the first time we'd done this where you hadn't restrained my arms. I almost asked you to, but knew if you were leaving them loose you knew I was up to the challenge. Instead, I gripped Charlie's hand. We all watched you get my Sound ready, and once you pressed the tip to my slit I'm not sure if the gasp was mine or Charlie's. Maybe both I suppose.

"See Neville, just hold onto this end, keep it straight and steady, but look at my Harry's shaft. It's just sucking it in nice and slow. We don't need to give it any pressure, his hungry hole will just swallow it up."

Oh Hell Draco, I thought it was sexy when we were doing it alone. Hearing you go all Lecture Voice and being your display model was a whole new level of hot. I was so focused on you, your voice, and the Sound sliding into me that I didn't realize Neville had started already. Not until I felt Charlie gripping my hand. I looked over and saw Neville had already worked half of his Sound into Charlie. When you've done it to me or I've done it to you, I've been so focused on either being careful or enjoying the experience, but watching someone else taking it was a whole new experience for me.

Both Charlie and I were covered with a light sheen of sweat and panting pretty hard. But I couldn't help but notice he had already taken much more than I had. Ok, fine, I know that there were a lot of factors at play, one of which was how much wider mine was, but I felt a bit like I was losing some competition. "Ungh, Draco, please, I need more!"

"Tch tch, Love, you know better, who's in charge of this shaft of yours hmm?"

"You are! But Please!!" I'd like to think I shouted that in a very manly way, but I am pretty sure I was shrieking at that point.

"You're so beautiful when you beg my Harry, what do you want more of? Do you want a bigger one or do you want me to get this one deeper?"

And that's when I'm pretty sure I mumbled something incoherent because you chuckled a bit and just kept going.

You two kept playing with your boys for a little bit longer, but this was Nev's first Sounding attempt and we've yet to fully figure out the timing for coming and Sounding, so the two of you slowly removed the Sounds before we'd actually come. I felt like I'd run a marathon as opposed to sitting still and letting you do all the work.

Even though we hadn't finished, both Charlie and I were whimpering a bit in oversensitivity. Which I am sure you were well aware of because you both kept stroking us which we twitched and moaned. Eventually letting go and as anxious as I was to come, I welcomed the reprieve.

Until I realized it wasn't going to be a reprieve. Neville's dominating side came out at that point, "How nice of you both to let us play with you that way, you deserve to feel so nice don't you?"

Neville and Charlie must play more orgasm control/delay games than we do, because Charlie responded with an excited "Oh yes Sir, we do we really do." As opposed to my reaction which would have been a bit more wary of any additional stimulation.

"Draco, they deserve a nice warm, wet mouth on their dicks don't they?"

And again with your filthy laugh, "I do believe they do, Neville."

I assumed, incorrectly, that as the two of you were still on your knees in front of us, that would include getting sucked by the two of you. It did not.

"Oi Mutt, what are you waiting for. You heard the man, Charlie deserves a warm mouth, have at." Gesturing at Charlie's angrily red and swollen cock.

I started to lean from where I was sitting, but Nev stopped me, "Silly Harry, if you do it that way then he can't reach you. I think you boys would do much better on the bed over there."

Ohhhh, simultaneous sucking. You laughed at me because I was so excited I just about bounced over to the bed. Charlie and I laid on our sides in the sixty-nine position, and began to lick and suck and kiss each other's hard shafts. Mmm, is there anything better than a solid mouthful of hard cock?

You and Neville got behind us, and began fingering us open. The overstimulation of the Sounding, and then Charlie's talented mouth, you playing with my arse, and having a front row seat to Neville playing with Charlie's meant I was about two seconds away from coming. Until I felt the familiar tingle of a denial spell.

"Not yet boys, we have more fun in store for you both." Neville is the meanest!

You pulled your slicked up fingers out of my arse, and I felt your thick head press against my hole at the same time I saw Nev bringing his monster up to Charlie's. The two of you did not waste any time, no soft slow slides into it, just a hard fast buggering. Oh Merlin Draco, at one point when I was licking Charlie's bollocks, Neville's slapped wetly onto my forehead. I felt so delightfully filthy. I could hear the wet sounds of your skin slapping against mine. I could see Charlie's pucker clenching tightly against Neville's cock.

With our mouths full, all we could do was hum and moan and squeal onto each other's cocks. But you and Neville's mouths were free to say anything you'd like. It was a never-ending litany of hot filth.

"Mmm, yeah, take it boy."

"Ungh, years of being my sexy little bottom and you're still so tight Mutt."

"Hey Draco, you know what I've not tried but have heard such delightful things about?"

"What's that?"

"Your tight arse."

I think that's the first time I've actually wondered if the denial spell would hold. I am pretty sure I almost accidental magicked right past whatever was blocking it.

"My Harry just squealed and his cute little arse clenched me so delightfully tight, I think someone thinks that's a great idea."

I was about to attempt at least an "Mmmhmm!" while my mouth was full but Charlie seemed to beat me to it with his deep moan around my cock.

"Looks like my Charlie likes the idea as well. Shall we let them have their release and then put on a bit of a show for them?"

You must have communicated silently because without hearing an answer, I felt a familiar releasing tingle in my bollocks and before I realized what was happening, I was coming down Charlie's throat and receiving his load down mine. In a daze, you both settled us up against the pillows, snuggled into each other to watch the show.

Neville laid back, re-slathered up his cock, and invited you to "climb on up!"

"Well, how am I supposed to do that if I haven't even been properly prepped?" Not wanting to give you the chance to think of an alternate idea, I made myself useful burying my tongue and my fingers inside of that gorgeous arse of yours. Before I was really ready to give up my toy, you declared yourself ready to ride.

I laid back with Charlie to watch you ride Neville. Fuck, you're so bloody beautiful. Even while buggering yourself on someone's cock you look graceful. You were stroking your shaft while Neville's hands roamed your body. Spreading your arse wider, pinching and pulling at your pert pink nipples, using your hips to slam you just a bit harder.

It felt as though I had just come, but I was already hard and ready to go again. I was all ready to be patient and wait for a command as to what I should do, but Charlie had other ideas. While my eyes were trained on your body, I felt a slick hand start stroking my cock. Mmmm, well it would only be fair to return the favor. I cast a quick lubrication charm and started sliding my hand over Charlie's.

"Draco, look over at our boys, aren't they so sweet? Look at them tugging on each other. All flushed and sweaty. They're looking a bit desperate."

Those molten silver eyes of yours burned into mine, and that's all it took for me, I let out a guttural moan and spilled all over Charlie's hand. Right behind my release, you found yours, spraying Neville's chest. Not wasting a moment, as soon as you finished, Neville turned you over onto all fours, gave a half a dozen more hard slams into you, and unloaded into that hot arse of yours. And that's all it took for Charlie to come squealing over my hand which hadn't slowed at all despite all of the distractions.

We all fell into a sweaty, sticky, sated pile to catch our breaths.

Eventually Neville took his boy home to care for in their own bed, and my handsome knight carried me to ours.

Not quite sure what's on the agenda for the rest of the day, I should probably go check in with everyone else! Stop being such a smutty writing hermit I suppose!

Love you,  
Harry

 

Saturday November 14th  
Dearest love,

Because of our fun and exhausting playtime last night, you seem to have forgotten something important. To be honest, I'd forgotten too, and on your part, part of that may have to do with pregnancy brain fog. In any case, there's something very important we needed to do today. Pippa reminded me of it as I was waking up.

"Alright boss, you have a very full day ahead of you, but the good news is that there are no meetings planned. It's currently going on noon, which just barely gives you enough time to do your routine and eat breakfast before your one o'clock appointment with your husband to shag. At two, you had better be ready to shop 'til you drop because your girls will murder you if they have to wait a moment longer. THEN -"

But I interrupted her. "THAT'S RIGHT!!!" I snapped my fingers twice. "Muffy! Unless Harry is on the toilet or flipping a pancake, Apparate him to me right now!"

To my delight, you had apparently been in the greenhouse, because you were covered in adorable smudges of dirt and were holding some colorful leaves in one hand and a trowel in the other. Before you could even fully register that you were no longer in the greenhouse, I pulled you into bed with me and positively attacked you with kisses and my hands.

"What, but, mmmph," you started to protest but ended on a moan of surrender. I'm assuming your pregnancy fueled need for me kicked in and shut down every other thought in your brain. You tossed the leaves and trowel aside and rolled around with me on the bed.

"We're scheduled to shag today, remember?" I reminded you in between kisses.

"Mmm..." you moaned.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Pippa muttered, shaking her head. "You'd think that the two of you never shag." She sighed and left the room, probably to see to it that whatever you were doing wasn't direly in need of supervision or immediate attention.

We were only scheduled to shag from 1 to 2, but I brilliantly extended that from noon to 2. Or actually, about 1:45, which gives me plenty of time to get ready. Unfortunately, now I'm starving. I say that after I finished getting dressed (I'm dictating this as I get ready), I bring the girls directly to lunch!

As I understand it, you're staying home with the boys. Or perhaps taking them shopping too. In any case, I have Jaz and you have Zaire, but I'd be willing to switch if you need me to. Love you!

I'll be your cryin' shoulder, I'll be better when I'm older, I'll be the greatest fan of your life,  
Draco


	92. Chapter 92

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a long day of shopping.

Saturday November 14th  
My Love,

I am physically tired but emotionally wide awake. It's a very good thing I love shopping so much or today might have killed me. We definitely decided to split up girls and boys, except for you obviously. For now we're at an even fifty-fifty split. I wonder how the odds will change with the new babies on the way. Will we stay fairly even with two of one and one of the other, or will we tip the scales with all three of the same gender?

I always try to cram too much into one shopping day. It's like I feel as though I failed if I don't come back after one day of shopping with everything picked out. So, to avoid coming back feeling like a failure, I decided to make a list. It made the most sense to help them pick out their gifts for the people that weren't with us. So, each of our boys managed to pick out a little something for you, pick out presents for their godparents, and grandparents.

I had them help me pick out the Christmas pajamas for the boys at Unity, and the style of trunk for the entire Unity House. And just when I was thinking we were probably good for the day, having already covered my list, River asked what we were going to get other Harry's kids. Oh. Of course we need to get them something! I can't believe I didn't think of that. They're all on the older end so as impersonal as it seemed we decided to start out with some vouchers for Gladrags, I know we have a ton of clothing and they certainly haven't had to go nude, unless they wanted to of course, but I think it will help them feel welcome and normal if they actually get a chance to pick out some of their own clothing brand new and in their own style. Then the kids helped me pick out a few books for each of them based on their interests.

Eventually, even if we weren't actually finished I was finished! I decided they had been such troopers that I was going to treat them to an ice cream at Fortescue's. That's when I made the mistake, or fantastic choice depending on how you look at it, of walking past The Magical Child on our way there. Siri and Zwei wasted no time in giving me the giant puppy dog eyes. I am a father of ten (plus!); I am a grown man. I have stared down dark lords. But you give me two sweet boys with big sad eyes and I become the biggest pushover. And now that Zwei got those glasses his eyes look even bigger! It's not fair. I'm just one man!

I know when it comes to purchasing things for the kids you don't ever give me a hard time about spoiling them. But you and I had talked about it and decided that we needed to be on a spoiling embargo at least until after Christmas. I don't want to have one of our friends or family pick out what they think would be the perfect present only to find that Harry the Sucker has splurged and bought it for that child before they had the chance to give it to them. But I'm going to tell you what happened so you understand exactly why Zaire came home with a new toy.

It was late enough in the evening that the store was pretty empty, so I didn't think anything of just letting the kids wander around on their own. I stayed right by Z, but I was keeping my eyes on Siri and Zwei. Not only did I want to see what they were eyeing for potential gifts, but they're also known mischief makers and I wanted to make sure they didn't get into trouble. I swear I turned my head for one minute and Zaire wasn't right next to me anymore. I did not panic (I'm a huge liar, I'm pretty sure I had a heart attack and a stroke at the same time) I just looked around to see where he had gotten to.

I saw his bright red sneakers sticking out from under a display table. When I walked over, he was laying on his stomach playing with a toy train. It was this bright green glossy train and in the train cars were all kinds of different animals. Z was just so adorable, his eyes all lit up, making "choo choo" sounds and then making animal noises as well. I crouched down to ask him about it and he looked at me in a panic. He jumped away from the train like it had bitten him and then he started telling me "sorry, sorry, sorry I touch!"

Oh my poor sweet boy. It took every bit of self control to not just start sobbing again.

"Hey, it's alright Love. These toys are to play with. You didn't do anything wrong." I slowly moved towards the train and pulled him along with me, "The store puts them here for kids to try. Then your Daddy can see if you like it enough to buy it and bring it home."

Zaire had been wearing his translator so he definitely understood what I was saying. Which is what made the next thing he said so heartbreaking for me. "Toys are for good boys."

I managed to avoid full on sobbing, but I definitely leaked a bit. "Toys are for good boys just like you Zaire. Daddy thinks this train needs to come home with us." I grabbed him and slung him on my hip with one arm while grabbing an unopened train box in the other. I started marching up to the register, although I think Zaire was still a bit confused, or maybe I was giving off an angry vibe because he was silent all the way. After I had paid and rounded up the kids, we finally made our way to Fortescue's but it was late enough that we took our ice cream to go.

When we got home, we sat around the dining room eating our ice cream and chatting about everything we had done that day. We made our way to the entertainment room to wait for you and our ladies to get home. I started unboxing the train set, and when it was completely unpackaged I handed it to our Zaire. He looked at me with such a confused face, "For me Daddy?"

After all of that, he still didn't realize he was getting a toy. I am making it my life's mission to spoil him a wildly nonsensical amount.

So, I'm sitting here in our rooms, Zaire sleeping in our bed, and your group still isn't home! Where did you guys go? Paris?

Anyway, I am going to head to sleep, but I figured I would get all of this out and warn you before you climb into bed and are wondering why our son is sleeping snuggled up to a caboose.

Yours,  
Harry

 

Sunday November 15th – around 3 AM  
The smart one in this relationship,

Why oh WHY didn't I make a buggering list??? I could have simply said: "Sorry girls, that's not on the list!" and saved myself SO MUCH TROUBLE!!! But no, I thought: I LOVE to shop, so this should be fun!

I was forced to eat my words...

It started well enough, we went to Café Exquis and ate enough seafood to deplete the entire ocean. I might be obligated to hire a Sea Wizard to go out and use his/her magic to rebuild entire populations.

While eating, I made it clear that since this was shopping for *others* - no shopping for themselves. I thought this rule would speed things up. I was wrong. The girls had a list of names of all the girls (and boys, but they were focusing mostly on the girls today) at Unity House, of which, there are currently a LOT. AND they'd gotten to know each of them a little bit, so they had general ideas of things to buy.

We started at Madam Malkin's and ordered a basic set of robes for each girl. Then we went to Twilfitt and Tattings to get each girl a somewhat plain formal dress in their favorite color - although I got lucky in that Viona had split the Unity girls into one of three categories: Full length, tea length, and knee length. SO, the styles were more or less the same, rather than the WEEKS it would have taken for a different style to be selected for each girl.

At Gladrags (must have missed you since it sounds like you went there first), we bought two basic outfits for each girl. OUR girls made certain that the outfits were coordinated enough to make it seem like more outfits than just two. After that, I was astonished to find that we'd missed dinner time by about an hour. So Eris insisted that I take them to one of those muggle fast food places that serves tacos. It was a street vendor, so I didn't have high hopes, but they apparently specialize in *every* type of taco you can think of, so I chose beef tongue and shrimp. Viona opted for shrimp and tuna, Eris wanted pulled pork, Haz asked for crispy calamari, and Jaz was content with tastes of all of ours.

We ate at a lovely if a bit chilly outdoor table, and then made our way to Flourish and Blotts to buy books. I am pretty sure we bought out at least three sections! From there, we went to magical child, and by this point, I was holding my hands over my eyes and just letting the girls buy whatever they want. They could easily have snuck half a store full of stuff for them into the cart, for all I know. Although they PROMISED me that everything was for the Unity Kids.

I'm going to assume that we were there after you, since it was actually after hours, but being a sort of part owner in the shop has its benefits - one of which is being able to shop after it has officially closed for the night.

So then, once we were done, I thought to myself: Good, we're done. We can go home.

OOOOOHHHHHH was I ever wrong. Because it was THEN that the girls remembered that they needed to shop for the Viper's kids. Which actually led to us heading to Ethan's parents' shop. I was dead certain that they'd tell us to come back tomorrow when the shop is actually open, but nope! They love us enough that they had no problems at all opening back up for a 10 to midnight shopping extravaganza!

WHY in the buggering hell did it take TWO bloody hours to buy FOUR instruments? Well, it's because none of us had the slightest idea what instruments they might actually like. So..... We bought them each a full set and took the time to engrave each set with their names, trying to match colors to favorites whenever possible. Also, Viona insisted that we buy each set of instruments its own pouch - a magic one where each instrument when shoved into the opening of the pouch is spelled to automatically shrink down and go to it's official place so that it's not just rattling around in there getting banged up.

We also had tea and biscuits and a lovely chat. Ethan's doing well and wants to come out to Unity House at some point to check on the current kids and see if their 'new' teacher is doing a good job of encouraging a love of music in the kids. His fiancée doesn't officially know the secret, but has heard so much about the place that she's excited to visit. I told him to call and talk to Tabitha about that, haha.

Oh hooray, we're done!

Or not, sigh...

OF COURSE our girls fully believed that their new sort of siblings needed at least one MUGGLE book and movie and game. (To show them more about this world.) So we found ourselves in one of those muggle shopping places that are open all night long. Apparently it's extremely hard to pick out the PERFECT (and our divas all insisted that these things be perfect) gift for four tweens. But I'd say that right about 3 AM, we FINALLY had everything we needed. Which is a good thing because if any of our girls had said at that point that we'd just run out of air to breath and needed to buy more, I'm dead certain I would have told them to survive off what little they had left until morning.

I had Muffy come and Apparate us all home, SOOOO ready to just crawl in bed and pass out. As we'd shopped, Jaz had mostly just sat in her wrap carrier and watched. She ate when we ate and went to the loo whenever any of us had to go. She fell asleep and napped when she felt like it, but otherwise seemed to feel that she was in the best place in the world and just stayed there.

SO.... Guess what she decided was perfect for 3 AM? That's right! A bottle and some dancing! That's alright though, because when she hit the too sleepy to keep her eyes open, but still awake enough to drink her bottle stage, I had my laptop floating in front of me and was able to read your email. It sounds like you had a lovely time shopping. Next year, YOU'RE taking the girls and I get the boys!

But now that Jaz is asleep and I've recapped my day, I'm headed to bed. Love you!

It just takes a little bit of this, a little bit of that, it started with a kiss, now we're up to bat, a little bit of laughs, a little bit of pain, I'm telling you my babe, it's all in the game of love,  
Draco  
P.S. I don't know if you saw this, but I found a note on my bedside table from River letting me know that he was planning to go to Unity House for a bit when he wakes up. I assume this will likely be after you've gone - if you're planning to, we do have to pack tomorrow after all for our midnight flight to Australia - but before I wake up, and he just wanted me to know where he was if I couldn't find him. Funnily enough, I probably would have assumed he just went with you, haha.


	93. Chapter 93

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry sees something he wishes he hadn't, and then so does Draco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Hestia, so sorry to squick you literally the moment you post a specific request not to be squicked. You probably want to skip Harry's email in this chapter.

Sunday November 15th  
My eyes! My eyes!

Seeing as you weren't awake to witness this morning's events, I think you get to have a play by play account. I was certain you would have woken up to the screaming, but that didn't happen. You must have been truly exhausted.

My poor love, did you overdo it yesterday? I know you're a sucker for our ladies but they do understand the word "no" especially if it had been paired with "I'm exhausted and need my rest." They're a bit spoiled but they are also quite nurturing and loving, hence the going overboard buying for others on your shopping spree, if they had been reminded that your pregnancy is making you tired I'm sure they would have been willing to go home earlier.

As I know we're not done shopping, I can take the girls on their own spree soon. I can wait until we get back, or I suppose I can take them out while we're in Australia. I'm certain we'll spend at least one day of our trip shopping anyway, but maybe some afternoon where you're resting and lounging by the pool while the littles swim I can take the girls out.

Well, at least you got a ton accomplished. It could have been one of those trips where you spend the entire day shopping and can't seem to find anything worthwhile. You guys got much more done than we did. But in our defense, you had the best shoppers with you and I had the mischief twins. Half the day seemed to be spent telling Siri and Zwei to stop being distracted by shiny things and the other half was spent with Ori and River telling ME to stop being distracted by the shiny things Siri and Zwei pointed out to me!

Alright I should stop babbling and explain what happened. Why am I stalling you ask? Because I still can't wrap my mind around what I saw. I know I sound like I'm being overly dramatic, but I actually think I will end up talking with Katja about this at my next session. I don't think I need to have an emergency session and talk about it immediately, but it will definitely come up at the beginning of my next regularly scheduled session.

I have been so unbelievably forgetful lately. It's actually part of the reason I went shopping armed with a list. I could just see me getting distracted and ending up at Neville's shop buying plants for the garden. I had completely forgotten that we were leaving for Australia tonight. I had forgotten River was planning on going to Unity today. I think I have to start insta-owling every little thing to Pippa as soon as I hear it. "I'll obviously remember that!" is no longer going to cut it I'm sure.

So I was sitting in the sun room watching our two littlest play together. As I thought, Zaire is not putting that train down for anything. Once we had breakfast it's the first thing he wanted to do. So I brought him and Jaz into the sun room and sat them on the floor to play. I had brought plenty of extra toys so he wouldn't have to worry about Jaz touching his toy (I know, he will need to learn to share, but right now him being happy is the plan) but he brought it over to her anyway, showed her all the different cars and animals, and then handed her one of the cars to play with. He's such a hunny. While they played I watched for a bit with watery eyes and then realized I should probably do something besides stare at them wistfully. I grabbed my computer and read your email from last night.

That's what reminded me about River and then reminded me about Australia. Yikes! We were leaving in fourteen hours and I hadn't done a thing! And that's when I remembered I hadn't told Sirius about our trip. I just assumed he would come with like he did for Unity Africa, but I didn't know that for sure. So I made my way to his room.

Side note: I love that he's finally comfortable enough to stay in the Manor, it's getting chilly enough that unless I'm out for a run, I don't want to tromp all the way across the grounds to visit him at the cottage.

I leave Muffy to watch over the littles playing while I go talk to Sirius, and go talk to him. Thank Merlin I didn't bring the kids because they did NOT need to see what I saw! I wasn't sure if he was awake yet or not so I knocked on his door quietly, but he immediately "responded" with a shouted "Yeah!" So I walked in.

Worst mistake I've ever made.

He was not shouting "yeah" at me to come in, he was shouting "yeah" at the man who was fucking him hard from behind. I walked in on Sirius being buggered HARD! That shouldn't be so bad right? I'm not a prude, Sirius is fit, I find sex between two men to be hot. What could be the problem?

Hearing what sounded like myself shouting "Oh fuck yes Pads, take it, take every fucking inch, beg for more you little slut!" was the problem. Yeah, I walked into Sirius' rooms to find him being bent over by the Viper. Sirius on all fours, face to the mattress, arse in the air, while the Viper had Sirius' wrists crossed behind his back and using them like reins to bugger him even harder.

I'm pretty sure I shouted apologies for barging, I'm not completely sure. I think I blacked out! I hope I shut the door. But now I am hiding in our closet writing to you.

What the hell?!?

I need a drink,  
Harry

 

Sunday November 15th  
AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I have to be honest, I would not have minded walking in on that!

I'm currently still in bed, drinking as much milk as I want. I'd planned on sleeping much longer, but right at noon on the dot, Pippa came in to wake me so that I could spend at least part of the day helping my family pack if needed. I think this was a flimsy excuse as each of our children have an elf of their own - except Jaz who has about a month left before she gets to meet the elf that will be hers when it's old enough.

I think Pippa just assumes that it'll be easier on me in the long run if I'm awake now and tired enough to go back to sleep shortly after we board the plane. After shagging you, that is. And she's probably right.

In any case, I'm going to pause here, get out of bed, do my morning routine, and then pick back up when I have something interesting to write about

-

Well.....

I'm... I'm not sure how to respond to this...

So... erm…

I know that we have an adult daughter, and thus have been forced to relax and let her be an adult and do adult things, but erm…

What about our not yet an adult son? I went over to Unity House to remind River that he can't spend all day there - that he'd need to do at least a little packing. Only I couldn't really find him at first. I looked everywhere I could think of before remembering that lounge we all changed in for the Gala. I remember being concerned at the time since there was bits of evidence that suggested that the older Kids might use that lounge to do things such as smoke that they really shouldn't be doing.

Or in River's case, snogging...

Oh Harry! I had no idea what to do! I KNOW I'm a bloody hypocrite considering the fuss I made over finding out that Elena was having sex as an adult (and had lost her virginity while still in Hogwarts), but my first thought was: "Lucky him."

Then as I stood there in shock and trying to decide what I'm supposed to do as his father - stop him? Go away? Ground him? Take a moment to ensure that he remembers all the protection spells?

I mean yes, it was just snogging, BUT they both had their shirts off and so it could have gone either way. They COULD have simply continued on as they were until someone else caught them, OR they could have eventually escalated. I think I might well have stood there in indecision for the rest of the day, except that something very important caught my attention.

SHE was already rounded with pregnancy, and this apparently threw my brain off the caboose onto the wrong track. I blurted out a gobsmacked: "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!?!"

"DAD!!!" River wailed in mortification, having the unconscious gentlemanly decency to quickly cover her naked top.

"You got a girl pregnant?!" I roared in shock.

"What???" He blurted out in confusion, and then cottoned on because he immediately blushed a dark red and shook his head. "NOOOO!!!!! She was *already* pregnant! She's from that brainwashed school! I ONLY snogged her!"

Meanwhile, SHE was handling the situation better than either of us. "Hi there, Mr. Malfoy. Lovely to see you again. Thank you so much for rescuing us all from Miss Charlotte's. While I wasn't treated badly, I have already given up one baby to adoption and would have had to do the same with this one if you hadn't intervened. NOW, I think I'll be able to keep this one!"

I narrowed my eyes and looked her up and down for a moment. "You're welcome, and I'm glad you're doing better, but, erm… How OLD are you?"

"14 going on 15 in a couple of months."

This was better than the 16 or so she looked. In essence, she's only a little older than a year above River. Even so, I couldn't just relax because I remembered ANOTHER very important fact.

"Regardless of what I might think or feel on the subject, the law states that a person has to be 16 before they can legally consent to, ahem, what it looks like this was headed to. I legally CAN'T just look the other way in your case, er.... Amanda?"

"Ananda," she corrected with a smile. "And just so you know, we weren't planning to do anything more than this."

I gave a wry laugh. "Yes, well, I've been your age and I know that sometimes things escalate beyond what you plan. So I'm sorry to ruin what looked like a fun diversion for the afternoon, but I'm going to bring River home now to pack up for our trip to Australia. We're going to be gone at least a week, which will give the two of you time to cool down."

I looked at River. "And it'll give me time to talk to your father and figure out how I'm suppose to handle this situation. Come on." I insisted, holding out my hand to Apparate him home - since I was feeling full of magic at the moment.

Once home, I didn't let him go just yet. Sighing in frustration, I ran my other hand through my hair. "Listen... if she had been any other girl, I probably would have just left you to it and had a talk with you the next time I saw you to make sure that you know the protection spells and are using them, but -"

"DAD!!!" River groaned. "Yes I know the spells, but NO! They won't be needed because I'm not ready for anything like that!"

I sighed in relief. "Good. But my point is that I was being serious. By law, as one of her caregivers, I literally CAN'T just look the other way. You can't shag her, should you happen to decide you are ready in the future."

River looked at his feet in silence for a long moment, and then took a deep breath. "I like her, dad. I like her a LOT! I was sort of hoping that we could 'date' until we're both old enough to actually be together. And before you say it, I KNOW she's having a baby. It might scare off any other boy, but I've helped take care of and change diapers for Siri, Zwei, and Jaz. It's NOT like holding a baby is something new to me. I figured I might even be able to help her learn what to do until she gets the hang of it."

"Is this REALLY you liking her, or is this simply a need to help someone you think needs your help?" I questioned.

"I like her AND I want to help her."

I sighed in frustration again. "The only thing I can think to do at the moment is see to it that you spend a few sessions with your Mind Healer - when we get back from Australia. IF she thinks you're NOT fulfilling some sort of Hero Complex, and IF your father thinks that this is... allowable... THEN we'll sit down and talk about what is and is not okay. Understand?"

River slumped a bit like I'd just sentenced him to a firing squad. "Alright...…."

With that, I sent him off to his room so that I could go hide in our closet and freak out in private. Unless you're still in here somewhere, in which case, we can freak out about our respective traumas, together.

I never mind the clouds in the sky if I can see the sun in your eyes,  
Draco


	94. Chapter 94

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry freaks out when he learns about River snogging Ananda.

Sunday November 15th  
My Better Half,

Weren't you surprised to find me still hiding in the closet by the time you got home? I wasn't actually still in the closet, but I had gone in to pack and found you hiding. I could have just asked Muffy to grab some things for me, its not like I really pack for myself anyway. Most of the time when we travel between you wanting to pick out my clothes and Muffy doing the work of packing, I usually just have to make sure the two of you have included the specific swim trunks or shoes I want to wear. You tend to "forget" packing pants for me and I assume you tell Muffy to forget them as well!

You begin a relationship flirting about that ONE time you were on the cover of the Prophet pantsless and apparently you never get to wear pants again!

After you and River got back from Unity, he came flying into the play room where I was trying to find a good mix of toys to bring for Jaz and Zaire. I guess he thought you were going to come find me and immediately fill me in on all the details. So he started in on his version before I had any idea what was happening.

"Dad! Dad made it sound so much worse than it was. It was just a bit of snogging. We weren't going to go any further than that, I like her, I want to date her, but now Dad's putting his foot down and saying I have to see a mind healer about it? I already see my mind healer about Iran, do I have to get another one or just go more often? And I don't see why I should have to talk to someone about dating a girl, it's not like she's that much older than me! Don't YOU think he's being unreasonable?"

I just sat there with my mouth gaping open. I had no idea what was going on. My mind was still reeling from the free sex show I witnessed this morning. I hadn't been able to keep a bite of food down all day. And now my sweet little buddy, my teeny tiny River was talking to me about the girl he was caught snogging with? What is happening?!?

And of course that is when Jaz managed to pull herself up to standing using her little rocking unicorn! I just kept standing there making no noise, it probably looked like I was watching a tennis match as I just kept swinging my head back and forth to look between my big girl and my River.

I chose to praise the baby first, I got down on her level making eye contact. Giving her a big grin and then signing applause at her. Keeping the big smile plastered to my face so she wouldn't know I was scolding River, "Your father and I have to discuss the entire situation, you know he and I are a team. If he thinks you need to see a mind healer than you need to see one. If everything is as fine as you say it is, Wendy will tell us that and all you'll have wasted was an hour of your time. You've been at Unity all day and we leave in a few hours, go make sure everything you need has been packed."

I think I covered up the fact that I had no idea what had happened pretty well. But now I know what happened! You're off reading bedtime stories to Siri, Zwei, and Zaire, while Siri and Zwei sign it to Jaz, so I figured I can get my thoughts about the River situation out before we go talk to him. As soon as they're asleep, you and I are going to ambush River to have this talk. I think doing this while none of us can apparate away or run to a far corner of the Manor should work. We're good and trapped so we may as well get everything out and figured all at once.

He's thirteen! He's only thirteen years old! He gets this from you ya know! I may be a massive slag now, but at thirteen I was doing nothing of the sort! "We were only snogging!" Uh, NO! Snogging includes kissing, maybe, MAYBE some up the shirt action. The both of you being completely topless? That is not snogging! He had her bra off, that is WAY further than snogging.

And you. "Lucky him"?!? I guess I should be glad you at least didn't say it. When you were describing the situation to me you said our son who's "not yet an adult" he's not even close! Sixteen could maybe be called "not yet an adult" thirteen is barely a teenager.

And he wants to help this little girl raise her baby? There are so many things wrong with this entire situation. I should take credit for part of this, he may get the precocious view on snogging from you, but the hero complex is from me. Wait a minute, you do way more heroic things, I've had to ground you from Auror-ing! He gets all of this from you!

Ok, not only would I not stop our children from having a boyfriend or girlfriend if they wanted, but I also realize it's just about impossible to do. Kids will find a way, and I'd rather him be up front and honest with us so we can keep everyone safe than have him sneaking around. But on a number of levels I really don't like this situation. As one of ten and having helped out in orphanages all over the world, River probably really does understand how much work babies are and knows how to care for them. But he's not adult enough to take on that much responsibility let alone make the life changing decision to help significantly which will put him in a parental role at only thirteen years old. So one of the things I would want Wendy to address with him is how he can fulfill the role of family friend or even "fun uncle" but he cannot take on the responsibility of parenting this baby.

The other thing, unrelated to River, that really concerns me is Ananda herself. None of those girls who were brainwashed for years are mentally healthy yet. They have really come so far since they got to Unity, but I can't imagine Ananda is coming from a healthy place if she thinks this is just like any other fourteen year old girl who meets a cute boy. There are huge factors in this situation that don't pop up with most childhood crushes.

It has been such a long day, it's not over, and we have hours more on this airplane before we land in Australia. There's got to be some closet in here I can hide in right?

Oh, that's you, I guess it's time to face the music.

Yours,  
Harry

P.S. Don't think we're not going to talk about you wanting to have seen the Viper and Sirius having sex. You know, the guy who looks like me and my Godfather? That you would have liked to have seen me have sex with Sirius. I live in a madhouse.

 

Sunday November 15th  
Well that could have went better!

River is convinced that we ganged up on him, bringing him into the bedroom area of the jet so that we could talk to him in private. He feels that we're being unfair and telling him he can have a girlfriend, just so long as it's anyone NOT at Unity House - thus, not the girl he likes. I know we both tried to assure him that even though it's a VERY sticky issue, we'd work with him so long as his Mind Healer can talk through all the issues with him, but I probably stuck my foot in it when I told him to try picking a girlfriend who isn't pregnant.

Which naturally enraged him until he was shouting that we don't understand him, that we think he's still a baby, that we don't TRUST him, things like that. So... we agreed to let him have the first two days in Australia as alone time with his grandparents. Mike and Jackie have already agreed, and who knows, maybe THEY can talk some sense into him.

I give up for now as I'm too tired to think.

Exhaustedly yours,  
Draco  
P.S. I'd like to remind you that I didn't have my first kiss until I was 14 and that probably doesn't even count because Blaise had just won a massive amount of galleons off who would win the First Task of the Tri-Wizard tournament, and lorded it over me when I had to hand his winnings to him that I was among the losers by giving me a quick smooch. It wasn't even a romantic gesture, but an arsehole gesture. My first kiss that counts as a romantic gesture was when I was 15, so if you are basing that on history, he DOESN'T get it from me. Maybe he gets it from his mother?


	95. Chapter 95

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parenting is hard!

Monday November 16th  
My Dragon,

I don't know, maybe things seemed easier with Lainie because she was at Hogwarts for so much of the time that we didn't have to deal with seeing her grow up faster than we wanted her to. McGonagall got to deal with her being caught snogging and things of that nature. We were never contacted about any snogging so I assume she either didn't do it until she was older, or was better about not being caught.

You know when we watch the muggle telly and see those ads for baby items? Nappies, and bottles, and other such baby items? I feel like there should be a warning on those ads. You know how there are warning labels on cigarettes? "Smoking can seriously damage your health" and those sorts of things. Those ads with the sweet sleepy babies and their flushed cheeks should contain some sort of warning like, "Warning, this cute baby will turn into a hormonal teenager someday."

Remember when he was just my little buddy who followed me around and talked my ear off? I couldn't even go to the loo in peace, he wanted to talk my ear off as I sat there doing my business. And now he's headed off to Unity House all by himself, snogging girls, and railing at me about thinking he's still a baby! Well of course you're still a baby River, you're my baby, you'll always be my baby.

When we dropped him off with Mike and Jackie I was such a weird mixture of emotions. Part of me was relieved that you, me, and River would have some time to cool down and think about things. And I suppose I am always glad when he gets some quality time with his Grandparents. But mostly I just miss him. I hate that we're fighting. Mostly I just miss my little buddy. But I suppose I feel a little better about our goodbyes, I thought when we dropped him off that he might pull the whole hormonal teenager in a snit at his Dads business and act like he didn't care about missing us. Nope, not my sweet boy, I saw him give you an extra tight hug, and when I got my hug he told me, "I love you Dad" and held me longer than usual.

Ugh, this parenting thing is the worst sometimes.

And if trying to keep River from being a nightmare about being separated from Ananda wasn't enough, I feel as though I've spent much of the plane rides, and then the few hours we've been at our House on Kangaroo Island trying to keep the Viper and Sirius apart. I think my hormones might have just gone round the bend. Have I looked as absolutely nutters as I've felt? I go looking for them, and then I realize they are grown men and I shouldn't so I turn around, and then I realize I love Sirius and the Viper is growing on me so I think I'm justified in talking to them about it, then I think about how it's not my business, and eventually I just sit down and eat something.

I am walking around in circles muttering to myself. I swear Draco, I hate to make such permanent decisions when I am emotional from missing my son, hormonal from a pregnancy, and most likely jet-lagged from a massive trip, but I think this is going to need to be my last pregnancy. The constant horniness is fun, but the minute by minute mood swings are really taking a toll on me! And I'm only, what, ten weeks?

Well, besides the psychotic pacing I've been doing, it's been a nice lazy day so far of just settling in. Similar to what we did in Africa, this first day here we're just going to settle in and spend some time altogether, and we'll head to Unity Australia tomorrow morning. I know I'm not as well known here in Wizarding Australia, but the people at Unity know me pretty well and know I don't have a twin, so it's time for a glamour and my … friend? … cousin? James to come for our visit with us.

-

After all that babbling about resting and settling in I am going to make a liar of myself. Eri and Viona just came in and asked me when we'd be able to go surfing. I'm all unpacked and settled so I don't see why it can't be now! You're taking a nap my poor tired husband, so I think we're just going to leave you here all by yourself and hit the beach. If you wake up while we're still out and you're feeling up to it, come join us! Otherwise enjoy some quiet time.

Love you,  
Harry

 

Monday November 16th  
The shape of my heart,

Being pregnant with twins is no joke! The first trimester of any pregnancy is exhausting because the body is being drained of all resources while it sets up an entirely new being, but this time, it's setting up two. I am starting to feel like there is not enough sleep in the day to stop this exhaustion!

But that said, as much as I love surfing, I really enjoyed the quiet when I woke up from my nap and you were all gone. I look forward to hearing how the Viper and his kids did. I know without asking that Pippa hired an instructor to help them learn.

Did you find yourself with an armful of baby in the middle of a big wave? I bet you did. Jaz didn't come back to me, so she almost certainly insisted on surfing with you. At the same time, I have a feeling that Zaire was more than happy to sit on the beach and watch as his crazy family attempted to drown themselves repeatedly, hahaha.

Well, while all of you were off having fun, I drank a nice relaxing cup of tea, had some milk, and then ordered in a delivery of hibachi grilled squid. I LOVE living on an Island in which the ocean is close enough to have excellent seafood at all times. Wiltshire isn't exact on the coast, haha.

Once I was mentally awake and ready, I pulled out a new packet of paper to finally figure out those buggering dictation spells I've been working on in my spare time. Maybe it's because I'm in a different place and thus thinking about things from a different perspective, or maybe it's because I'm not worrying about Zaire quite as much as when I started this project, BUT I got it to work!

So here's the thing. I know Jaz is too young to read yet, but what I really wanted these spells to create the dictation effect for is her. I'm currently layering the spells onto a pair of contacts I conjured that are 'plain' in that they do not have a prescription. If it works like I think and hope it should, then anyone wearing the contacts should be able to read what is automatically being written across the bottom of the lens as people speak.

Surprisingly, the only thing that is fighting me so far is NOT the dictation part of the spell work, but coming up with spells to detect which part of the contact is on the bottom so that the words scroll across that part and do not block out the entire vision. Maybe if I try...

AHA!!! I did it! I've managed to spell these contacts to do exactly what I want them to, and they're not annoying to the wearer beyond the fact that they need to have something in their eyes. That part in and of itself takes some getting used to. But now I need to spell the contacts (unlike the dictation paper) to recognize the wearer's voice and NOT write what is being said. After all, even a deaf person is not likely to need their own words written down for them to read - well, provided that they had hearing to begin with and learned how to speak. It'll be different for Jaz in that she won't be talking to begin with, and so her contacts wouldn't need to omit her words.

But I have a feeling that other people will use this invention, and that THEY'LL need it to omit their own words. After all, how annoyed would you be if everything you said popped up in your vision?

Hmm... maybe if I... nope, that didn't work. Maybe... well that seemed to work, but it means that these contacts will only ever work for me - my words won't be written for anyone else wearing them and their words would be. I can work with this though as it simply means that each pair will need to be customized to its wearer. I think I'll spend the next hour or so conjuring up and programming enough for everyone (except Siri, Zwei, Zaire, and Jaz, who can't really read well enough to make it worth trying to get into their eyes. Well, I mean Siri can, but I don't think he'd like the gritty feel and so wouldn't wear them anyway). That way you can all test them out for me and give feedback and help me tweak it.

Maybe I'll go see Rowe when we get back and see if she can find at least one volunteer willing to let me try spelling their eyes directly - under her supervision so that she can fix it right away if I inadvertently damage anything. I just think that if some people cannot tolerate wearing contacts, but still need the dictation spells, then it might be good to have the ability to spell the eye directly. After all, done right, it SHOULDN'T actually be harmful.

But I'll have to talk to Rowe first and see what she has to say.

Oh, I just got an Insta-owl from Jackie. Oh dear, it seems that they're not having any luck talking to River about waiting until he's a bit older before snogging. Although she swears up and down that they didn't say anything of the sort, River shouted an accusation that the only reason everyone is giving him a hard time about liking Ananda is because she's a girl. If he was interested in BOYS, he's willing to bet none of us would say a word and just let him get on with it.

Well... I suppose that it WAS asking a bit too much to assume that we'd never have to deal with any sort of issues like this. Puberty is confusing enough with straight parents and having to wonder if possibly being bent is going to upset them. I imagine that being a seemingly straight boy with gay parents must be even MORE confusing, because even though we've ALWAYS told him that love is okay no matter what form it takes, we're suddenly upset over his very first girlfriend.

Parenting IS hard! Why in the bloody hell did we decide to do this 13 times? (I'm not counting Miles in this only because he was close enough to being an adult by the time we took him in, that we didn't really have to raise him. Especially not through puberty, sigh.) I can only conclude that our first pregnancies actually ate up all our brain cells and so, we've not been able to think clearly in about 10 years, hahaha.

Love everything about the way you're loving me, the way you lay your head up on my shoulder when you sleep, and I love to kiss you in the rain, I love everything you do, oh I do,  
Draco


	96. Chapter 96

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! This is not a chapter of this story. This is an extra. A SIDE story. A possibility that I don't think is going to happen in the main story, lol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated back and forth on whether I should make this side story a separate part, or a stand alone story altogether. I decided on chapter mostly because I want to make sure that everyone who is reading this story has a chance to see the side story.  
> That said, I'm ALSO probably going to post it as a stand alone so that people who aren't reading the main story can get a taste and maybe decide they want to read it after all, lol. And then I'll probably link it to the other story it relates too :-)  
> A VERY BIG THANKS to Chechidulce - who gave me the idea for this funny little side story ^_^

Harry was sitting in a plush armchair in front of the fireplace in the sitting area of the suite he shared with his husband Draco. In front of him was a little table and across the table was another armchair containing ANOTHER Harry. A Harry from a different world.

In this world, Harry had defeated Voldemort in the Final Battle at Hogwarts on May 2nd 1998. In the OTHER Harry's world, Voldemort had taken Harry's body away when he thought he'd killed him, and declaring Harry dead (witnessed by Hagrid), won the war. That had been the start of two years of torture that resulted in other Harry giving birth to two children fathered by Voldemort and having them taken away upon birth for someone else to raise.

Among OTHER terrible, horrible things.

When other Harry FINALLY managed to kill Voldemort – with the Draco of his world helping during a plot enacted by Ron, Hermione, and Draco – he searched until he found his two kids, along with the two Bellatrix had given birth to, and vowed to raise them the best he could. Everything seemed to be going more or less well... until it wasn't. In a desperate attempt to protect his kids, Harry cast a spell that brought them to THIS world.

At first, it had been quite a shock to everyone involved, but now... Harry nearly got along with other Harry – whom he'd secretly nicknamed the Viper. He still didn't quite trust him to NOT try to steal Draco (because let's face it; how could he NOT want Draco???), but they were able to be something very close to friends.

Hence the fact that they were playing a card game. It was a somewhat childish game called War. There was no betting involved, no exchange of money, and no stripping or dares. They weren't QUITE at that level yet! They *might* have decided to bond by drinking had Harry not been pregnant. With his 11th child, depending on how you wanted to count it.

Yes, to the Viper's shock – utterly gobsmacked shock – Harry and Draco were not only married, but between adoption and the both of them being pregnant at various times, they had 10 kids and an honorary 11th – with an honorary grandchild! Elena was 18, River was 13, Viona was going on 11, Eris, Orion, and Hazel were not quite triplets and all 9, Sirius James was 5, Draco Junior was 4, Zaire was their newest child having recently been adopted and so tiny that he didn't look 3 years old, which just left Jasmine at 10 months old. Plus the one Harry was pregnant with and the TWO Draco was carrying.

All in all, it could be agreed that Harry and Draco had gone around the twist at some point and hadn't found their way back yet. Especially since they were both only 28! (Elena had obviously been adopted.)

Now that the Viper was in this world with his 4 kids – Delphini 12, Lord Voldemort the Second called Tommy 11, Bellerophon 10, and Harrison 9 – he honestly wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. It had taken him some time to relax enough to believe that his kids honestly were safe. That there WEREN'T vigilantes hunting them everywhere they went in order to eradicate all blood belonging to Voldemort. That they could just... live normal lives. And maybe even have a little fun.

Which was why Harry and the Viper were doing something so utterly normal as playing cards by the fire while drinking NOT alcoholic drinks on a Thursday night. The kids were doing their own thing, except for Zaire, who was asleep, and Jaz, who was being rocked to sleep – or more likely danced to sleep – by Draco in the bedroom portion of their suite in Malfoy Manor.

Harry honestly wasn't sure who was winning the 'war' but if it was the Viper, he was certain there HAD to be cheating somehow! They each flipped up a new card and saw that both were 7s. This led to the point of the game, a war to win the cards. Each quickly added three cards and flipped up another one to see that... both were 9s. This spurred on another war. 

In the flurry of trying to win, they didn't pay any attention to Draco Apparating into the room.

“Potter?” Draco blurted out incredulously, looking first at the Viper, and then around the room. The way he had Apparated in, he was looking directly at the Viper and not really noticing Harry sitting in the chair more or less next to him. But he DID notice that this was HIS suite. Although a few things were different than he remembered. “What are you doing in MY HOUSE??? And... Why are there toys – no wait, they probably belong to your kids. Where ARE your kids?”

“Hi Draco, the kids are with your kids watching cartoons, remember?” The Viper murmured, not quite paying attention to him.

“Anime,” Harry corrected automatically before crowing in triumph that he'd won the war.

“Yeah sure, Anime, whatever. They're cartoons in Japanese!” Viper muttered, not happy to have lost the war.

“What. The. Fuck?!?!” Draco questioned in tone of sheer disbelief. “How are there TWO of you?! And why the fuck are you in MY CHILDHOOD HOME?! In my room, no less!”

Both Harrys turned to look at him in confusion.

“Something wrong, love?” Harry asked his husband. “Did you forget that YOU'D more or less insisted that the Vi – er, OTHER Harry and his kids stay in our home with us?”

There was a look of confusion so deep on Draco's face that Harry wondered if his lip would curl right up into his left nostril. 

Suddenly, Draco walked into the room from the bedroom. He took one look at himself and chuckled. “Oh, so you're here too. Interesting.” Knowing that he'd never have another chance like this if he lived until the end of time, he walked over to his husband, sat on his lap, and gave him a very thorough and rather passionate kiss. It was hot, possessive, and just this side of filthy.

Harry purred happily as he returned the kiss, his hands roaming up the back of his husband's black singlet before deciding to roam down into the soft cotton Slytherin pajama bottoms to massage that cushy arse.

“WHAT IN THE BLOODY FUCKING MERLIN BUGGERING HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!?!” OTHER Draco roared in a mix of astonishment, disbelief, alarm, and discombobulation.

The Viper laughed – literally threw his head back, held his sides, and bellowed laughter so hard that he quickly had tears pouring from his eyes. “That's. How. I. Felt!”

Other Draco kept whipping his head back and forth between the Viper and the literally impossible couple damn near shagging on his favorite armchair.

River came into the room, spotted Other Draco first, and walked over to him. “Hey dad, Siri and Zwei want to know if they can have some biscuits and milk before bed, and I was wondering if Ananda can come over tomorrow – er wait,” he faltered when he looked from Other Draco to the Viper (who was still half dying from laughter), to Harry and Draco snogging like teenagers on a chair. “You CAN'T be my dad since you're not kissing my other dad. SO you must be from OTHER Harry's world. Probably why you look like you're about to faint.”

Which was part of why the Viper couldn't stop laughing. Other Draco was now staring with bulging eyes at the 13 year old boy who looked like the spitting image of himself at that age.

“Dads? Dads?! DADS!!!” River demanded their attention. “Stop snogging for two minutes!!!”

“Hmm? What?” Draco asked, sounding almost tipsy when he pulled back from some utterly fantastic kissing.

River took in a deep breath. “Siri and Zwei would like some biscuits and milk before bed, Elena says she's going to a new friend's house for the night and not to bother looking for her, I was wondering if Ananda could come over tomorrow, Viona, Eri, Ori, and Haz – el – HAZEL have decided to pull an all nighter to finish up Magic Knight Rayearth and would like permission from OTHER Harry for Del, Bel, Tommy, and Harrison to stay up too, Zaire seems to have just had a nightmare because he's looking a bit spooked as he stands in the doorway, and Jaz has just Apparated into MY arms for a change.”

Draco sighed and got to his feet, his left hand still tangled in his husband's sadly short and messy hair (as opposed to the long braid it had been until a recent accident). “I'll take Zaire, yes to the biscuits, fine to the all nighter – so long as Other Harry agrees – and MAYBE to you having your girlfriend over AGAIN. We'll see how things are tomorrow. But nice try trying to slip it in there unnoticed.”

The Viper had calmed down a bit but still seemed to be in high spirits. “You can just go ahead and call me Viper – don't think I hadn't figured that out already. I kinda like it, if I'm honest.” He grinned at River. “My kids can watch cartoons all day and night for the rest of their lives if they want if it means that we're not running from arseholes trying to murder them. And if it helps, I'll glamour into your dad tomorrow and give you permission to snog your girl.”

“NO YOU WON'T!!!” Harry blurted out in alarm. “He already snogs her far too much, there's no need to encourage him to do it even more!”

“Sorry mate,” Viper commiserate with an impish grin and a shrug. “I tried. I personally think your dads are being too strict with you. I'd be overjoyed if all I had to worry about was my kids snogging other kids.”

Draco snorted. “Oh sure, you say that NOW. Just wait until Delphini ends up pregnant because she met a cute boy at the beach and she got carried away in her snogging.”

Viper looked ready to break someone in half at that thought. “You have a point...”

OTHER Draco managed to find his tongue, now glaring as he looked around at everyone in the room. “I repeat: What. The. Bloody. Hell. Is. Going. On?!”

Draco decided that since Zaire had come over and crawled into Harry's lap, he had time to wind his other self up. He got in other Draco's face and looked him up and down very carefully. “Mmm... you're bloody fit! You've got a few scars too, which I hate to think about, but you're also harder and more toned. You look like you are determined to be as strong as you can be, mmm...” he was not only purring in mild lust by this point, but using his hands to inspect the differences thoroughly. “And you're still bloody gorgeous! I could spend hours just licking you!”

“Draaacoooo,” his husband whined needily. “When you say things like that in your voice made of liquid sin, I can't help but want to drag you to the playroom for the rest of the night!”

“Yes,” Draco agreed with a smoky grin. “Let's drag our new friend to the playroom and debauch him in every way possible.”

“Wait WHAT?!” Other Draco blurted out in alarm, not used to anyone flirting with him so heavily. Or even lightly, come to think of it.

The Viper harrumphed. “Oh SURE! My Draco comes from my world and your Draco promptly tries to invite him to your playroom, but if **I** even remotely try to flirt with either of you, YOU start looking murderous!”

Harry rolled his eyes even as he patted Zaire – who was mostly asleep again by this point. “First of all, my Draco is a shameless flirt. He flirts with almost EVERYONE! If he *didn't* flirt with your Draco, I'd die of shock. Second of all, seeing my Draco with anyone who looks like him is such a turn on that I don't particularly mind him being all handsy at the moment. Third, while one of Draco's kinks is sharing me with others – and one of mine is doing whatever it takes to please Draco – the idea of sharing HIM with someone with the same face he's attracted to enough to marry, well, it makes me want to gut you.” He finished with a suspicious glare.

Other Draco took a step back, shaking his head lightly. “I'm dreaming. That's the only possible explanation. There's simply NO WAY there's a world where I marry Potter AND SHARE HIM.”

Draco laughed, cupping his lookalike's face and murmuring huskily: “Just close your eyes a moment and picture Harry Potter naked, on his knees, and begging to be taken however you like.”

Other Draco could help but moan at that mental image. 

“Now throw in the idea that you've already done all that – teased him and wound him up and then had your way with him in every filthy way you can think of.”

Other Draco pressed a fist to his mouth and coughed in order to cover a groan of longing. Then he pressed his lips together, determined not to give anything else away. 

“Suddenly, you see a dark haired man that looks just a little bit like him. Or maybe a tall and golden stranger faintly reminiscent of you. This man is nothing but a prop, a willing prop able to touch and caress said Harry Potter down on his knees while you do nothing but watch and direct him where to touch and how. To finger that tight hole open so you can see not only it, but the look on Harry's face. The look of want and need turning into desperation. That beautiful full body blush as he squirms and whines and WANTS you – but can't have you just yet. The look of concentration and determination as he complies with the order to suck that willing prop off because he'll do anything to please his Master.”

Other Draco started coughing again and had to spin around so that he wasn't facing any of them. “You're bloody sick! Twisted!”

“Am I?” Draco asked in an amused drawl, his hand wandering around Other Draco's hip to prove a point. “Is that why you're currently hard enough to break down a door if it was in your way?”

Other Draco was flustered because if this was ANYONE else on the planet, he'd just slap that hand away with dire warning of the consequences of touching a noble Malfoy. But this was HIMSELF – more or less. The same tactic wouldn't work on him...

Harry and the Viper both quietly chuckled when River stuck out his tongue, shuddered a bit, mimed vomiting, and carried Jaz out of the room. Obviously, she was in the mood to watch anime with the rest of them, and there was no need to have either of them on hand to witness this perversion. He also firmly ignored the tiny voice in the back of his head that suggested his dad was rather smooth at the flirting thing and it might be worth taking notes for future reference.

Now that Zaire was asleep again, Harry handed him off to Muffy to return to bed. Then he stood up and walked to a clear area on the floor so that he could get to his knees and stroke his collar that proved he belonged to his Master. “Draco,” he pouted. “Stop tormenting your other self and get over here and torment me.”

“Mmm...” Draco moaned in approval, turning around to walk over and pet his husband on the head. He then looked over to find Other Draco watching him with a curiosity he just couldn't suppress. “What do you say, Draco from another world? Should I strip off his bottom and spank him?”

Other Draco bit his lip and looked to the floor. He squirmed ever so slightly and unconsciously caressed his own bum just a little. 

Draco grinned at the Viper. “Looks like he might be interested in your brand of kink after all.”

This had not escaped Viper's notice. He stood up abruptly and got in Other Draco's face. “Come. Let's go talk.”

Other Draco looked at him warily. “Talk?”

Viper nodded, holding out his hand. Before Other Draco could make up his mind to accept the offer, the door to the suite burst open and a multitude of kids piled in. Elena – who hadn't left just yet – River (who was kicking himself for saying anything), Viona, Eris, Orion, Hazel, Siri, Zwei, Delphini, Tommy, Bellerophon, and Harrison were all chattering at once, demanding to know if it was true that Other Draco had come to this world. They were pushed forward a bit farther into the room as Draco's adopted younger siblings (who were home from Hogwarts for the weekend) entered the room too. Eliza, Sebastian, Della, and Gavin all wanted to see the other version of their older brother.

Other Draco took one look at ALL the kids – noticed how quite a few of them looked like versions of himself and/or Harry, assumed that they might actually ALL belong to them (aside from the Viper's four, whom he already knew) – and... fainted.


	97. Chapter 97

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco et al are in Australia. First up is the Beach!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Remember, the last chapter wasn't real. It was an alternative possibility based off an excellent prompt. So if you read this chapter and wonder where other Draco is, he was never here. Enjoy! ^_^

Tuesday November 17th  
Bloody Hell did I need a beach day!

I know, it was a beach evening so we didn't exactly spend the entire day at the beach, but a few hours in the ocean is better than a week at a spa. Yes, I can see what I said and I stand by it. I love the beach!

No, I did not end up with a baby mid-wave. That's because Little Miss demanded I wear her before I managed to paddle a few feet towards the waves. She's such a sweetheart, calm, mellow, has smiles for everyone, but when she wants something she wants it NOW! I was on my stomach on my board, I blink and she's sitting on the tip of my board happy as a clam smirking away at me. I was actually already wearing the wrap, so I just tucked her in and kept going. I was worried she would apparate to me mid-wave like you thought so I had the wrap and all the safety spells already on it just in case.

The Viper had a bit of a hard time surfing, he did eventually manage to ride a few waves, but he definitely didn't take to it as well as his kids did. All four of them managed to get to standing well before he did, surpassing Sirius' surfing within an hour or so and they'd never tried it before. I think his Bel is almost as competitive as Viona and Eris. He knew he couldn't compete with our little surfers who've been doing it most of their life, but he was certainly taunting his siblings with catching on the quickest.

You were definitely right about Zaire's beach activities. He played on the beach, digging in the sand and watching the surfers for most of the evening. Haz and Ori spent a lot of time making sandcastles with him. Lainie, Vivi, and our Haz mostly surfed, but would occasionally wander over to one of their creations to ooh and ahh while they took a breather. But the best part was right as the sun was starting to set, Orion managed to talk Z into swimming. He clung to Ori like an octopus the entire time, but he was all smiles.

Haz joined them swimming and got knocked over by a wave, when she surfaced she sputtered a bit and had some seaweed on her head. Draco, I have never heard Zaire laugh so hard. He's given soft, tentative giggles, but these were great belly laughs. Well that was it for everyone else, dropping their surf boards it became a contest as to who could look the silliest in the water to make Zaire laugh. Unsurprisingly, our little competitors Viona and Eris took it the furthest. They started doing acrobatics to get funnier landings and bigger splashes.

Either they've been practicing or they really held on to their gymnastics lessons from when we were in Russia. I wonder if that's something they'd like to do again? We could hire a gymnastics tutor to come to the house like we used to hire Lainie's dance tutors. I bet Zwei would be interested in lessons for sure, he does so much tree climbing at home, I bet he'd like to learn some tricks to jump in and out of the trees for sure.

Speaking of learning things, I am really sorry about how I reacted to you telling me about the visual dictation translators. I think you were hoping for excitement and some snogging. Instead I just squeaked and locked myself in the bathroom. I was so overwhelmed I couldn't handle all of the emotions swirling around. You, you beautiful man, decided to try making something for our daughter years before she'll be able to use it because you're always thinking about what you can do for our children's futures. We can learn BSL, we can teach Jaz to sign, we can and will make sure our entire circle knows it so they can communicate effectively with our girl. But we can't force the entire world to do the same. I love that you've made something for her that will mean she can take traditional classes at Hogwarts and not have to have an interpreter. She'll be able to go out on her own and not worry about finding someone who she can understand.

This. This is why we've decided parenting thirteen times is a good idea. Well, it's why I have. You, you are without a doubt, the best father in the history of the world. What wouldn't you do for your children? I like to think I'm a good dad, I love my kids, they're happy and healthy, they have everything they need and most things they want, they know they're loved. But I don't even come close to all the things you do for them. Not to pat myself on the back, but I am the best chooser of men. If I had spent my entire life dreaming up the perfect other parent to give my children he wouldn't even come close to how amazing you are.

And River will come around and understand that. He's soaking in teenaged hormones and trying to figure out where he fits in the world. I think when he comes back, we should lay off him about the girl. Our talk just made him mad, his talks with Mike and Jackie just upset him, I think we need to back off and let him talk with Wendy about it when we get home. I've already sent her a few messages letting her know what's going on, how we feel about it, and some of the specifics like their ages and their unique circumstances. She is very no-nonsense and if she thought we were wrong she would have no problem telling us or River so. And River knows that, so if he talks with her and she backs up some of our concerns, maybe he'll be able to see it's not just us babying him or wishing he would date boys.

I'm really looking forward to him coming home tomorrow. I miss him like crazy, attitude and all!

But today is Unity day! You sleepy-heads all need to wake up! Siri, Zaire, and I are just sitting here impatiently waiting until it's time to go!

Love,  
Harry

 

Tuesday November 17th  
My little watery mess,

If our visit to Unity House Australia left me just a bit teary eyed, it's no surprise that you were sobbing outright for most of it. Everything was lovely when we got there. It wasn't quite lunch time, but since Pippa had called ahead and arranged a feast, they decided to tide us over with smoothies made from the freshest fruit in any combination we liked.

We handed out presents and chatted with the Kids - who were naturally trying to ALL talk to us about a million things at once. Elena was simultaneously sad and overjoyed to find that her best UHA mate, Jenna, was still here - having not quite yet turned 18. It seems that Jenna took all of Elena's love of music and putting on shows to heart and has carried on in her footsteps.

After the lunch feast was eaten just enough that we were all full but there was still plenty left to graze on during the day, Jenna insisted that we all get comfortable because she and the kids had arranged for something special for us - and that we were welcome to sing along if we wished.

Curious but happy, we settled in to enjoy the show, and that's when Jenna managed to astonish and wow us all. She had not JUST led the kids into putting on a show, complete with music, BUT she had somehow directed a play that was such good quality that it could have legitimately been performed by them on Broadway - in my opinion.

There we were, holding hands and waiting for things to start when - before the curtain was even pulled back - we heard the music begin and the lyrics: "Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes."

And that was when the tears started leaking from your eyes. Silent and unassuming at first, only a tiny taste of what was to come. Elena was positively beside herself, not sure if she should literally go join them up on stage, or stay seated and simply sing along.

Unsurprisingly, our 'little' family sang along. Except for Siri and Zwei, who didn't know the lyrics just yet, but they did their best to learn the lyrics as we sang so they could join in too.

The show was beautiful. You snuggled into me so that 'we' could sing each other the duet while holding each other. By the time they reached the end - which is a repeat of the opening song, you were not only sobbing, but Elena had lost all control and ran up on stage so that she could sling her arm over Jenna's shoulders and belt it out too.

After that, some of the kids simply played music as a band so that the rest of us could dance as we liked. It started off oh so cute with the older kids dancing with the younger ones, but eventually, the younger ones either got tired and took naps, or got bored and wandered off to the park to play. This left the older kids unhindered by tiny feet. Which naturally turned into a bit of a dance competition.

It was Unity against our brood, then boys against girls, and even smaller teams against each other. There was never any clear and definite winner - which wasn't the point, besides Elena consistently out danced them all. Then - when we all needed a break from the dancing - our (not so) mini dictator took over and insisted that everyone sit in a circle and sing songs.

I honestly have NO IDEA how night time arrived so quickly! But eventually it was time for the Unity Kids to go to bed, and so, after catching up with the caregivers for a bit, we went home. At which point, Amala expressed how upset she was to be the only one left at home by demanding my attention for at least an hour. But eventually you had enough of sharing me and dragged me to bed.

You are my shelter, my castle, my life, and I think I've covered you in FAR more than a thousand kisses! We're probably going on 100 million by this point, haha,  
Draco  
P.S. I think you are right to say we lay off River when he gets home tomorrow, because I got an Insta-owl from Jackie today telling me that River had decided to emphasize his point in that we wouldn't be on him if he was kissing a boy, by going out and snogging the neighbor boy who IS gay. The one we think had a crush on River ever since they first met a few years ago. Jackie says that she handled it (catching him snogging the neighbor boy quite heavily) by basically sighing, shaking her head, and telling him to come home for dinner. He feels this reaction proved his point. I have no idea what to do...


	98. Chapter 98

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama drama everywhere.

Wednesday November 18th  
My best friend,

Can we run away? Just for a little while. Maybe until River is an adult. No? We're parents and don't get to do that? Fine, I suppose I will stay here and be an adult. Adulting is the worst.

I know that you and I agreed to lay off River when he got back, and it was even my idea, but after hearing about his behavior with Mike and Jackie I couldn't just say nothing in response. And it sounds like not responding to that just caused him to go further into his attitude. You were still with Amala when River was brought home as she was still being crabby at you this morning. Wait, is she a teenaged cheetah perhaps? So you just caught the tail end of our fight when he started stomping off to his room to slam the door and sulk.

He must have lost his damn mind because after they popped in, he gave a quick "Hi Dad, bye Grandma and Grandpa," and started to head off to his room. Yeah, that's gonna cut it.

"You can turn right around and come back here for a nice long chat River Lewis Malfoy!" Which he did, but very slowly and with that slouched, arms crossed way. I kept mentally telling myself, "this is normal, ignore the attitude, pushing him will make it worse."

I gave him the option to talk now or wait for you to come back from taking care of Amala. He smirked a bit and went with, "we can talk now." I'm pretty sure he thought I was going to be the safer option. He did not seem to be aware that of the two of us, I am much angrier about his behavior. Up until his stunt with the neighbor kid I have been sad because he's my baby, but that incident definitely pushed me from sad to mad.

"I have never in my life been so disappointed in you River," at that point his smirk fell off of his face, "You only had a few days with your grandparents who you don't get to see as often as any of you would like, and you decided to treat them terribly because you're angry at Dad and I."

"I didn't treat them terribly!" He sounded generally shocked that I thought so.

"Oh really? You're telling me that getting in no less than three fights with them in under forty-eight hours about something they weren't even there for is treating them well?" He sputtered a bit but had no argument to that, so I continued. "It seems as though you think I have the story wrong, so why don't I tell you all the details as I've heard them and you can tell me where I'm wrong in my disappointment."

"Fine."

Oh good, a 'response'. "Here's what I know; your father caught you heavily snogging a girl at Unity House while you were both completely shirtless -"

"River!" Apparently Jackie had not heard the shirtless part.

"Yes Jackie, they were 'only snogging' shirtless. When your Dad and I talked with you about this we told you our concerns, one of them being both yours and her ages as neither of you are old enough to consent to sex. The other bigger concern, in my opinion, was whether she's mentally healthy enough to be in any sort of relationship and that your mental health isn't being compromised by taking on the responsibility of someone's baby when you are only thirteen. We did not forbid you from seeing her, we did not punish your behavior, we simply told you we were concerned and we wanted to make sure everything was happening as safely and healthily for everyone involved. Do I have anything wrong up to this point?"

He did think I had some of that wrong, "You're acting like you and Dad were completely calm when we talked, you were both upset!"

"Yes, we were upset, I think there are a lot of things about this situation that are upsetting. If you'll notice, I never said we weren't upset or even that we were calm during this talk. Just that we neither forbid nor punished you. Again, is anything I said wrong?"

He gave a sullen shake of his head.

"Good, I'll go on. Because this is where my disappointment comes in. It's hard being thirteen, while I don't want you doing the things you did at Unity, I also recognize that nothing you did was inherently bad, I am just concerned about you because of how much I love you." I couldn't help the tear that slipped out at that point.

"I love you too Dad, I'm just mad." A little less sullen, but still absolutely certain he was in the right.

"I know, I'm mad too. Because your whole argument has been how mature you are, how ready you are to help her care for this baby, how we think you're too much of a baby to recognize you have real feelings for her. But to prove your maturity, you made these next decisions." I took a few deep breaths so my voice wouldn't shake at this point. "First of all, you know that your dad and I do not care how you identify, we have people in our life that run the entire spectrum from asexual to straight, to gay, to poly, I can't think of any sexuality that we don't have somewhere in our circle. But what have we always said about any sexual acts?"

"Every single type of sex is alright as long as it's between consenting adults," he repeated it like he'd been hearing it his entire life, which he has.

"Exactly. Consenting adults. Are either you or Ananda adults?"

"No."

"Then there you have it. And when we decided to give you the space to calm down, have a nice visit with just you and your grandparents, you decided to treat them to two days of anger and fighting. Which they did not deserve. And then you made the decision concerning their neighbor. I actually had to have your Dad repeat the story to me, because the boy who behaved that way is nothing like the River I know and love. You were so adamant that it was all about gender, that you cheated on someone you say you care for, at the same time using someone to prove a point to your fathers."

River didn't say anything to this, but his eyes started watering.

"And when your Grandma decided not to do anything but call you to dinner, doing the right thing and leaving this for your fathers, you held it against her and accused her of also being prejudiced against you being straight. In the last two days, you cheated on your girlfriend, used someone physically who you know has had a crush on you, and tried your hardest to make four people who love you unconditionally feel as though they were being hateful and prejudiced in response to your partner's gender."

He started sobbing at this point, which is right around the time you showed up, "I'm sorry alright?! I'm sure you probably wish you'd never found me! I'll just get my horrible self out of your sight!"

I started to go after him, I couldn't let him think I don't love him. He's my world! My little buddy! I'd do anything for him, that's why I'm so upset about this whole thing. But seeing as you were the only adult who wasn't openly weeping, you told me to try and calm myself down while you try talking to him.

You've been in there for about an hour now and I haven't heard any screaming so I'm hoping it's going well. It's so hard to not march in that room with you two and hug him so hard his eyes bug out and not stop until he's certain I love him.

Heartbroken,  
Harry

 

Wednesday November 18th  
My heart and soul,

I feel like *I've* been putting out fires all day. First with Amala, who seems to be UPSET that she's in another brand new place, and yet, can't explore her surroundings because I've warded the yard so she can't escape. I had to relent and take her for a bit of a walk on a magical leash so that she couldn't overpower me. I also had to glamour her so that she didn't scare any of the neighbors.

Once she was calmer, we came back just in time for me to witness River wail dramatically and storm out of the room. I handed Amala off to Padfoot and followed him (after giving you a kiss). In his room, I decided to focus on calming him before anything else, so I pulled him into a hug and just held him tight for a long time. When he seemed ready to talk, I sat on his bed with him.

"Once upon a time, I had a dream. A rather disturbing dream in which this precious little boy was crying out for his daddy to come save him, only *I* thought it was just a dream. It haunted me and got clearer and more disturbing over the course of a couple of days until Harry was certain that what I was seeing was real. He moved heaven and earth to find you and bring you home."

"Maybe it would have been better if I'd just died before he found me," River muttered, wiping a tear from his face.

"Never," I assured him calmly. "There is no world in which we wouldn't want you to be alive and happy with us."

"But dad said he's disappointed in me!"

"That's a good thing. It means that he loves you enough to care about your behavior. He's not disappointed in YOU - he's always proud of you, that you're growing up and starting to deal with normal teen problems - BUT he IS disappointed at your BEHAVIOR. Please try to keep in mind that at your age, Harry was more concerned with staying alive than with dating in any form. Everyone was convinced that a mass murderer was specifically trying to kill him, so I'm sure that kissing was the last thing on his mind. But more importantly, he's not disappointed in the kissing, but rather in the other choices you made these last couple of days," I explained.

"I didn't cheat," River grumbled. "I told Ananda before we even started kissing that I didn't want to be in an official relationship yet because it wasn't until I was kissing her that I realized just how much I like her. Then we got interrupted before I could tell her that I changed my mind."

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "And here's where it gets sticky, River. It truly has NOTHING to do with you being straight, gay, bi, or asexual. You can identify however feels right for you. It may not seem fair, but Harry and I own Unity House, and legally, each and every child in our care has to be treated in a fairly specific way. That's called a code of ethics that lawmakers have agreed upon to ensure that they are all healthy and safe. Part of that code of ethics is that neither of us are allowed to have sexual relations with or molest any of the Kids - and we have no problems with this because we have no interest in doing so."

I paused to rub his back in sympathy. "Which means that YOU are supposed to treat them all like they are your foster brothers and sisters, and so, YOU aren't allowed to have sex with them either."

"I wasn't!" River protested with a hot blush.

I shook my head. "No, you weren't, but you might have if I hadn't interrupted, and that could have landed YOU in a whole mess of trouble. Then factor in the fact that she's pregnant and perhaps not entirely mentally healthy, and it's just a big mess all around. I want to protect you by BEGGING you to choose someone else, but I also know that you can't help who you like."

"I do like her, a lot. I don't understand why that's such a bad thing," River muttered.

"It's not, it's just alarming to us as parents because we think you're too young to have those sorts of feelings, but clearly, you're not." I harrumphed a laugh. "But no matter WHAT you think, you are definitely TOO YOUNG to help her raise her baby as a co-parent. Be the baby's fun uncle if you want, but that's it."

River sort of glared at me. "See, I don't understand that either. If I know how to handle babies and am good at it, why SHOULDN'T I help her? Why does age matter?"

I honestly didn't know what to say, so I deflected. "That's something you're just going to have to talk to Wendy about. Maybe she can explain it in a way you'll understand."

He sighed and mumbled something along the lines of: "Okay whatever."

"Now, I want you to go apologize to your grandparents. They plan to stay the night so you and some of your siblings can do things with them tomorrow."

"Yeah, alright," River murmured, and it's probably a good thing we were done talking, because suddenly I heard you shrieking.

"I'M TRYING TO BE AN ADULT ABOUT THIS! BUT WHENEVER I THINK ABOUT IT, BLECH!"

By this point, I'd managed to run to where you were and pull you in my arms. You held onto me and cried into my neck.

"They're trying to make it sound like I'm being unreasonable! But how would YOU feel if every time you had to think about a version of YOU shagging YOUR godfather, you can't help but see YOURSELF!!!" You wailed.

I looked over to find both Sirius and the Viper looking a cross between angry and concerned.

"I'll handle this," I promised, not entirely certain I'd be able to. So, I led you to our room where I started by simply holding you and rubbing your back. I feel like a coward, but I thank every God I've ever heard of that you didn't require me to say anything, simply let me hold you until your tears had run their course. And then surrendered to you when you clearly felt better and decided that shagging was more important than anything else at the moment.

As I was still catching my breath in the aftermath of a glorious orgasm (you passing out almost instantly), I heard MORE shouting. Sighing, I rushed to figure out what was going on.

"I hate you so much! WHY do you even exist?! You should act like the BOY that you are!!!" Harrison roared.

"I hate you too, you bloody arsehole! Why can't YOU act like the girl you're supposed to be?!" Hazel shouted in return.

"BECAUSE I'M A BOY!!! AND SO ARE YOU!!!"

"I AM NOT!!!!! I tried it and being a boy is the WORST!"

"It is not and you ARE SO!"

"Take that back before I punch you in your stupid mouth!"

"Go ahead, I DARE YOU!"

So she did, sigh...

I was ever so mildly amused to hear the Viper chuckle at that. He whispered in my ear: "I've tried talking my Haz into being a bit more open-minded, but so far, he's stubbornly refusing. I kind of feel like he deserved that."

I slumped just a bit because unfortunately, I need to be such a dad again.

"HAZEL!"

She yelped in surprise and spun to face me. "Dad! HE STARTED IT!!!"

"Perhaps, but you know better. You've been trained in the fighting arts and could kick his arse if you had to, but that DOESN'T mean that you're allowed to punch him for expressing his opinion."

This is when she burst into tears and clung to me. "But daddy, he keeps saying I should be a boy!!! He doesn't understand me at all!!!"

"That's because you're bloody fucking baffling!" Harrison informed her through the hand covering his mouth to stop the bleeding from his nose.

"Harrison!!!" The Viper roared in shock.

"Well he is! I don't understand why he wants to be a girl so badly!!!"

Hazel glared at him for a second before turning her angry, tear filled eyes on the Viper. "Just as I don't understand why SHE wants to be A BOY!!!"

"BECAUSE I *AM* A BOY!!!!!!!"

I held out my arms to stop both of them. "Alright, we're going to have a mini family meeting to discuss this tomorrow, when Harry is awake and can help me figure out how to deal with this. In the meantime, BOTH of you leave each other alone! Hazel, please go to your room, and Harrison, I'd appreciate it if you went to your room as well."

Harrison groaned. "I would but Delphini is on that Magimobile thing you gave her, talking to Della, and they both threatened to hex me good and proper if I went in the room and listened in on their conversation."

I looked at the Viper because this was his territory.

"On it!" He promised before taking Harrison to his room and making it clear that Delphini didn't have the right to kick others out of their shared bedroom.

By this point, I was REALLY needing a good stiff drink! Unfortunately, that's just not possible at the moment. I spent at least five minutes just standing there rubbing my temples, trying to ward off a headache and control the impulse to drink a bottle of wine. Honestly, since a trip to subspace is safe enough for the babies, I was contemplating waking you up and making you spank ME for a change.

Or watch as I crucio'd myself into oblivion.

Then the Viper came back into the room and chuckled. "Having four kids is hard enough. Having them all so close in age is even harder. Having ten plus three more coming must be altogether worse. Having your ten and my four in the same house is a recipe for disaster!"

I chuckled too. "You're probably not wrong about that."

He pointed toward the sparring/exercise/dancing/music room. "I bet you could really use a chance to blow off some steam by now. You once mentioned that you learned some fighting techniques - and have passed them onto your kids. So... want to spar?"

"Definitely!" I blurted out, then looked down. "Erm... just give me a minute to put some pants on at the very least."

He laughed. "It's your house, do whatever you want!"

So I ran off to pull on something made out of loose cotton that was perfect to exercise in.

When I got back to the room, he took one look at me and nodded. "That looks comfortable. Mind if I strip off my shirt?"

I shrugged. "However you're comfortable, although I have to admit seeing all your scars might be distracting because I tend to wonder how you got them, and then plot to murder anyone who even THINKS about doing such a thing to MY Harry."

He let out a mirthless laugh. "The vast majority of these are from Voldemort. He simply loved to cut me open whenever he had a chance. If you look closer at some of them, such as those on my back, you'll see that he liked to carve patterns. Usually just lines and swirls and the like, but I think I have his name on here somewhere."

I held up my left arm to show him my mark. "It looks like he didn't actually mark you, but carved the Dark Mark into your skin anyway."

He nodded. "He did. He said it looked better in blood on me than magical ink."

Sighing, I simply invited him to attack me. We sparred for probably an hour, and happily, I was starting to feel a whole lot better, both mentally and physically. He's NOT up to my level, so I did have to go a little easy on him. That said, he has an even HIGHER tolerance for pain than you do. I never once saw him flinch, not even when I elbowed him HARD in one of the major pain spots.

At one point, I realized that I was having a natural physical reaction to all this sweaty sparring with someone who looked so much like my husband. I stopped and held my hands up to signal that I wanted to end the match, and he must have noticed the problem because he took this as his cue to pull me close and kiss me. I immediately pushed him away.

"No. You are NOT my husband."

He shrugged. "I sort of am. I've actually been curious for a while now... How EXACTLY do the two of you get along so well, and is it because you have some sort of chemistry that makes your sex as bloody fantastic as it looks?"

I shook my head. "Those are questions you will probably never have answers to. Sorry, but I have to go to bed now. Thank you for sparring with me, I really needed that. I'll see you in the morning."

"Are you sure? Because now that I'm looking more closely, I can certainly see the appeal," he said, looking me up and down.

"Quite. Now if you're horny, I'd suggest slipping into Padfoot's bed."

He tilted his head to the side and nodded. "Yes, I do like shagging him. He lets the experience be *just* rough enough that it works for me."

"For him too, I expect," I replied with a chuckle. "Good night, OTHER Harry."

Giving up graciously, he nodded at me. "Good night, OTHER Draco."

Laughing, I went straight to bed, where I used your sleeping hand to pleasure myself until I reached a satisfying conclusion and fell asleep. So of course, I think maybe 20 minutes passed before Jaz woke me back up to feed and dance with her. And then write this email. But now I'm going back to bed and YOU get to handle the next feeding. Probably for the rest of the night.

Tell me something I need to know, then take my breath and never let it go, if you just let me invade your space, I'll take the pleasure and take it with the pain, and if in the moment I bite my lip, baby in the moment, you know this is, something bigger than us and beyond bliss, give me a reason to believe it,  
Draco


	99. Chapter 99

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry doesn't murder the Viper. Later on, Draco nearly commits murder and the Viper teaches Viona a new trick.

Thursday November 19th  
My Rock,

Thank you for putting out fires all day yesterday. I will be on firefighting duty today, I promise. No starting fires or fanning any flames. Well, from this point on, I am not going to apologize for any embers I may have stirred up before or during our family meeting.

We already had a full day of fun plans with the Lewises and adding the family meeting meant cramming even more into the day, but it was necessary. Before we could get to the meeting I had to sit with River and talk things over with him. It was just killing me being at odds with my boy. I hate fighting, I want to be the squishy pushover dad! I'm glad we shagged until I fell asleep in a stress coma last night or I probably wouldn't have been able to fall asleep otherwise.

I don't want River to walk all over me, I can't just go say "hey I'm sorry teenager, do whatever you'd like" but I wanted him to know I was worried about him, but it didn't change how much I love him. And what better way to do that than breakfast in bed? Thanks to my relatively early unconsciousness and Jasmine's one night wakeup I was up nice and early. I made his favorite crepes and brought them to his room.

"Hey buddy, I brought a peace offering, will these crepes convince you to hear me out?" I gave him my most winning smile.

"Merlin Dad, you're such a dork … You brought the Clifford's honey right?" This was already going so much better than last night!

"Of course I did, I'm not a heathen." Ten years as a Malfoy and I can do snob like I was born to it.

While he dug in, I decided to Gryffindor up and just get it over with, "Riv, I have loved you since the day I met you. I was terrified that you wouldn't want me as much as I wanted you. You had a dad in Draco, you had the memory of your amazing mum, you had grandparents that adored you, I felt like a really crappy consolation prize for losing your mum. The day I asked you to be my son and you said yes; well don't tell your siblings but that might have been the happiest moment of my life at that point. Definitely top five!"

"Should I make sure not to tell Dad either, since you're saying it was better than marrying him?" Cheeky little bugger he is!

"I said top five!" I panicked a bit. "Anyway, don't get me off track, my brain is not firing on all cylinders, I have to stick with the script." Yes I came armed with a mental script, don't you judge me! "I love you with all of my heart. Knowing that you thought my life would have been better off without you in it broke me yesterday. I will never regret saving you. I will never regret loving you. I will never want anything less than for you to be my son."

I just kept monologuing before I lost track of what I was trying to say, "Did you know that when we were trying to figure out if Zaire was meant to be in our family you were the deciding factor for me?"

"But I'm not the one who's been wanting a little brother, you're thinking of Zwei." Do you have any idea how much I love that that random silly nickname has taken off and become his name? It's amazing.

"Yes, he was, but when I get overwhelmed about making a decision I tend to over-research. You know this about me."

He immediately laughed, "Oh Merlin, I know! Remember when we were thinking about going to Disneyland when we were in California? You researched for days, what parks were the best, which rides were good for which aged kids, how to maximize your visit. Only to find that you'd been researching Disneyworld in Florida and had wasted all that time planning a trip to the park on the other side of the country!"

"Yes River, that's exactly what I meant, thank you for reminding me, ta ever so!" I'd have been a bit annoyed at his constant sass in my direction but I was just glad he and I were finally communicating again and it was mostly positive. "Well, when I was doing my research I came across the meaning of his name. Zaire means River. I told your dad that's when I knew he belonged with us, because you so obviously belonged with us that him sharing a part of your name was a sign."

He threw himself in my arms then. I just held on, I could hold my boy as long as he needed me to. But I still kept talking, "I misspoke yesterday, it was just a few words off but I think it was said so poorly that I said something I didn't mean. I have never been disappointed in you. Your behavior was upsetting. But you are a brave, generous, loving, inclusive young man. I am proud to be your Dad. I am proud to know you. I was just scared for you. Nothing you could ever do would make me stop loving you. You could murder someone in cold blood and I might turn you in to the authorities, but I will visit you in Azkaban every day. And honestly, if you have a good enough reason I'll probably just break you out and hide us all on a tropical island. Ask your Dad about my numerous Azkaban Contingency Plans."

When he finally pulled away I told him we had about an hour until a very important family meeting and then a day of sightseeing so he'd better start getting ready.

Ugh, the bloody family meeting. Well, no punches were thrown, no blood was spilled, and only a few of us cried. So I am going to count it as a win. I'm just relieved it's finally over.

We had all congregated in the Rec Room. Thank Merlin for wizard-space. You, me, Sirius, Leah, Pippa, Saoirse, Rhys, Viper, Mike, Jackie, our ten children, and Viper's four made for quite the crowd. Oh, and of course our pet cheetah had to be there as well. Heaven forbid the cheetah stay outdoors!

I sobbed my way through yesterday, but especially after a good conversation with River this morning I was ready to take on this crew. "There are a lot of big personalities in this family. We are passionate. We love hard, we play hard, and when we're angry we take that to extremes as well. But we are a family. No one will ever love and understand you the way the people in this room will. And yes, I am including our 'staff,'" doing the obnoxious air quotes, "who, whether they like it or not, are a permanent part of this crazy family. I'm including the V- the Other Harry and his four children in this group too. Magic itself knew they were meant to be a part of this family, that's why when he wished for safety, Magic brought them to us."

"I have a few things to make perfectly clear. And when I am done, I will open the floor for respectful discussion. I know it will get loud, I know people will disagree, but it will be done with love and respect." I gave some significant side-eye to those I thought would be the worst offenders and kept going, "The first thing I need to make clear is that every single person gets to define who they are. As an example; Hazel and Harrison are two completely different people. Just because they were born with almost the same face and the same name does not make them the same. Hazel IS a girl, and I will not be hearing another word on the subject. I assume that none of you when you meet someone new, ask about their genitalia. I assume if they tell you they're a boy or a girl, you don't ask to see in their knickers to make sure. Harrison IS a boy, even if in the past our Harrison turned out to really be a Hazel, it doesn't mean Harrison needs to identify that way."

The two I'd called out seemed sufficiently chastised. So I kept going, "In much the same way, just because other Harry and I were both born Harry Potter and have a very similar past, does not make us the same person. I would never just assume his children were mine, he wouldn't assume mine are his. I know nothing about the Draco of his world, and he KNOWS this Draco doesn't belong to him."

Hopefully that will sink in, otherwise I may have to test his famous pain tolerance.

"We have a ton of fun plans ahead of us for today, so I'm going to let you all have your say so we can get to it. But remember, this is our family, our safe space, everything with love and respect."

And just like I thought, there was discussion, it got heated in spots, but for the most part I think there's a stressful weight off of everyone's shoulders.

Now I'm just sitting here getting all my thoughts out while everyone finishes getting ready for our sightseeing plans. I need everyone to hurry up so we can get to the wildlife sanctuary, I need to see Koalas and Kangaroos. Not want - NEED.

But uh, since I have a few more minutes I'm sure, I thought I should address the issues I'm having with the Viper.

First, thank you for your honesty about him kissing you. I want to murder his stupid face, but I understand I suppose. This whole world is new and confusing for him, he's trying to adjust. I wouldn't want to take a good father away from those kids either. But he can still be a good dad if I chop off an arm or two so he should definitely watch it.

Second, I think I am still having a really hard time dealing with him and Sirius shagging. And uh, I think I may have figured out what's bothering me about it …. I'm bothered by it, but I'm also bothered by how much it doesn't bother me. I uh, freaked because it was shocking and looked like me and was Sirius. But one thing I didn't mention is um, well see, there was a part of my body that wasn't disgusted. I think I keep putting "Blech" to my descriptions because parts of my body found it decidedly NOT "Blech."

Does that make sense?

Well, you guys still aren't ready, but Zaire and Jaz are and seem to be having a great time playing with toys on the floor, I think I will sign off here and join them.

I'm not gonna let you down darling, wait and see. And between now and then 'til I see you again, I'll be loving you.  
Love, Me

 

Friday November 20th  
My better half,

I think I may have come less than a hair's breadth from going to Azkaban today. See, in the past, I've learned to relax just enough to let Elena - and half the time Kisa - deal with their own problems. Also, I've made sure that all the kids can defend themselves.

So today, I was just being me on any other normal day. First of all, we'd all split up to do different things. Saoirse and Rhys had Siri and Zwei. Leah had Jaz. Pippa was probably at my back since I don't recall seeing her. You had River and Orion. The Viper and Sirius had his kids because they wanted to spend a day as a family unit (plus Sirius) just enjoying the fact that they're safe, and also trying to figure out what they're supposed to be doing in this world.

As for me, I had Viona, Eris, and Hazel. We were browsing more than shopping, although there was a little shopping going on - we are us after all. At some point we got hungry and went searching for a place to eat. That's when our paths crossed with the Viper and his group. Alright, whatever, we found a seafood place and I was deeply occupied with an enormous sashimi platter - and couldn't be arsed to care what everyone else was eating.

Viona and Eris finished eating first and decided that since they were wearing their swim cozzies under their sarongs, they may as well do some gymnastics practice. So they tossed their sarongs aside, found a soft grassy patch in our view, and lost themselves to their practice. I think you may be right about hiring a teacher to bring their skill level up.

At one point, Eris came back to the table to take a small break and get something to drink. This left Viona alone, but as I said, she was in my view and I know she can protect herself. That said, there was apparently a man watching her with ill intent that hadn't seen us or realized that we had our eyes on her. I think all he really saw was that she was with a 'friend' who had left her on her own.

This pathetic creature that wasn't even worthy of being the shite in Merlin's colon, boldly strutted up to Viona and grabbed her by the arm. More than likely, Viona was too stunned to do anything because she sort of tilted her head and looked at him like she was extremely confused.

"Hey there pretty little sheila. I think you should come home with me for a few minutes."

I have no idea if she would have hexed him or kicked him in the bollocks, because before she even had a chance to react, I had uncontrollably Apparated right over to him and had him by the neck.

"Did you just lay one of your filthy perverted hands on MY DAUGHTER?!"

His eyes were bulging out of his head and he kept making choking noises. I kicked his feet out from under him so that he was forced to his knees and I had better leverage to strangle him. I was seeing red and - as I said to begin with - fully prepared to go to Azkaban if I had to.

"Daddy!" Viona chided my sharply. "He's not worth it!"

I faltered to look at her questioningly. She pried my hands loose and forced me to take a step back. Then she turned to face the loathsome scum herself.

"You owe me your life. My father has killed to protect me before and - as you just discovered - will not hesitate to do so again. FORTUNATELY, I don't need him to protect me." A moment later, she'd grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back as she kicked him onto his stomach. Once he was on the ground - and still holding onto the arm behind his back - she pressed her foot into his neck. Ah, so she HAS been paying attention when Kisa and Elena spar.

Snarling fiercely, she continued lecturing him. "I know this will probably do no good as you are clearly too stupid to understand a word I say, but for future reference, NEVER touch a girl against her will! There's this magic word called CONSENT, and if you don't have it, then you CAN'T DO IT!!!"

"Too right!" I cheered in agreement.

She looked at me significantly. "But you do realize that that also means that if two people are consenting, then they CAN do it."

"I know that, that's what WE'VE taught you, why are you - oh! You're talking about River. That's completely different," I informed her.

"That makes you a liar then because you've always said that no means no and yes means yes, and we have to be CERTAIN which it is before we move forward. If they both said yes, then why is River in so much trouble?"

I groaned in frustration and ran a hand through my hair - and WHEN did this habit of yours become mine too??? "It's not that simple Viona."

"It seems like it should be," she murmured with a shrug.

Meanwhile, the others had come over to lend a hand if necessary. The Viper was inspecting Viona's work with an approving nod. We were ignoring the pervert, but he was basically crying by this point. Lucky for us, not too many people were watching us, which I realized all of a sudden was because the Viper had cast Notice-Me-Not and other basic privacy charms around us.

"Good form, Viona. If you pulled just a little harder, you'd dislocate his arm from his shoulder socket. But if you'd like, I can teach you a handy little trick to discipline nasty perverts in the future if you need to."

"Yeah?" Viona asked with interest, and being related to Kisa and having talked with her a lot, she probably had a good idea of some of the things he could be referring to. ME - on the other hand - I had heard the word trick and stopped thinking about anything more serious than a bat bogey hex or something. Perhaps that slew of hexes that your D.A. lackeys cast on me and Greg (and Vince) at the end of Fifth Year.

With a nod, the Viper conjured a little metal table and helped Viona drape the pervert's arm over it. "This spot right here only a few inches above his wrist, yeah? If you angle it *just right* and then tap it sharply, like so....." He demonstrated after adjusting the arm a couple of times to find the right angle, and then nodding in satisfaction. As said, he formed a sort of 'blade' with his hand and 'chopped' the arm sharply. "The bones will break fairly easily, but ONLY if you have it just so. A fitting punishment for someone who put his hand on you and tried to drag you away, no?"

"Exactly!" Delphini exclaimed with a decisive nod. "Dad conjured up practice dummies for us to practice on at home, since there was a high probability that we'd need to defend ourselves at some point."

I snorted in morbid amusement at that. "Actually, rather than teach you torture techniques, he *should* have taught you basic fighting techniques."

"Well I didn't know them, did I?" He asked defensively.

"I suppose not," I admitted mildly.

Sirius was looking around nervously. "We should probably leave him here and take off before the spells wear off and people notice something."

"They won't," the Viper assured him, but then shrugged. "But I have no problems leaving him to suffer until he can manage to call for help."

We walked away and I felt myself calming down. When we were no longer able to see that scum, and were in the relative privacy of the shade outside a book store, I stopped and pulled Viona into a hug.

"Thank you for stopping me, but now that I'm thinking clearly again, breaking a man's arm is NOT a good idea. Practically murdering him isn't either. If I wasn't letting my anger control my actions, I would have brought him into the authorities. Instead, we look like the guilty party. We made him our victim, and then left him injured and not likely to be noticed for a long time. The *only* reason I don't go back to call the authorities to come help him is that a broken arm isn't fatal."

Viona, still enjoying a hug from me, rubbed my back soothingly. "I know dad. I would have left him *without* breaking his arm, but I'm sort of glad he got an appropriate punishment. MAYBE it'll help him remember to keep his hands to himself."

And with a kiss on my cheek, she led us off to the next shopping spot as if nothing had happened. Damn I love her so much! She so strong and independent already! But still my baby girl.

I can see forever when I look into your eyes,  
Draco


	100. Chapter 100

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's in a bad mood and only Harry can fix it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeek! 100th chapter!

Friday November 20th  
I quit!

I am taking my sweet babies and bringing them home to the Manor and locking them away until the world is better than it is now. Perverts just grabbing my daughter because she had the audacity to … exist in his eyesight? It will be perfect, you and I can stop acting like we're ok with Elena's sex life because she will have no access to humans outside of our family. We don't have to worry about River snogging girls because he will have no access to humans outside of our family. We don't have to worry about perverts touching my baby! We don't have to worry about you murdering said perverts and going to Azkaban.

We won't ever have to worry about war touching Jaz, or abuse touching Zaire. We can just exist in a bubble inside the Manor wards. It will be wonderful. I see no drawbacks. It's a plan! Meet you at home!

Ok fine, I suppose the plan is probably a bit "unrealistic" and will lead to us "murdering each other." You know, you really are a spoilsport. You never let me have any fun. You never let me seclude our entire family into enforced hermititude.

I'm very proud of you for stopping short of murder with Viona's warning about him not being worth it. You were in the heat of the moment and saw him touch our baby. It's taking everything in my power to not go hunt him down and I didn't witness the event. Why do we keep ending up in situations that make me want to hurt people? I may have a temper but I'm otherwise a pretty patient guy. I like to dig in the garden, play with kids, bake, watch musicals and children's movies, and shag my husband. I don't want to fight with people, I don't want to have an angry halo of magic surround me while I attack idiots.

It's probably me. I have been a magnet for monsters since I was born. It's my fault. I brought my rotten luck to my kids and now they can't even do cartwheels in the grass without having to be accosted by monsters. I'm sorry I brought this terrible luck to our family. It's my fault. I just wanted a family, I didn't mean to have all these wonderful kids just to bring them the Potter luck. Do you think they'll ever forgive me for doing this to them?

Ok I need to stop sobbing before I ruin my computer. It may be magic-proof, but I am pretty sure it's not water-proof. Ooooh, you should make it waterproof! Ok, my computer really doesn't need to be waterproof, but I think you should work together with George to see if you could make a truly waterproof MMM. When we go snorkeling we always bring the muggle waterproof cameras but wouldn't it be cool to have magical photos of our underwater adventures?

And speaking of underwater adventures; I have a really fun plan! We don't leave until Monday, so sometime this weekend we should take some time for just us and go on a date. I think we should have a picnic on the beach and then we should go snorkeling. And while we're underwater we should have some underwater shagging! It seems like every time I think we have some time to ourselves and I plan to do filthy things to you underwater, we get interrupted. Have Muffy keep Jaz from apparating to us. Have Sirius wrangle all the animals to distract the kids so they don't even wonder where we are. Then we can defile the ocean together!

And uh, while we're picnicking I can tell you all about my secret project I've been working on for the last few years. I know, I am the most hypocritical nightmare of a husband to ever exist. I have been keeping this secret. But it's nothing that could hurt me or anyone we love, I've just been too embarrassed to admit what was going on. And then I was worried it was super lame and embarrassing. And now I'm just worried that all the work I've put into the project has been a waste of time and it's not any good. But I think I'm ready to talk about it.

Ok, I am crying again. I think I need to take a nap, or eat something, or stop thinking about things that make me cry. Ugh, these hormones are kicking my arse Draco! I suppose I will go find you and drag you off somewhere for a shag, when my hormones are making me crazy it seems the best fix is to focus on the hormones that make me want to have you every second of the day. Like a food craving except I want to devour and worship every millimeter of your flawless moonlit skin. Lick you inside and out. Impale myself on you and ride you until you come and only then will you decide whether or not I get release or if I have to stay hard and desperate for as long as you want me to.

Yep, horniness has covered up all the other emotions. Hope you're ready to be ravished!

Your Mutt

 

Saturday November 21st  
My wonderfully understanding husband,

Perhaps it was because I was still upset about someone touching our daughter, or perhaps it's pregnancy hormones - probably both, come to think of it - but I was in a BAD mood today. This happens often enough that you and the kids are used to it and know to just wait for it to blow over, but Sirius, the Viper, and his kids were wary and not sure what to do.

"You call this fresh?! This is so rubbery that it tastes like grimy old tires!!!" And: "What the fuck sort of service do you call this?! SNAIL service?!" And: "You there! My daughter said she wanted vanilla, strawberry, AND chocolate!!! You're so incompetent that you can't count how many scoops you dished up!!!"

It didn't take long for Bellerophon to 'whisper' in Viona's ear: "What's the matter? Why is your dad acting like such an arsehole?" Side note, did my hearing get better, or do these kids honestly not know how to whisper?

Viona chuckled and murmured: "Dad just gets like this every once in a while. We think he's having his period."

"But he's pregnant," Delphini pointed out.

Viona shrugged. "Same hormonal mood swings." Then she gestured toward me. "Just wait it out, it'll change soon enough."

That's when the Viper chimed in. "I dunno, this seems a lot more like the Draco Malfoy that I remember than all this fluffy dad nonsense he's been showing us."

This made me bristle, so when a young couple holding their baby crossed our paths, I couldn't help but snarl: "Why in the buggering hell are you in our way?! MOVE before I hex you!"

Apparently threatening someone holding a child triggered your 'firefighter mode' because you grabbed my hand and snapped: "That's it! Kids, stick with Saoirse and Rhys. Muffy, do whatever it takes to keep Jaz from Apparating to us! Sirius, please turn into your dog form and keep Zaire entertained, and YOU!" You directed this at me. "You come with me!"

You insisted that I sit on your broom so that you could fly us out over the ocean. Then you shoved some Gillyweed in my mouth. Lastly, you pointed.

"Look, it's a small coral reef."

"That it is," I agreed mildly, making a face at the taste of the Gillyweed, but understanding where you were going with this.

"Last one to the ocean floor has to let me sit on his shaft and ride him until we run out of Gillyweed!" You announced before grabbing the broom out from under me and shoving it back in your pouch as you fell into the ocean. We were high enough up that we both had time to magick our clothes off and put them in our carryalls as well.

We hit the water and you were off like a rocket, reaching the ocean floor before I was much more than halfway there. Well, it's not like there was an incentive for me to win that contest, haha. On the floor, I took your hand in mine and we swam around for a bit, looking at all the natural beauty. Suddenly, we found the most perfect spot to shag I've ever seen in my life.

It was in the sun, next to the coral, and under a dazzling school of colorful fish. I cast a ward to keep sharks and any other possible predators out so that nothing could come remotely close to chomping on your naked bits. That said, it seems like you weren't too worried about fish in general nibbling on them, haha.

Once ready, you kept your word by conjuring some waterproof lube directly in your hole and on my shaft. I surprised you by summoning the MMMs out of my carryall watch. See, I'd taken your advice and spelled them Impervius - which is an easy enough spell and works so beautifully when layered on top of the MMMs. Thus, we had two cameras underwater with us taking pictures of everything we did, plus a good portion of everything that was going on around us. I actually DID see a couple of sharks circling overhead, so I'm hoping that they were caught on camera too, haha.

You wanted to take your time and ride me very leisurely, and I was definitely enjoying the sights, sounds, and feel of you on my shaft. We both ate more Gillyweed as necessary and managed to last until the sun no longer illuminated the spot we were on, which then started to grow a bit cold. This prompted me to work my hand over your shaft rather roughly until you squirted - which is interesting to watch as the water made it float away in a wavy manner, rather than have it arc onto me.

The feeling of you orgasming all over me made me sigh in pleasure and surrender to the need to pump you full. Afterwards, we held each other and savored the lingering effects of our climax until we grew a bit cold and HAD to go warm up. Plus, our current bit of Gillyweed was wearing off. So, you Apparated us to the shower in our en suite bathroom, where we proceeded to not only warm up under the hot spray, but ALSO shag again. When we were done, I was feeling utterly relaxed and at peace with the world.

And STARVING!

So we went to the dinning room to find our entire family - including all the extras (except for Miles and Sammy, who hadn't come with us) - staring at us in amusement. Well, everyone old enough to understand what we'd been doing stared at us in amusement while the ones too little simply exclaimed happily that we were back and insisted that we hug and or hold them.

Determined not to care what anyone thought, I sat my naked arse down on a chair and said: "Muffy, I'm craving sheep tongue tacos, with a side of sauerkraut. And Golden Sterlet Caviar on rye crackers. Bring me a plateful please!"

"Oh, looks like dad's in a better mood again," Viona and Eris stated in unison. Viona smirked and added: "Must have shagged the snit right out of him!"

I harrumphed a laugh and shook my head. "I thought you DIDN'T want to know that much about our sex life."

She shrugged. "Not normally, but when it transforms you from a snarling beast into our sweet dad again, I can stand to hear about it." But then she stuck out her tongue. "But NOT details!"

We both laughed. Meanwhile, Elena was humming in thought.

"Under the ocean, hmm? I wonder... Bubblehead charms?"

"Those would probably work," you admitted with a shrug. "But we used Gillyweed."

"Have any left?" She asked with definite interest.

Rather than answer, you handed her a clump. "That should last you two hours if you split it in half. It's like Polyjuice, it'll last about an hour and you have to keep taking more if you want it for longer than that."

She nodded in understanding and slipped the clump into her carryall. "I'm erm… Going to go meet up with a friend. And then probably go swimming. Don't worry about me if I come home late!"

I rolled my eyes at her and waved goodbye. You exchanged kisses on the cheek with her and murmured something about staying safe. I was too busy shoving food in my mouth to care by this point. The good thing about tongue - from any animal - is that it's the most tender cut of meat ever. Even badly cooked, it more or less melts in the mouth, and this was expertly cooked to be near perfect. Thus, when Jaz stole fistfuls off my plate and shoved them in her mouth, aside from keeping an eye on her to be certain that she was using her two teeny teeth to help chew the meat, I just let her be.

I'm pretty sure someone said something hilarious at some point, because everyone was roaring with laughter, but I was already half asleep from all the energy I'd used up being an arse today. So, I excused myself, kissed you goodnight, and crawled into bed where I wrote this recap real quick so that I could fall right to sleep.

Too tired to think of a song, so you'll just have to settle for a plain: Love,  
Draco


	101. Chapter 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry jokes about Draco's bad moods costing them a fortune, and Draco worries about the Viper and his kids.

Sunday November 22nd  
My Reformed Cranky-Husband,

We have often joked about running out of money because of our insistence on traveling, insistence on spoiling everyone in our family, insistence on donating obscene amounts of money to charity, and the sheer number of tiny humans we've become responsible for. But with your knack for investing and inventing, and my knack for marrying someone who can take my random mention of "We should find some way to introduce the wizarding world to muggle post" and turn it into a galleon-making machine, neither us nor our children should ever have to do anything with their lives to make money that doesn't completely fulfill them.

However, we may go bankrupt from me following behind you during one of your public snits and attempting to make up for your arsery with huge tips. Although your genius idea for explaining my pregnancy to those two blokes from the cruise has really saved us quite a bundle. All it takes is a "he's expecting twins and not handling the hormones well, poor thing" they look confused for a moment and I either say "he's trans but never removed the fertile parts" or "extremely rare intersex diagnosis, he's got all the indoor plumbing we need" and it's nodding and understanding looks on their faces.

Shagging the snit right out of you has been delightful for me! Not sure if that memory of underwater shagging is going to go in my permanent wank bank or into my list of top beautiful life memories. Meh, who says it can't be both? I'm quite looking forward to clearing out the MMM's when we get home.

Today was absolutely wonderful but I am so ready to go home in the morning. Our time with Unity Australia was fun and drama free. But the rest of our visit has been so stressful. I really had fun, I enjoyed visiting our old house, and even with the drama the good bits made up for those more stressful ones. Even so, I want my own bed and to have some down time to really focus on some of the issues that have arisen recently. River's mind healing, my issues with the Viper, getting Sirius transitioned back into the wizarding world, and I kind of have an idea I wanted to talk to you about what we're going to do to feed these three upcoming babies without having centuries of milk in stasis anymore. And we'll need to finish all of our holiday shopping!

For a trip originally planned for visiting Unity Australia, we spent very little time at Unity itself. I felt a bit badly, especially since they worked so hard on their plans for our welcome. But spending the entire day there today hopefully made up for that. We had a great time, played lots of games with the Kids, and made sure the staff was running things smoothly. I had no idea that "my friend James" had visited Unity on the days we didn't go as a group. He was really interested when I brought him to the original Unity House, and seems to adore this one as well. Seeing as he's done such a good job caring for his own children, maybe he'll get some fulfillment and find a place working at Unity. Maybe at Traditions?

We'll see, just an idea.

Being home will be great, but we won't have too much time to unwind. We are scheduled to leave for the U.S. less than two weeks after we get back. After doing Unity Africa and then doing Unity Australia, I was hoping for a more "vacation" holiday before our next Unity visit. But California really needs this fundraiser, and with the Triad … the Quartet? … leaving for Russia after the New Year there's not a lot of time left if we want Blaise and Ron to participate in the Drag Show. Side note: we want Blaise and Ron to participate in the Drag Show!

Then I remembered your idea from when we did Machu Picchu and Chichen Itza, to do California and Hawaii all at once! So we'll leave Wiltshire on 4th December, land in California on the 5th, spend time at Unity, prep for the show, and do the show Friday night. Leave for Hawaii sometime Saturday or Sunday, and spend the next week in paradise. Come home in time to have Christmas and Yule time with all the different parts of the family.

I figure the California portion is going to be almost our entire circle joining us, everyone I've talked to has been wanting to help with the funding, visit a beautiful location, and either perform in or see the show. I am going to insist the part with Hawaii be just our family. I absolutely love our circle. I can't wait to show them around our California home. But after a week all together I think I am going to love some time with just our "little" family!

The one thing I don't want to do anymore? Don't be offended. I may have to start, at the very least, sitting at the other end of the table from you. Seeing as you were so into your meal after our ocean festivities that you barely noticed the rest of us were there, you must not have noticed me turn green and stop eating. I am still solidly in the barf portion of my pregnancy and you have glided right into the "eating foods Harry finds to be gross combinations" portion of yours.

Besides the food descriptions, the only other thing I needed to argue with concerning your last email was your sign-off. Draco, I love all of your sweet salutations. The poems, the song lyrics, all of it. But, your "love" will never be something I think is settling. There is no "settling for a plain" description when it comes to your love. Your love is the sole reason I have anything in my life that makes it worth living. Don't you ever try to downplay how important the word Love is for me when it's coming from you.

I Hufflepuff You,  
Harry

 

Monday November 23rd  
MY beloved Harry,

I've just spent the majority of the plane ride, while you've been sleeping (like I SHOULD be), obsessive compulsively thinking about the Viper and his kids. More specifically, how they can fit into our world, and I *think* I've come up with a workable solution.

First of all, we've both forgotten to mention to Kingsley what's going on, but I think he'll be on our side in this, and perhaps it's a good thing to have waited until we have a plan. So here's the plan. We'll explain, even going so far as to announce in the Daily Prophet, that the Viper is a CLONE created in a magical accident. We'll claim that I was experimenting on Polyjuice or something to see if I could replicate the effects from Gorman and Hoogervorst so that - oh I don't know, widows perhaps, lesbians more likely - can use that Polyjuice to obtain samples from *willing* donors (or deceased husbands), but in the comfort and privacy of their own bedroom. Only the, erm, golum I was testing the potion on turned into you and stayed that way. So I marked him to very clearly illustrate the difference between you two.

Of course we'll tell Kingsley the truth - we'll need his help with documentation after all. But the point is that we'll have a believable excuse for his existence. We could *always* claim the kids were adopted from somewhere if necessary, but their existence probably won't be questioned by the public in the slightest once they learn they have ANOTHER honest to Merlin Harry Potter to fawn over.

If we absolutely HAVE to - so that there's a consistent story explaining all of them - we can claim that they're all the result of previously unknown experiments conducted by the Dark Lord in which he was trying to clone you and Bellatrix in various combinations to see if he could create a perfect body for himself should he ever happen to need one. But I really think the first explanation will suffice.

Now that I've come up with an explanation, I've told Pippa to invite/schedule an appointment with Kingsley for tea. He not only needs to meet our newest family members, but he'll be needed to ensure that Tommy at the very least gets documentation stating anything other than Lord Voldemort the Second.

As for now, I find that I'm unsurprisingly tired, so I'm going to snuggle up with you in bed and sleep for the rest of our flight.

Love, lust, kisses, and molestation,  
Draco


	102. Chapter 102

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything was fine - they were even playing a prank - until Harry heard the Viper shouting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, Draco has a vision that could be mildly disturbing depending on how much you love little kids.

Tuesday November 24th  
Bwahahaha,

I'm sorry! I couldn't resist! And by "I'm sorry" I of course mean that I am in no way sorry and I would do it again. You know how much I love Kingsley, but if you can't torture your friends by making them think they have completely lost the plot then who can you torture?

I know you told Pippa to set the tea party … sorry, very important professional meeting with the Minister of Magic, for 2:00 this afternoon. But I decided to ignore what you wanted and tell her to change the time with Kingsley to 1:45. When he floo'ed in you were definitely still getting ready, honestly for all the subterfuge I did you probably wouldn't have been ready when he got there anyway!

I brought him into the sunroom, apologized for the mix-up but silly Pippa accidentally told him 1:45 when we TOLD her to set the meeting for 2:00! Mix-ups happen, what can you do? Hehe. I told him I was going to go let you know he'd arrived and see about getting you moving. I walked out the north set of doors towards our room, shutting the door was the cue to the Viper to walk in the garden doors. "Hey there Kings! What's happenin'?" Kingsley just looked at him with the most confused look on his face (I was watching through the video feed Hermione set up for me, I'll show it to you later).

"Harry, did you apparate back in the other door?"

"Um, no, I just got here, you saw me walk through the doors. Feeling alright there mate?" The Viper might make me want to strangle him for shagging my Godfather and kissing my Husband, but he's not a bad actor.

Haz walked in at that point, wearing her new asymmetric minidress in the deep purple. She's so stunning, I can't stand it. Anyway, she started in on her script, "Uncle Kingsley! You should have come with us to Australia. We went to a wildlife sanctuary. I got to hold a Koala. A Koala! Can you believe it? Oh! I should show you the picture of it, I'll be right back!"

She ran off and Della came in (yes, I got permission to bring her home just for a prank! She had classes this morning but a free afternoon so she didn't miss anything) "Hey Harry, Minister Shacklebolt when did you get here? I'm assuming you're waiting on my brother to talk business, so I'll head out. Oi Harry, Mum was asking about you letting Eliza stay up late last night watching movies when you all got home."

Viper yelled out a "Shite!" and darted out the garden doors, and Della just shrugged and followed him out.

I came back in the room as Kings was staring out the garden doors. "Sorry Kings, he's still not quite ready. I'd try to rush him, but unless you want a roommate for the next week I think I'll avoid stressing out the Malfoy who's pregnant with twins!"

"Wait, what? Didn't you just? No, actually never-mind, twins? Congratulations to you both!"

Then Harrison came slouching in. He didn't agree to a temporary hair lengthening charm, but was willing to wear a beanie so I counted that as a win. "Hey there Dad, Uncle Kingsley, 'sup?"

"Umm, Haz, weren't you going to show me some pictures from your trip? And why did you change? I don't know if I've ever seen you so, uh, not fancy." Kingsley is a diplomat and when faced with a girl he usually sees in couture wearing jeans and a hoody, the adjective he managed to come up with was "not fancy."

And Delphini was our last player in our show, dancing in a bit, taunting me in sing-song, "Harrreeeee, Mum's looking for you, I hear you let Eliza stay up wayyyyyy too late last night on a school night!"

"Ok, that's it! You already told him that, he raced out to panic and hide from Narcissa. Haz, you look weird, sorry but you do. Della, you're never this forgetful. Harry, I thought you got a new tattoo but now it's gone, is it hiding? What is happening!?!" If he had any hair, I am sure Kingsley would have been yanking it out.

The jig was up so we all made our way back into the sunroom and started laughing.

And that's the reason you walked in on Me, the Viper, Haz and Haz, Della and Delphini, laughing our arses off while Kingsley looked like he was plotting our murder.

Anyway, you were at the meeting, after Kingsley was brought up to speed he agreed with all of our plans and conclusions. He not only couldn't think of a way to send them back, but agreed that we shouldn't send them back even if we could. He'll work on getting them all appropriate documentations, birth certificates, etcetera. We'll do the going to the Prophet thing to announce the new Harry Potter, but the kids will actually be the easiest to explain.

Harrison will be a recently orphaned child, finding out during his processing at Unity that he was created during the time my hair and the altered polyjuice were sailing around the black market. Delphini will be Della's identical twin, Bellatrix was all crazy pants and decided to separate them and send them to different death eaters just in case one of them was found. Tommy and Bel will have been raised in the same place as Delphini, having been dropped off by their death eater parents and never retrieved after the war.

And Harry, having been created from me, ended up with many of my personality traits. Seeing these four older children without parents of their own, three of them having been raised siblings and wanting to stay together, and one of them being biologically "his" anyway like Haz was to me, he just knew they were his. So Harry Potter will be announced, welcomed, and then he will "adopt" his four children.

Easy Peasy.

Anyway, I want to talk to you about my idea for feeding these babies. So as soon as you're up from you're nap we should discuss....

Shite!  
Donna just came over to drop off milk and she brought the kids. And Dudley! Do I break up the screaming between him and the Viper? I feel like I should right? Maybe let it go a bit longer?

Fine!

Love you,  
Harry

 

Tuesday November 24th  
My sneaky little mutt,

I love that you played a trick on Kingsley. I don't love that I wasn't on hand to witness it myself, but that's what I invented memory cameras for.

Perhaps it was justice that I got to witness the beginning of the interaction between the Viper and Dudley. I was still in the sunroom, having a light snack of steak tartare made from the tenderest veal, ground up and mixed with properly prepared bulgur, freshly fermented garlic dill sauerkraut from our wonderful farmer neighbor, and rolled into little meat balls for me to savor. I had Muffy add a little extra blood to the mix because that's what I'm craving today.

And actually! Now that I'm thinking about it, I want - no no! NEED some Sanguinaccio Dolce! Muffy! Get me some, adesso!

Mmmmm.…...

Okay, what was I talking about? Oh! Right, the Viper and Dudley.

So there I was, eating my lovely snack, while Padfoot was in dog form roughhousing with Remus and Romulus to the delight of Zaire and Jaz. The Viper was watching them in amusement and telling me how it's been SO LONG since he's had a chance to play a practical joke that he honestly can't remember when they last time he did so was.

Also, he keeps having to force himself to relax and enjoy spending time with his kids - like when we were all on the beach in Australia - because he keeps expecting someone to pop up and try to kill them. He confessed that had I not uncontrollably Apparated to Viona's rescue the other day, he probably would have uncontrollably blown the bloke up, except NOT in the way you blew up your Aunt just prior to Third Year.

Right on schedule, the fireplace lit up and Hazel leapt to her feet in excitement. "Auntie Donna! DAISY!!!" The two girls promptly squealed and hugged and bounced up and down - Eris running into the room to join in since Daisy was fairly close with all three of the almost triplets. Donna had been holding her youngest, but her middle child piled into the room next, ending with Dudley.

Now I hadn't expected Dudley because he's usually working when Donna stops by with the kids, but apparently he had a day off to go to the dentist, which he'd already done.

"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL ARE *YOU* DOING HERE?!?!"

"Hiya Harry, why are you so mad?" Dudley wondered with a curious frown.

"BECAUSE THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SAFE PLACE FOR ME AND MY KIDS, AND YET *YOU'RE* ALLOWED TO JUST FLOO IN!!!"

I stepped between them, holding my arms out again so that I could intercept either of them if I had to.

"Calm the fuck down, you bloody moron!" I ordered him. " Do you really think MY Harry would let his cousin come over here if they hadn't reconciled their differences?"

"BUT HOW COULD THEY RECONCILE?!?! DUDLEY WAS A BLOODY BULLY TO ME MY ENTIRE CHILDHOOD!!!"

"PEOPLE GROW UP!" I shouted in return.

"The actions of our past don't have to define who we are now," you added in a quiet but firm voice, coming to stand by me. You slipped your hand in mine and gave me a little squeeze.

The Viper tore at his hair and roared in frustration. "So you mean to tell me that you've FORGIVEN HIM?! That you've *BEFRIENDED* HIM?!"

"I have, and here's why: everything he did, he did as a child following the example set by his parents. He didn't know any better, and when he grew up, he had a chance to think about things and form his own opinions. He CHANGED, and who he changed into is someone worth being friends with," you explained.

"BUT!!!" The Viper started to protest.

But you cut him off. "YOU came here because you needed to protect your kids from arseholes who couldn't open their minds long enough to stop trying to murder your kids, and NOW you're doing the same thing, closing your mind and stubbornly hiding behind the belief that people can't change and that who a person's parents are dictate who that person is."

He had to stop and think about that for a moment.

You pointed to Padfoot. "Sirius was born to the Black family and they treated him horribly because he didn't want to conform to their backwards beliefs and ideals. His brother Regulus DIED defying Voldemort. DRACO was born to the most prominent Death Eater, was on the fast track to becoming one of the top Death Eaters himself, yet he protected THE BOTH OF US the best he could and in YOUR WORLD, went so far as to help you defeat Voldemort and finally take back the Wizarding World. Are you trying to say that THESE men are worthy of forgiveness, but DUDLEY'S not???"

You turned to actually gesture to Dudley, who looked like he was about half a second away from fainting, or perhaps choking on his shock. His head kept whipping back and forth between the two of you so quickly that I'll not be surprised if he felt like the world was spinning, haha.

"Dudley's parents didn't try to take over the world or oppress anyone. The ONLY thing they ever did was be bloody fucking arseholes to us and expect Dudley to do the same. If Sirius, Regulus, and Draco could change for the better with THEIR parents as role models, then why can't Dudley?"

"Fuck this! I'm out of here!" The Viper growled before spinning on his heels and storming out of the room.

Padfoot turned back into his human form. "Don't worry, I'll go after him. I have a feeling that I'm the only one who can give him what he needs at the moment anyway."

I nodded in understanding at him, which he returned just before taking off.

"I'm so sorry, Dudders," you apologized. "I didn't even THINK to warn you about OTHER Harry. But to be fair, this pregnancy is stealing ALL my braincells and I can't seem to remember ANYTHING that isn't directly related to eating all the fruit on the planet or shagging Draco for the next 8 months straight - er gay, haha!"

Thankfully, this news seemed to distract Dudley from the arguably far more important topic of him suddenly having another cousin. "You're pregnant again? Congratulations!"

Now in a much better mood, we all sat around the table so that I could finish eating my snack. Alright fine! So it was more of a meal. Dibly brought tea and biscuits for everyone, which naturally delighted Dudley, and Donna scooped Jaz up off the floor and promptly offered her a breast, which Jaz was happy enough to accept.

"Hi there love," Donna crooned, knowing that Jaz would only see her lips moving. However, the kiss to the nose probably illustrated the meaning of her words far better than even signing at this point.

We had a lovely chat, you explained the Viper, and then I assured Donna that no matter what happens (I had a feeling I knew what you've been wanting to talk to me about), we were going to continue paying her to bring us her pumped milk for as long as she was willing to pump it. Not only is Jasmine still going to need the milk for the next couple of months at the *very* least, but we've also been giving Zaire some of the milk from time to time as an added nutritional boost.

This relieved Donna, who was afraid that I was planning to transition Jaz to cow milk sooner rather than later and effectively end her extra income.

Suddenly, Muffy popped into the room with Hannah. We both frowned at her curiously.

"Hi there, luv," I greeted. "Something you need? We literally JUST got the official invitation to your wedding in the mail. Did you come to tell us that you decided against mid January after all?"

She shook her head with a wry smile and held up a thick file.

"OH NO!!!" You blurted out in dismay. "Draco is NOT working ANY cases while he's pregnant!!!"

"You're pregnant again?" Hannah asked, and I don't know why, but hearing it asked like that disgruntled me. It sounds as if I get pregnant every other month or something!

I glared at her lightly. "Yes... with twins this time..."

She probably sensed a hormonal shift because she simply smiled and sat down next to me. Then she grinned at you. "No worries, luv! I think you'll be fine with this one. It's another old, cold case."

You narrowed your eyes at her. "As much as I can appreciate bringing closure to a family, I'm not sure you realize the mental toll that last case took from Draco."

She sighed sadly. "Listen, I understand. It's NEVER fun to know that no matter what, the person is already dead. But... well, THIS missing child..."

I perked up at that. "How old?"

She smiled at me sadly. "When he went missing, he was only three weeks short of his third birthday."

I thought about this for a moment. "And how long has he been missing?"

"About 60 years," Hannah stated. "I'm certain he's long dead, so I'm not hoping you'll lead me to an elderly gentleman who was simply kidnapped and raised by loving if a bit deranged parents. That said, his mother is 85 and on her death bed. If this case isn't solved relatively soon, she'll die never knowing what happened. And while *I* believe that she'll learn the truth shortly after her death, *SHE* believes that the need to know what happened will be considered unresolved business that will keep her spirit here until she finds her son."

I nodded slowly. "Understandable. Other ghosts have stayed behind for less."

You sighed heavily, clearly not happy with the way the conversation was going. "Alright, fine. I'll allow it, but I'm cutting it short the MOMENT it looks to be too much for Draco to bear."

Hannah nodded in understanding. "Alright. I pray that the answer comes to him quickly and as painlessly as possible." She pulled out a baggie that contained a very fragile looking envelope which in turn contained a very fragile looking lock of hair tied with a faded cotton ribbon.

I held the light brown hair in the palm of my hand, only barely noticing Donna and Dudley watching me with clear curiosity. Our girls and their kids had long left the room, and I'm not exactly sure when, so it might have been during the Viper's outburst.

Once I felt a sort of, erm… I'm not sure how to describe it, it... feels a bit like a trance, I imagine. Anyway, once I felt that oddly familiar sensation come over me, I closed my eyes and let my mind drift.

"I see a scrawny and energetic little boy. He's... in a room playing with some toys on the floor. His favorite seems to be a small stuffed dog only slightly darker than his brunet hair. Behind him is a bed. Someone's laying in it, but I can't see who yet. It's as if I'm sitting on the floor with him and at his height.

"Now he's standing up and approaching that bed, tugging on the blanket. 'I'm hungry mummy,' he says. The person in the bed shifts as if the effort of doing so is almost too much for her. 'I'm so sorry, love. Mummy's feeling so very awful. I don't think I can get out of bed right now.'

"The little boy pouts. His watery eyes make me want to scoop him up and cuddle him. 'But I'm so hungry that my tummy hurts!' His mother makes a noise like she wants to cry but doesn't have the energy to. 'Can you try to wait until grandmum comes over? She promised to come here right after she gets off work.' The little boy shakes his head and tears start leaking from his eyes.

"His mother sighs, and for a moment, I think she's fallen back to sleep. Then in a sleep slurred and slightly far away voice, she says: 'Do you think you can be a big boy and grab an apple from the bowl on the counter?'

"'I can, mummy, I can!' he promises excitedly, promptly running off to do so. He's smart enough to push a chair to the counter, and then climb up on the chair so that he can reach the bowl. He makes it back to the floor safely and I'm strangely tempted to sigh in relief. Suddenly, he sees a car pulling up through the window.

"Jumping up and down in excitement, he exclaims: 'Grandmum!' Then he races outside to greet her - using a large dog door because he couldn't quite turn the doorknob. Except that he sees a man getting out of the car. His joy and excitement gets even bigger. 'DADDY!!!' He runs and throws himself into the man's arms.

"The man is about, hmm... 180 centimeters (5'11") and has the same hair and eyes as the boy - whereas his mother had fair hair and blue eyes. He's rubbing his nose against the boy's and purring a bit happily. 'Hi there, Liam. Your mum called to tell me that she's ill and would like me to take care of you until she's better.'

"This made the boy frown in confusion. 'But mum said you're not allowed to see me anymore.' His father shrugged. 'And that's true, but she needs help and I am perfectly capable of taking care of you until she feels right as rain again.' This apparently satisfied Liam, because he simply smiled and said: 'Alright!' Smiling, his father wasted no time in putting him in the backseat of his blue and white car and driving off."

I paused here because the vision itself seemed to fade and show me a sort of blend of scenery for a while. As I waited for something new to happen, I could hear Hannah muttering to herself.

"The dad huh? Hmm... According to these notes, he was interviewed extensively, but he had a solid alibi. His new wife swore up and down that he was home all day when Liam went missing. Police even searched his home to be sure, but didn't find anything suspicious. There's a picture of him and his wife standing in their yard during the search and - oh! He drives a blue and white car."

Suddenly, the vision came back into focus again. "It's... winter. Christmas. Liam looks about... 5 years old? 6? He's excited to be opening his presents. He's literally jumping for joy to have a sled. It looks like hours are passing in a matter of seconds as he and his father go sledding, but eventually, it's time for them to come in. His father kisses his step mother.

"She is not happy, but I have no idea why. Wait... 'I'm so sorry I have to go to work, but they're paying me more money to work this week than they have for the rest of the month! We can't afford to pass on the money!' She simply takes a deep breath and exhales it huffily. With an expression of deep apology, he grabs his coat, kisses her again, and runs off.

"She watches him leave through the window until his blue and white car - which looks black and white in the darkness - is completely out of sight, then she turns to Liam and smiles fondly. 'Your father thinks I'm stupid. He thinks I don't know what he's really doing. Yes, he will be working and earning a lot of extra money, but he'll also be staying with his new *friend* and leaving me home with you as if I didn't used to be a party girl with a hundred friends and so many better things to do on bloody Christmas.'

"She sighs and shakes her head. 'Oh well, come on. Let's having a nice pudding to make us feel better, shall we?' Liam hops happily and follows her to the kitchen. He sits at the table and plays with a toy truck he'd gotten that day, making vroom noises as he drives it back and forth across the table. He's not watching her, but I am. She's pulled a bottle out of the cupboard marked Sleeping Aid. Inside are capsules filled with powder that she empties into what looks like a vanilla or a banana pudding. After putting ten or so in the pudding, she stirs it up until it's well mixed, then she scoops a few dollops of what looks like fresh whipped cream on top of the pudding, eating a spoon or two of the cream from the bowl with obvious relish.

"She walks over to the table and sets the bowl in front of Liam. 'Eat up luv, when you're done, it'll be time for bed.' He tilts his head to the side in confusion. 'Don't I have to have a bath tonight?' She shakes her head. 'Nah, it's Christmas, I think you can skip it just this once.' He cheers at that and downs his pudding excitedly before realizing that eating it quickly meant that he had to go to bed sooner, but then he yawns and rubs at his eyes. 'Daddy and I had so much fun today...'

"She smiles at him, rubbing his back when he leans on her. 'Yes you did. You seem utterly knackered. Let me help you into bed, luv.' He yawns again and nods. 'So sleepy...' She lifts him into her arms and carries him to his bed. He's almost asleep by the time they get there. She tucks him in and says: 'Good Night, Liam, sleep tight.' He slurs: 'Ni...' And then..."

I waited a looong moment before opening my eyes. "The vision goes blank."

Surprisingly, I DIDN'T feel particularly traumatized. Yes, the vision was undeniably horrible, but it had a sense of peace to it that the others just didn't. His last memories were of being happy and playing with his father, and his death was as painless as falling asleep. Literally. Considering all of the even worse things that could have happened to him, I'm going to call that a win.

Hannah was dabbing tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief as she searched through the file. "Police kept track of Liam's father for a few years - from a distance. Just gathering his financials and the like, assuming that if he had anything to do with Liam's disappearance, that he'd eventually do something such as go into hiding. But he never did. He stayed in the house with his new wife for several months until he got a promotion through his work and had to move north to Leeds. They lived there for about..... 3 years - until they got divorced and he sold that house and bought a different one with his *new* new wife a few months later. They eventually had a daughter, and that little girl grew up normal from all accounts. Mr. Parker died a few years back of lung cancer. I can see why my predecessors overlooked him; he just doesn't fit the profile of a man who kidnapped his son."

She shook her head and sighed. "Sharon always said that Liam either escaped through the dog door when she was passed out from the flu, or that her ex-husband took him. The police seemingly cleared Mr. Parker, and so, they all assumed that he escaped and got lost. The fact that the dog door *was* a bit ajar supported that theory - since they hadn't had a dog in years. The only problem was that they could never find a body, and so it seemed reasonable that if Liam HAD gotten lost, someone might have taken the opportunity to kidnap him. I'm just glad that it wasn't that as those sorts of kidnappers tend to have bad things in mind for their victims."

"Quite," I agreed, squeezing her hand.

She kissed my cheek. "Thank luv. I'm going to take this vision and see what I can validate. I'm going to start with that house. I have a hunch that they couldn't exactly report their kidnapped son as dead, and so he was probably buried in the backyard. In which case, the current owners might not be inclined to let me have a team go in and dig everything up." She sighed and stood up. "But I'll do what I can. Maybe just hearing this vision will help Sharon feel like she has closure and can move on when she dies." She patted my shoulder. "I'll let you know what happens - IF anything happens."

I nodded at her. "Thanks."

She shook her head. "No, thank YOU." After that, she had Muffy Apparate her back to her car.

I smiled at you. You had silent tears running down your cheeks which I attempted to brush away.

"Come on, Harry my love. Let's go to bed and hold each other for a while."

You nodded in agreement.

"See you later," Donna murmured, also looking rather sad, but also adoring of her, erm, baby cousin in law - since Jaz was now asleep but still nursing.

"I'll do my best to stay out of the OTHER Harry's way," Dudley promised. "We'll probably just leave in a little bit anyway."

You nodded at him, holding my hand with one of yours and trying to wipe your tears away with the other. "I'll tell Muffy to Apparate him to his room if he starts shouting at you again," you promised before Apparating us to our bedroom.

We held each other for a bit. Kissed for a bit. Shagged for a bit, and then you fell asleep. I was very lethargic and wanted to go to sleep too, but I couldn't until I emptied my mind. Now that I have, I think I'm going to curl myself around you and sleep with my head on your pillow, breathing in your delicious scent.

I love you, even when I'm sleeping,  
Draco  
P.S. I saw an advert or a review or something for a 'movie' called Naked Boys Singing. Immediately interested, I looked into it and it's actually the recording of an all nude show in which a bunch of cute men sing and dance while naked. Even more interested, I obtained a copy to watch with you when we have time. But now I'm wondering. I know you wanted the fund raiser to be a drag show, but what if we slipped at least one naked song/dance in there? And before you panic, *I'LL* be the one singing and dancing naked. And come to think of it, I bet it wouldn't take much at all to talk Blaise into doing it with me if it's a duet or something, hahaha!


	103. Chapter 103

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and the kids are at Unity House (but River is NOT alone with Ananda) and Draco should probably get his cushy arse out of bed.

Wednesday November 25th  
Good morning Love,

I think you know me well enough by now that if some of the kids and I are missing in the morning that we're most likely at Unity, but just in case you panic I figured I would let you know! As of right now, I have no plans to come home before movie night, so if you don't find some excuse to stop over before then, I'll just see you tonight.

The only kids at home with you are Ori and the Princess. Orion is hours deep into re-reading the Lord of the Rings and didn't feel like putting it down and Viona wanted to sleep in. On the other hand, Lainie never misses an excuse to be at Unity, River wanted to visit with Ananda (they are NOT up in the teen trouble room!) Haz wanted to come and Eri follows Haz, Siri and Zwei always want to come play here since there are Kids their age, Zaire follows me wherever I go, and Jaz lately has been wanting to be wherever her big brother Zaire is.

Years ago, when I initially created Unity House, I knew that I didn't want to be in charge of running it on a day to day basis. I wanted to get it up and running, I wanted to have a hand in its creation so it didn't fall into some of the traditional habits many orphanages end up doing that create an unhappy environment for the Kids, but I wanted to eventually just become "Fun Uncle Harry" who comes by to play, bake biscuits, read stories, and just basically do the fun things with them that the caregivers don't always have time for when they're busy providing basic needs.

And you know what came of that. The ending of the war meant the orphanage was having to accommodate massive numbers that really won't be common in the future. It meant a lot of children that weren't "just" orphaned, but damaged. So I kept on running it for much longer than I anticipated. Then I was tasked with helping build ONE more on another continent. And then one more, and then one more, and then …. You know the drill.

But now we're home, hopefully for good, and this Unity has been running like a well-oiled machine for years without me, I have no business I need to start up, I just have a beautiful family to spend time with, and a Unity House where I can finally be the fun guy who drops in all the time just for fun. And sometimes mischief!

I certainly don't regret all the time we spent creating something so important around the world, but I am quite happy to sit back and enjoy some time where I don't feel like I NEED to be accomplishing something! Except growing a human apparently. I am kinda busy doing that!

So I have made it perfectly clear to Robards that you will not be participating in any Auror business. Yesterday I reminded Kingsley of that fact, complete with Crazy Eyes. And I think I made it perfectly clear to Hannah that you are not on the police payroll either. But now I'm being a total hypocrite because I can't stop thinking of the case she brought you yesterday. Liam died, his mum is on her deathbed, his dad died a little while back … where's the murderous step-mom? Because if THAT monster is still around, she should be paying for her actions.

And then it makes me wonder, it sounds like besides the kidnapping the guy was a fairly good father. But Liam's mom kept them apart. So I have to wonder if she was getting red flags or bad vibes from the step-mom and that's why they were kept apart. Obviously this is all just random curiosity, but I cannot get it out of my head!

I know, I could distract myself thinking about your recent cravings and food combinations. And by distract, I of course mean I will be barfing so hard that I won't be able to think about this cold case. Draco! You need to stop describing your food! How would you feel if I didn't hide in the closet to eat the cricket candies I've been having Unity Japan sending me by the bagful? Hmm?

Ok, the real reason I wanted to write right now is because I keep chickening out and not talking to you about the thing I want to talk to you .. about. Um, I don't think that sentence works well on a grammatical level. Oh well, I think you know what I meant. Um, so, there are these wonderful, advanced potions that we have taken to create part of our family. Thanks to this advancement, we have an Eris, Orion, Sirius James, Draco Jr, and now these three little unnamed people. We also have a Haz because of a potion breakthrough, but a different one. Well, I wonder, is there something I could take to uh, produce milk for these upcoming little people? If we have a potion that can grow a working uterus, I can't imagine it would be impossible to trigger some milk production when we already have the nipples, milk ducts, and mammary tissue.

Would that be too weird for you? I'm not even directly breastfeeding Zaire and Jaz (yes I often use the harness for her too!) and it's such a wonderful bonding experience. I never even thought about it, we had all those centuries worth of milk in stasis, we had the women wanting to earn extra income in Iran by nursing, we had Donna willing to pump, and the idea just never crossed my mind. But now that it has, I can't stop thinking about how wonderful it would be to feed our newborns … uh … from the tap.

Ok, I made things weird, I'll see you tonight!

Love,  
Your Harry

P.S. Thanks for the reminder of the time I blew up Marge! Ha, remember when I told her to Fuck off? Ha, one of my favorite memories!

P.P.S. I don't know how I feel about everyone seeing MY Draco all naked on stage. Hmm, I like it in theory, but I have no idea how my hormones will react.

P.P.P.S. I know how they will react to the sight! Just not sure how they will react to OTHER people seeing that sight!

 

Wednesday November 25th  
Wait!

You have candied crickets and you HAVEN'T been sharing them with me???

Hmm.....

In any case, here's what I have planned for today prior to joining you at Unity for movie night: I'm going to head off to talk to Rowe. No, not for an appointment or a check up. See I've read about a potion (a long time ago) that can help a woman start or increase her milk supply if she's otherwise having trouble producing milk. But I don't know how or if that would effect men. So I'm going to ask her about it.

I think the worst case scenario would be that she knows that it won't work and why OR she won't know and we'll have to test it - probably on Ron since he's not currently pregnant. In either of those scenarios, I'll just have to find the recipe for the potion and tweak it a bit until it DOES work.

On a different topic, I've submitted an official request to the Ministry to have Hannah's house connected to the floo network so that she doesn't have to drive all the way out here after getting off work, and then drive all the way back home late at night. Which also makes me think, you know how the Ministry has an old 'broken down' telephone box as a secret entrance because it's something that muggles see and associate with nothing important? Well, perhaps they should have a network of them out in muggle public so that witches, wizards, squibs, and muggles in the know - basically anyone who can't Apparate and doesn't want to fly a broom - can use this network of muggle boxes to floo around the country as needed. Sort of like the bus system, but better because each 'stop' in the network can go directly to where they need to go.

Just a thought. I'm probably going to have to refine it and talk with Theo about infrastructure and the like before I pitch it to Kingsley and the Department of Magical Transportation. Maybe they'll go for it if we charge a nominal fee to cover the cost of building it and supplying floo powder. Like a Pound a floo trip? And actually, this is much like the Post Office in which we can technically just do it as a private business if we want. In which case, I'm putting it in YOUR name.

Speaking of your name - sort of - I've been thinking more about the Viper. I don't really know why, but I feel obligated to make sure that they can fully be part of this world. That they can live normal lives and support themselves. I mean sure, it's really no different to us if they stay in the Manor - it costs nearly the same to maintain the Manor whether it's just the 18 Malfoys, 1 Black, and 3 support staff (plus the MANY elves), or if it's all of us plus the 5 extras. So they could just continue to stay with us and do whatever we're doing anyway for the rest of their lives.

But I get the feeling that as the kids grow up, they're going to want to do things such as go to Muggle college and earn a degree in Quantum Physics (since they might have an interest in that due to them being born in another world). If so, the Viper is going to feel guilty if WE pay for their education, not that WE would have any problem doing so.

So, to that end, I think I'm going to sit down with the Viper and talk a little bit about all of my businesses. Maybe one will speak to him. If so, I can sign it over to him with an agreement that he pays me back for it over time - such as would happen with a loan. He can do what I'm doing and be more or less a silent owner that reaps the (slightly lesser) profits, OR he can take a more active role, learning how to actually run the business and not need the management staff I have, and thus, earn more income.

And if he doesn't like any of the businesses I currently have, I can always help him start one up from scratch. BUT all of this will have to wait until he's seen a Mind Healer at least a few times. He's looked over that list you had Yesenia and Katja come up with of Mind Healers who are good with those who have a lot of sexual abuse and trauma to work through, and he's... thinking it over. He's still wary, but he seems to be coming around.

But I should get my cushy arse out of bed and get started on my day.

And darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70, and baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23, and I'm thinking about how people fall in love in mysterious ways, maybe just the touch of a hand, oh me, I fall in love with you every single day, and I just wanna tell you I am,  
Draco  
P.S. That song is wrong. It's more like I'll be loving you until I'm 170, or however old I am when I die, and then for the rest of eternity. But you get the point.


	104. Chapter 104

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's movie night and Draco talks about what Rowe said.

Wednesday November 25th  
Noooooooo,

I have definitely not been hiding candy from you. Who would do something like that? That would make me a monster. On an unrelated note; I just received a bag of candied crickets yesterday, we should share them.

Thank you for not thinking I was an absolute lunatic for asking about nursing these new babies of ours. I should really know better by now than to think you would be judgmental about something like that. I suppose I thought, since you'd never broached the subject in the past that either it was impossible and I was pulling a "I was raised in the muggle world" situation like when I didn't know men could get pregnant, or that it was possible and you'd never talked about it because it was something you thought was weird or … just not the "done" thing.

I'm not really sure if Ron would be willing to be our guinea pig for working breasts though. He's come a long way from the guy who pretended he could still be completely straight as long as the guy he was sleeping with never penetrated him, but I don't know how willing he'd be to start lactating. Even for us.

Wait, you don't think we'd actually grow full breasts right? I assume there would be some swelling but women with almost nothing to speak of manage to produce enough milk for their children so I didn't even think if it would require that much anatomical change. I … I uh would rather not grow them, but I am probably putting the cart before the horse here a bit. Just crazy hormonal ramblings I'm sure, feel free to ignore it!

We didn't get a chance to talk about it tonight, you barely made it in time to watch the movie with us, and the little bit of conversation you had was to go around showing off the scan picture of the babies that Rowe printed out for you. I know it's just a scan, and at not yet 12 weeks they only barely look human, but weren't they some of the most gorgeous things you've ever seen in your life? I feel as though we just found out about all three of our babies only yesterday and can't believe we're already 11 weeks already. But I also am so sick of vomiting and feeling awful that I feel as though it's forever until they actually get here. Eleven weeks down, and if my track record is anything to go by, thirty-one more weeks to go!

And you! You may have gone late with Zwei, but you went early with Eri and twins almost always come early, so you most likely have a lot less time ahead of you than I do. I feel fine about it now, but I assume you're going to have a bit of a nightmare on your hands come June!

We watched Matilda tonight, Roald Dahl is one of my favorite authors, Matilda is probably my favorite of his books, and the movie was just wonderful. I think he just does such a brilliant job of portraying the powerlessness so many children feel, and then turns it upside down and gives them powers to get them through. Sometimes they're magical like Matilda's telekinesis or James' giant peach and bug friends. But sometimes they're just traits many children have already, like bravery, a clever mind, or kindness. They don't have to put a newt on a bully teacher with their mind … although I don't think it hurts either!

Your ideas for new businesses and loaning or starting up a business for the Viper were both great ideas. I love the idea of Wizarding Public transport. Even those with their own magic have to rely on apparition (magically draining and hard to do if you've not been somewhere before), floo (which requires a working floo connection in both places), or the Knight Bus which I don't think I have to list the downsides to taking the Knight Bus! Honestly, I think you should pitch it to Kingsley, but really only in the way of making sure it's all legal - it's your idea, you should be the one benefiting from it. Just make sure your arse is covered legally and make it a profitable business!

Maybe the Viper can run that one! I'm sure he'll have his own ideas or businesses that jump out to him, but I can imagine him being good with children once he's cleared by the mind healers, maybe running the daycare, running one of the Unity Houses, perhaps with training even teaching at Traditions. Or he should open a club! Less like Blaise's that is a traditional club that just tends to turn into a mass orgy, and more an actual legitimate kink club. If he were trained properly, really going over which practices are SS&C and not, he'd most likely be a fantastic Dom.

And I'm sure he'd be happy to be financially independent and not rely on our generosity. He and his children are welcome to stay with us forever if they'd like, but also, it would be better for my own mental health if we didn't live in the same house. He's really growing on me, I swear. I wasn't just blowing smoke when I told everyone during the family meeting that he and his children are our family, but I don't need to live with everyone in my extended family either!

Anyway, I am getting sleepy, so I had better climb into bed with you three (or five!) loves of mine.

Yours in all ways,  
Harry

 

Thursday November 26th  
My love,

So here's what Rowe had to say: We can do it.

Actually, the potion I talked about needs no modification because what it does is stimulate the production of the hormone prolactin, which in turn stimulates the mammary glands to actually produce milk. Since men do naturally possess mammary gland, it is possible, and the potion is not limited to gender.

She says it's safe and you could even do it now if you wished. She also said that the reason she never brought it up before is because during your first pregnancy, you'd mentioned to her how vulnerable you were feeling about your masculinity and how you were initially upset about Viona calling you mum. Thus, she always assumed that you didn't want to do anything to make you even MORE feminine - and that you would ask her about it if you ever changed your mind.

Now that you have changed your mind (and possibly me, we'll see), she's given us several bottles of the potion with a recipe on how to make more if I wish. Otherwise, I could simply buy it at the apothecary.

The only thing she warns about is if you decide to take the potion to start lactating while you are pregnant, you may not produce as much, and you'll probably need to eat even more to keep up with the demands of growing a child AND producing milk. That said, the body will prioritize the new child, and so, you will not be taking anything away from the baby inside you by giving it a go. If it doesn't work out, you can always stop.

Lastly, it will simply stimulate the existing mammary tissue, and so yes, they will swell, but you shouldn't grow full breasts. Sort of small mounds, I suppose, and once you decide to wean, those mounds will naturally shrink, and the skin around them might become very flabby, but that is cosmetic and can be fixed with a few quick spells - if you wish. The more alarming part of the process is that they might ache unbearably as the glands activate and grow in order to do their job.

Did you know that apparently, there are accounts of men (probably desperate to keep their children alive) who have actually breastfed their children simply by letting them latch on and suck until their own bodies understood what was being asked for and produced the hormone, and thus, milk. Along the same lines, virgin girls who've reached puberty and young women (virgin or not) who have never been pregnant can actually produce milk the same way if necessary. I did not know this, and folklore has it that there are herbs and things to help with this.

But Potions work WAY better, hahaha!

But enough about breasts. I've decided that it'll be most productive if I spend the day brainstorming with Theo. The more I think about it, the more that I am certain that public floo will be important, well used, and possibly lucrative. So... looks like you're about to own another business!

One last thing before I sign off, I talked a little bit with the Viper about helping him own a business and how he could either choose one of my existing ones or try creating one of his own, and he's definitely interested. We have an agreement tomorrow to talk about it more in depth.

I like, I like, I like my kisses down low, makes me arch my back, when you give it to me slow, baby just like that,  
Draco


	105. Chapter 105

Thursday November 26th  
My Brilliant Inventor,

I hope you've been having a massively productive time with Theo. I love your idea for the public floo system and I think once you nail down the particulars and get it up and running it will be another one of those changes that hopefully change the wizarding world for the better. Although I really don't understand why you want to put this one in my name. I understand why the post office and the day care were put into my name; you did the legwork but it was initially my idea, but this isn't the case you weirdo. Put it in your own name my love. I'm sure I'll end up having some amazing ideas in the future to put in my name.

And seeing how I will never let you go, you're stuck with me for life, it's not like it truly matters what is in whose name. What's mine is yours and yours mine my love.

And speaking of brilliant ideas, I have one. Well, I think it's brilliant, and you've been somehow tricked into thinking I'm brilliant so you will probably agree. But also you will probably take my idea and make it better and yet somehow make me think it's still the same thing as my original idea. Do you want the whole long description of how I got to the idea, or just the idea itself?

Oh, you can't answer? Long and drawn out it is!

So when I was having my heart to heart with River while we were in Australia, you'll remember he teased me about the time I researched Disneyworld only to realize I had researched the wrong park and we were actually going to Disneyland. So that's been on my mind a bit, and then you had the great idea to make sure we had plenty of things in Zaire's cultural heritage for him to learn and know about in the future. Which made me think even though she doesn't have the memory or the language since we got her at four days old and she wasn't hearing it regardless, we should do the same for Jaz, she should know about her Iranian heritage. We've always made sure to give Lainie access to anything having to do with her Spanish heritage.

And even not culturally, River knows all about his mum's family. Despite your father's vehement objections, even Viona is aware of her lineage and heritage concerning her biological Crabbe side.

And last night it hit me. I was wondering how your muggle community center was coming along, and bam! What if we created a (smaller) version of Disneyworld's Epcot? Some sort of museum or cultural center in the magical community. Those with families who've documented and kept up their traditions, like the Patils having visited India and being well versed in their traditions. But, people like me who literally don't even know where the Potters originally came from. I mean, I'm olive toned but from the UK. I don't exactly have the traditional pale British complexion. Where are my people from?

So we create this whole museum dedicated to wizarding areas throughout the world. We can make it profitable by having food stands in each of the areas, selling traditional items from each area (although I insist we purchase directly from that country so it's authentic and someone from that culture benefits from the sale). But most importantly we have this place where people can learn of their own ancestral culture but learn about other cultures they may never otherwise experience.

What do you think?

I have to apologize, we had a bit of a boys night get together here at the Manor without you this evening. And without Theo as well. But you businessmen have to keep the rest of us stocked in good wine and imported chocolates. These cravings aren't gonna feed themselves! Don't worry, the wine was for everyone else, I kept to half a glass just because I could not turn down a taste of my very favorite Australian Shiraz.

I was sitting in the kids' toy room with the four littlest, and the Viper and Sirius joined me. We sat around chatting, mostly about the kids as it's safe territory, and had a surprisingly good time. About a half an hour in, Blaise and Ron floo'ed in and Muffy sent them to the toy room. They had all sorts of questions about the upcoming Drag Show as well as what we were all planning on doing during our stay in California.

Now, obviously Sirius and the Viper were told about our upcoming trip, and we assumed they were coming with, but they hadn't been specifically asked to participate in the show. Well, Sirius was indignant and demanded we allow him to do a number. Um, of course you overly dramatic ponce! I wouldn't dream of not allowing the original Drama Queen to strut his stuff in front of a large crowd. And the Viper being the Viper, could not back down from a challenge and he wants to participate as well.

I have danced with and for you enough times that I will have no problem with my own performance, but I am certainly not a choreographer and I had no idea what their talent levels were like. So I magi-mobiled Miles to see if he had time to come check out the talent. Luckily he did, and floo'ed right over. We'll talk costumes later, for right now we were focused on dance ability and song choices.

I decided to dance to a song I won't actually be using at the show, since it references me being a boy. Kinda the opposite of what we're going for. But I was just feeling it! So I really belted out and kicked ass at "Boy is a Bottom" while Blaise, Ron, Sirius, Viper, and Miles catcalled me. It was phenomenal.

Right at the end of my act Lucius wandered his way in. I think he was hoping to talk one of his Grandkids into playing with the owls for a while, he's awfully lonely without Sebastian and Gavin, but he gave up on that idea when he saw what we were doing.

After watching Miles and Blaise's performances, Lucius demanded we pick out the perfect song for him. So in case you are keeping track, one evening of dance has now nabbed us three additional performers. I am probably way too excited to see Lucius perform in drag.

I've not set it in stone or anything but I think I am going to do my actual performance to Aerosmith's "Crazy" It just speaks to me!

You know, I think Narcissa is on to something, being the sober one in a group of people getting progressively sillier due to wine intake is hilarious. Don't worry, no one was anything more than a bit tipsy while the kids were still awake, but bedtime for the kids definitely tipped everyone over the edge into getting thoroughly pissed.

I just headed to bed, but decided to write to you before I fell asleep (all alone in our big bed without you!). Don't be surprised when you come home tonight or wake up in the morning to find a massive pile of hungover limbs in the kids' playroom!

Good night sweetheart,  
Harry

P.S. I know, there are babies in it, I'm not exactly alone in our bed, but I miss you!

 

Friday November 27th  
My sneaky tease,

Before I get into everything else I want to talk about, I just have to bring something up. Back, oh... in Australia? You mentioned that you had been keeping a secret for a couple of years and were maybe ready to talk about it. Well, I've already said that I can respect secrets, so I've been patiently waiting for you to get around to telling me, but the more time that passes, the more curious I get about it.

What the fuck have you been keeping secret???

If you still don't feel like you can talk about it, I'll shove the little bit of knowledge I have into a box so that I'll stop dwelling on it, but if you really ARE ready, just know that I'm dying of curiosity over here!

Alright, so, my planning meeting with Theo. He was SUPER helpful because he has a lot of experience with infrastructure by this point. He pulled out a map of London to start with and basically marked off places with *known* access to a floo. That helped us to see where the gaps are, which we marked possible locations with a dot.

Then we pulled up a general map of England and marked off known locations the best we could, which again, showed us where major gaps in the network were. With that extremely simplistic overview in mind, we started on what the public floo stop would be like. I had begun with a vision of a simple phone booth in which people could step in - the inside would be a little bigger than the outside - grab a pinch of floo powder from a pot and toss it in a small fire under a grate under their feet so that there wouldn't be a need for a large fireplace to walk into.

Theo likes this idea and says that it'll probably work for the best, BUT he had a few other ideas that might actually work better in the long run. For example, what if the person is a squib or in the know muggle who actually needs a bit of a rest - or hell! A witch or wizard who just needs to take a bit of a break before moving on. Anyway, he thinks that the inside of the phone booth should actually be big enough to hold the equivalent of a small hotel room. That way, the traveler can have a bit of tea and relax in a chair, or even just get a bit of sleep if needed.

Each thing can have a small fee. So the floo trip itself will cost a Pound or two. The cup of tea a Pound. Just sitting in the chair would be free, but needing to spend the night would cost say £20 - or about 4 Galleons. We both think that accepting either currency will help if the traveler is say muggleborn, a squib, or perhaps an international traveler who's only managed to get one currency exchanged.

We know that as a business, we have the right to register as many floos as we need, but even so, we're going to take what we have and pitch it to Kingsley just in case we need permits, or perhaps to liaison with the Muggle Ministry. So I have Pippa working (from California since I already sent her on ahead a while ago to procure a venue for our Drag Show and to throw herself into promoting it as much as possible) on making an appointment to meet with him, not sure when that'll be yet.

As for YOUR idea, I DO think you're brilliant! We can make this local and international at the same time. We'll put out an advert for groups of every ethnicity of Wizards in Britain to come together and plan out a booth to showcase their heritage. They can run their booth however they like, selling food and products that are sourced from their homeland and whatnot. Since this will probably be a case of us funding it until it's up and running, and then receiving a large portion of the profits, I'm assuming that each group will feel free to add other things we haven't even thought of. For example, perhaps an Irish group will want to put on traditional dances. Perhaps the Veelas will want to put on concerts.

We'll see what happens. It's rather exciting to think about, and actually, I think we should have the Viper sort of come with us as we get this going, to give him ideas about starting and running a business of his own.

Speaking of, I think he actually WOULD be brilliant at running an SS&C BDSM club. But perhaps that might be best later on once he's in a better frame of mind. In the meantime - until his kids are more grown up - I think he might really like a chance to teach a sort of D.A.D.A class at Traditions. Or maybe make it more of a Dueling Club - either for actual competitions for adults, or as an 'after school' activity at Hogwarts. I'm dead certain McGonagall will be delighted by the idea. And come to think of it, he could always do both, I suppose.

But he himself still seems to be on the fence about what interests him, so we'll see what happens. The good news is that he seems willing to finally make an Appointment with Genevieve - a Mind Healer that not only specializes in sexual trauma, but ALSO happened to be born and raised by Death Eaters (non marked ones) - between the two wars - and so, she is sympathetic to the trauma from the war too, no matter which side a person was on.

I'm sad to have missed what sounds like an epic planning session for the Drag Show, but am now quite looking forward to my father's performance. I can't decide if he's more likely to go through with it, or back out gracefully, hahaha. I suppose my mother can be on hand to order him to go through with it if necessary. I'm glad Miles has already obtained a leave from his work so that he can do this with us.

But I'm a bit disappointed that it seems like there won't be any nude numbers after all. I really had my hopes up that Blaise and I (and maybe Ron) would do a funny number to make the audience really laugh and relax and get in the mood... to donate eff loads of money, that is, hahaha!

And I know that your hormones can be irrational, but considering how many people have already seen me naked - which is basically everyone I know, and several I don't know who happened to be lucky enough to attend the same club or party with us - I'm not entirely sure what the problem would be.

In any case, I have an excuse to dance with you every chance I get, which is always a bonus ^_^

So wait! I just realized something important. You mean to tell me that BOTH Padfoot AND the Viper heard you talking about doing a drag show, and rather than have any sort of: "Wait, WHAT???" reaction, they BOTH just said: "Oh hey, sign me up!" ???

Well alright then...

You give me fever, when you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight, fever in the morning, fever all through the night,  
Draco


	106. Chapter 106

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry talks about his secret ^_^

Saturday November 28th  
Oh my sweet Hunny!

I suppose I am being a bit of a tease. Not the sexual kind because I think we all know I could never be a tease. Keeping it from you would mean abstaining from you myself. Yeah, that's a definite NO from me. I have a hard enough time with the denial spells we use.

Well, here's what happened. I had been thinking on my secret quite a bit right before we traveled to Australia. But then the stuff with River was happening. And then we had to head home. And now we just have this short time before we head to California. Including planning an entire Drag Show! Which is exciting and fun, but still completely overtaking my brain's ability to think of other things.

And now having gotten Hannah's "save the date" card for her wedding, that's on my mind. Which, by the way, is the ONLY reason I've not said anything about getting her a floo connection. It will be used for my own selfish purposes of wanting to help play with wedding planning, and NOT to allow you to prance about the country all willy-nilly chasing murderers and missing children. Do you hear me Draco Lucius Malfoy? I will personally shut it down if I see it being used for anything other than innocent visits, giving Harry the opportunity to discuss flowers and pretty clothes, or the occasional request for you to look over things from the safety of our home.

Plus, ever since our family meeting, I have really been getting along much better with the Viper. I actually think I've finally come around to realizing what it is about him that bothers me. You see, up until I was raving at Hazel and Harrison for acting like their circumstances make them automatically the same person, I hadn't realized I was doing the same thing. All I could see was a "Me" that had become hardened and bitter. I saw my face tensed in pain and waiting for the next trauma to fly towards his children. I saw myself having become embittered to life and not having the ability to forgive and move past people's mistakes. I saw what my life could have become if I'd told you to "Bugger Off" when you initially emailed me. How lonely and unfulfilled I would be. How I wouldn't have people in my life like Blaise or Pansy, and certainly Dudley or Donna. I saw a life without you in it.

I don't think I need to tell you how much that all terrified me. I didn't trust him because I wouldn't trust a me who didn't have you in my life. You've allowed me to become the best version of me. He was like an angry mirror being held up proclaiming to everyone what my worst innermost fears were.

But despite the matching face and name and almost identical past, he is not me. Once I was able to separate him from my own feelings about myself, I can see so many good things about him.

And now I've been distracted with all of your talk about your and Theo's floo system. Every time you bring up a new piece you're planning to add to the project I think you couldn't possibly be more brilliant. Then you come along with another idea and I'm forced to eat my words. I am really loving this little Rest Depot type thing you're going to charm the phone boxes into. It's a bit like the T.A.R.D.I.S. isn't it? Seemingly old fashioned public box, bigger on the inside, with the ability to bring you where you want to go? I love it!

And your additions to my heritage idea? Genius! I thought we would hire people from those cultures and design everything ourselves. But just providing the space and giving people free reign to decide what to showcase is so much better. People are much more likely to work their hardest at this if they're given the freedom to decide what pieces of their culture to display as opposed to a boss saying "cook your food" or "make a traditional dress". Eventually if it all goes well we could officially hire people to run specific areas. If we know the Spanish Dance performance is a constant hit, it makes sense to hire permanent dancers. But no matter how set it eventually gets, we will make sure to always have room for individuals to come for a day or for a significant time, to teach about their culture and make sure they are financially benefiting from its use.

Oh! The Drag Show and my issue with your nudity. I know, everyone has seen you nude. But for some reason I have been feeling really possessive ever since this bun came into existence. I don't want anyone new to touch you or look at you. I kind of want to murder anyone who so much as sees your face. I realize it's ridiculous, but it's what the hormones are doing! If you are dead set on the idea of doing a nude dance, I suppose I will just lock myself in a dressing room and pretend it's not happening. Although, if you think about it, completely nude dancing is quite the opposite of Drag! Your bits would be all …. out there for all to see!

Oooh, I know, you could be naked but painted! An airbrushed paint costume! Do you think that would satisfy your craving for the dance while keeping me from murdering people we're trying to fundraise from?

Anyway, I've gone and gotten distracted again! I was just explaining why I had forgotten to tell you my secret and I almost signed off just now still not having told you my secret.

Deep breath Harry, Draco won't think you're a moron.

So, uh, I really love writing to you. We've been emailing for years. It's become this fun unique way we can communicate in addition to our normal face to face interactions. But it's also been a wonderful way to document our lives together. In the moment, we always think we'll never forget an event. But I go back to things we've written even as recently as a year ago, and I'm remembering parts about it that I thought I would never forget.

So uh. I thought, people have been trying to publish unauthorized biographies about me for years. Do you remember the books Skeeter wrote? She gave me an epilogue where I go on to marry Ginny! Ginny, Draco. Ginevra Weasley. You know, the beard I dated when I was sixteen and who looks like my mum? Yeah. Blech.

I figured if the people are that interested in reading about my life, maybe I should tell it. So, I've actually been writing my story. I'm not sure if it's any good, it's probably rubbish, but maybe some publisher can set me up with a good editor and they can take my gibberish and make it work? I'm not sure why I hid it from you. I was a bit embarrassed when I started writing, oh, probably when we were in Canada I think, and then it just kept spiraling. Eventually I had written three or four entire novels and not told you. By that point I was hysterical about whether it would upset you if I told you I'd been hiding it from you, so I hid it still.

I'm sorry, please forgive me, I love you.

Apologetically Yours,  
Harry

 

Sunday November 29th  
My perfect husband,

Just when I think you can't surprise me anymore, you go and surprise me! I LOVE the idea of you writing a book. Or several? Not only will it more than likely be the biggest hit in the Wizarding World for YEARS, but it'll probably earn you enough income that I won't have to worry so much when it's time to set up the vaults for the rest of the kids.

I know we give them an allowance and would be perfectly happy to financially support them for the rest of their lives, but I also recognize the value of giving them enough money to either invest and increase (like I did) or make mistakes with. Obviously, I'm hoping for the first one, haha. I also know that we each have a fortune to split amongst them, but we also sort of keep our fortunes separate - probably so that they can't BOTH disappear should the economy happen to plummet and all my businesses run dry at the same time.

My point is that because we keep them separate, when I plan for their financial future, I do so based off what's in MY vaults, figuring that you can always add to what I've given them - like my father did for Elena. And here's the funny thing, I only gave her a 10th of my liquid assets at the time - which is exactly what my father had done for me, thus even with 4 siblings I didn't have at the time I got my first vault, my father still has a lot more money to split up than I do, despite me earning money like mad over the years. He has too, as his businesses still perform rather well.

But I've gotten off track. Where I was going with this is that say I split my entire vault and all my businesses up amongst the kids when I feel it's time to retire, leaving me/us with a comfortable amount of money but nowhere NEAR what we currently have. That still leaves your ENTIRE fortune to care for us in our old age AND help the kids out as necessary. All in all, a rather nice retirement plan, haha.

As for the drag show, I KNOW it's literally the opposite of what a drag show is all about, but I'm probably going to have to lock you in the dressing room because my heart is quite set on at least one naked number. I mean, WHEN am I ever going to have the chance to strut my stuff in front of an audience like this again? Keep in mind that my stomach is going to swell up bigger than the Manor in the next couple of months, and even after that, it'll probably be flabby and not worth showing to an audience (or looking at in a mirror), so it really is now or never.

We can totally write down everything that comes to mind in regards to your 'Epcot' business, but I am putting my foot down and stating that the actual groundwork of finding a location and putting out an advert and ACTUAL planning is going to have to wait until after we get back from California, and possibly even as long as after Christmas/New Years. As it is, we've both been so busy that we missed the opening to my Adventure Park on the 25th, but that's alright as it just gives me an incentive to host a sort of 'come play with me' (nonsexual) party later on.

The holding off on starting a new business will also apply to me, aside from that meeting with Kingsley that Pippa managed to snag an appointment for on Monday. Afternoon.

Lastly, I sincerely hope that Hannah allows you to help out with her wedding as you can (considering our time crunch, haha), but honestly, the reason I wanted to get her a floo connection so that she can come here as she likes is that I have a feeling she'll want to work on more cold cases when *she* has time. And also, I inexplicably want to do so as well. It gives me a strange sense of satisfaction to use a skill I didn't ever plan to use in order to help families find closure.

Sure, the 'reliving' of their deaths is a bit draining both emotionally and - to a lesser extent - physically, but after I've had time to process it, I feel more at peace having done it than I would if I refused. I DO recognize that they're not all going to be *relatively* fluffy like with Jacob and Liam. Some might make me want to Obliviate myself and require an emergency session with Yesenia, but I'd still rather help than just leave it unsolved forever. If that makes sense.

But as for now, I'm going to sign off and find something to devour, first food, and then probably you.

My dear, it's time to say, I thank god for you, I thank god for you, in each and every single way, we are the lucky ones,  
Draco  
P.S Before you hear about it from somewhere else and get mad, I just wanted to let you know that Blaise dared the Viper to do something, and he was just, erm, I dunno, hungover or something, enough to do it. So, he glamoured himself so that he looked exactly like you, which Blaise must have helped with to get rid of ALL of the extra scars. Then the Viper crawled into bed with me as I was waking up. He didn't do anything too alarming, just basically petting my chest. See the dare was actually a bet too. Blaise bet that I wouldn't know the difference between the two of you, but the Viper was betting that I would. So after I was awake and happy to have you making my day great from the start, he leaned into give me a probing look, and then try to kiss me, but you want to know what?

I knew it wasn't you. He has a look in his eyes - a sort of hardened and wary look - that you just don't have. I held my hand up to his mouth before he could kiss me and gave him a bit of a glare. To my surprise, he laughed.

"I TOLD Blaise you'd know! I have to go collect on my bet!" And with that, he rushed off. I'm assuming that the Viper is going to do something rough and bloody buggering kinky to Blaise, and you know, probably didn't try to hard to pretend to be you because he really wanted to win that bet. Even so, it's his eyes. He can't glamour them into your eyes - he can't replicate the love for me that shines in them - and so, I'm confident he wouldn't have lost that bet no matter how hard he tried.

LOVE YOU!!!


	107. Chapter 107

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry wants to murder Blaise.

Sunday November 29th  
MY Dragon,

So when I murder Blaise do you think Kisa, Hermione, or Ron will be the most upset? I suppose the children would be traumatized. Ugh, damnit, why do I always have to think of the children. Alright, I will not murder him, but I'm going to do something. I think maybe the next time we play I will blindfold him and make him think I'm going to do something super fun. And it will be fun … for me. But instead of fun for him I am going to put a cock cage on him and make sure it's spelled to my magical signature and let him fester away in that for a while.

The Damn Viper! Every time I find myself starting to like him, he goes and does something monumentally stupid. At least he didn't get to the point of actually kissing you, I might have blown his bits off or something. Then there's no way he could ever trick you, because he'd be the Harry with no bits. It does sound like he was really most interested in messing with Blaise. I enjoy messing with him myself, so I suppose I can't be too annoyed. And I am very proud of you for knowing it wasn't me. I like to think my eyes are full of love when I think of you, but it's nice to know they are enough for you to notice. I love you Draco.

I love you enough to not put up much of a fuss knowing you're going to continue to assist Hannah. I think it's wonderful that it's so fulfilling for you. Maybe someday you'll have done enough that even YOU think you've balanced out your terrible childhood decisions. I know for a fact that you surpassed it quite a long time ago, but you seem to think it's going to require even more than you've already done. I blame Hogwarts' lack of nonmagical education for you being so terrible at basic maths.

But I have some stipulations to add to your continuation of working on these cases. 1-Preferably forever, but at least while you are pregnant, you will only conduct these from the safety of our house. 2-The moment you feel you've overtaxed your magic levels you will immediately stop no matter how close to a breakthrough you think you are. 3-You will go see Yesenia after every case conclusion. Do you think that's fair? I hate to get all nagging husband on you, but your safety and mental health is more important to me than solving a cold case. I know it makes me unbearably selfish, but I can't change my priorities.

And speaking of your pregnancy; you ridiculous man, you are going to be bloody fit no matter what cycle of pregnancy or post-partum you are. You have been through two pregnancies and don't have so much as a shadow of flab on your slim frame. I understand a twin pregnancy is going to be different from your singletons, but for you to bounce back from two pregnancies I can't imagine you having a post-baby stomach that is "flabby and not worth showing to an audience (or looking at in a mirror)"

Of course we can put off creating my "Epcot" for after the Holidays. It's something I'd like to do, but there's no timeline necessary. We can wait until May for all I care, when we're both swollen and cranky and the only people who will be willing to spend time with us are those we're paying to be there!

We're so overscheduled and under-brained right now it would probably be best to wait. I cannot believe we missed your Grand Opening! I was so looking forward to it! I will have to make it up to you in some way. Some sexy way. Some way the Viper can't even wrap his mind around trying to do. It will be the sexiest thing that has ever happened in the existence of sexiness. It will transcend sexy, we will have to invent some new word for how amazing it is.

I can't believe we forgot to tell Pippa about it. Maybe we need a second Pippa to do nothing but follow us around and tell Pippa about the things we've scheduled and forgotten to tell her about. Although I think the second Pippa should probably not be named Pippa, that would probably get confusing.

I'm actually really excited about my books. Yeah, multiple books. I was thinking a series. Skeeter did them year by year, but honestly we could have had my first two or three years fill one book and my fifth and sixth years might as well have been two or three separate books each. I've separated them a bit more by content and who I was during each time. I don't really feel as though I changed much from my first year through at least the first half of my third, but I swear I went through at least three personalities during my fourth year. One for each Tournament Task at least! Maybe go a bit more into some of my summers and how being in the muggle world while actually knowing I was a wizard was a really weird experience.

In the wizarding world, I can use my real name and they can be semi-biographical. But I'm thinking about releasing them in the muggle world as fiction. Again with the counting all my chickens before they've hatched! Perhaps my books are utter rubbish and the only people who will want to publish them will just print anything to capitalize on my fame.

Ugh, now I've bummed myself out. I think I'm going to go check behind your baby booty and see what kind of Ben and Jerry's we have waiting in there!

Wait! I completely forgot until just now. Seriously, is there some potion we can take for pregnancy induced brain fog?

Oh! Speaking of pregnancy potions, I have decided that I definitely want to take the milk production potion. Before the babies are born. I think as soon as the morning sickness subsides, that way I can definitely eat enough to provide for me, the Bun, and whoever I'm feeding.

Ahh, see I distracted myself and almost forgot again! Anyway, when Blaise and Ron were still here sleeping off their drinking, and before I knew they had been disgusting better perverts trying to make me murder innocent Vipers, Hermione AND Kisa came by to check on them. And guess what? I saw them do that early stage relationship thing where they keep brushing hands "accidentally" and giving each other glances that linger. I bet they're gonna smoooooooooch soon!

Loving you,  
Harry

 

Monday November 30th  
The best part of my heart,

It was definitely worthwhile to invite Blaise and his lovers over for a 'quick chat' a couple hours after dinner last night. I think Blaise and Ron assumed that we were just going to have another meeting about our upcoming Drag Show, so you milked that a bit. There we were, sitting in the comfortable lounge area of our playroom because we claimed it was just easier all around to meet there - what with Jaz and Zaire asleep in our bed. Actually, they were probably playing with Bear, Venus, and Amala under Muffy's supervision until they were sleepy, but not the point.

The point is that it was us, the Quartet, Padfoot, and the Viper. You held up a protective clothing bag, telling Blaise that there was a costume in there (and there was, it just wasn't going to be used yet) and asked him to get undressed so that he could try the costume on. He had no reason to believe that getting naked was a bad idea, so he stripped off with a spell. Meanwhile, you reached into the bag and pulled out that cock cage I'd bought for Blaise before the two of us ever got together. Yes I still have that, why wouldn't I???

Quick as can be, you slipped the cage on him, locked it, and then cast the spell to key it to you. THEN you looked up at him with the sweetest and most innocent expression I've seen on your face in a long time.

"THERE! That'll teach you to make a bet with and help the OTHER me to try to seduce MY husband!"

Then you spun to face the Viper, snapping your fingers and pointing to the ground at his feet. "Off with your clothes too!"

"Wait what?!?!" He spluttered in incredulous disbelief.

Rather than answer, you simply cast an intangibility spell on his clothes and banished them to the floor. Then you dropped to your knees in front of him, already holding the cock cage I'd bought for you once upon a time ago.

"Not ONLY did you kiss my husband and try to convince him to shag you - which I overlooked because Draco clearly refused and you let the matter drop and haven't brought it up again - BUT you agreed to a bet/dare that had you glamour into ME and try to seduce MY husband while he was still just waking up and MIGHT NOT have noticed a difference," you reminded him with a light glare as you put the cage on him. I think he was too flustered and not quite sure what to do because he didn't even try to stop you. "You *definitely* need to be punished and taught the lesson that MY HUSBAND is not YOURS!"

As you were casting the spell to key it to you, he finally found his tongue and protested. "BUT! BUT! HE REFUSED! WHY AM I BEING PUNISHED FOR SOMETHING THAT *DIDN'T* HAPPEN?!?!"

"Because I want you to get the point that you shouldn't even TRY such things!" You explained.

At this point, Kisa had realized that SHE wasn't going to be able to take the cage off her soulmate when she felt he had enough punishment. She got in your face and glared at you. Emphatically, she pointed at Blaise.

"THAT ONE is MINE!!! How dare you punish him without my permission?! AND how DARE you do so in a way that I cannot stop when *I* feel he's had enough?!"

You pierced her eyes fiercely. "Take a good long look at Blaise, and then picture how you would feel if Ron dared/bet Hermione that she could/should Polyjuice into YOU and do whatever she wanted to with him WITHOUT your permission."

She shifted her glare to Blaise, clearly wondering what she would do and if Blaise was being punished fairly after all. She stroked her chin. "I think I would string them up and forcefeed them both a mild acid that would burn their stomachs and intestines without killing them. AND THEN carve bits of flesh from their bones until they passed out from the pain, only to heal them and do it all over again until I felt vindicated…"

You looked a bit green, but the Viper looked interested. "Which acid would you use? My Mas - erm - VOLDEMORT used to use a potion that would do exactly as you said, but simultaneously heal the damage it created AND keep them awake as long as he wanted so that they had no choice but to suffer in agony."

Kisa turned to grin at him. "That potion sounds useful. Do you know the recipe?"

The Viper shook his head. "Nope, I didn't do any of the brewing - I think Bellatrix did. *I* was simply expected to administer the torture and kill people when Voldemort grew bored with torturing them. And... OTHER things..."

Kisa shrugged. "It's not like I could use the potion often anyway. I'm sole heiress to the MUGGLE mob - in Russia. Thus, I have to use mostly muggle means when doling out punishment and 'incentives' for rivals to NOT fuck with us."

"OH?!" The Viper asked with definite interest. "Things like thumbscrews and a stretching rack?"

Kisa nodded. "Yes, when necessary. It honestly depends on the crime. Ever heard of the elephant ovens?"

"Ooooo….." Viper breathed out, at least a little excited and a lot horrified. "You mean those big clay 'pots' shaped and carved like elephants - rather decorative and pretty ones at that - that can be opened and people shoved in, and then a fire is started underneath it?"

Kisa nodded. "And the person is slowly cooked and roasted to tender perfection. I've only done that once, but the person had raped one of my father's nieces, and so, that was actually the least horrifying part of what happened to him.

The Viper looked morbidly curious. "Diiiiid you eat him when he was done?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea what happened to him after he stopped screaming. IF he was eaten, it wasn't by us. But I could see my father ordering his meat to be removed from his bones and packaged up and sold as beef or something at a street vendor." She tilted her head to the side in a half shrug. "Or fed to the poor..."

I'd grown up knowing that things like this were a possibility, so I was only mildly horrified. I bit my lip in thought. "I swear I saw a movie where something like that happened. Sort of. The bad man was killed, and then the owners of a restaurant ended up cooking him up and serving him to their customers in order to dispose of the body - and the police officer looking for him thought he was the best rack of ribs he'd ever eaten..."

"Fried Green Tomatoes," you muttered, looking very definitely queasy at the moment.

I shook my head. "No, barbequed human ribs."

You shook your head. "No, it's the name of the movie!"

"Oh..." I hummed, trying to remember. You're probably right.

"There's also a movie called Sweeney Todd with a similar principle," Hermione added, definitely not liking the subject matter, but feeling she had to add her knowledge to the conversation somehow.

Probably feeling at least a little better, Kisa returned her attention to you. "I don't care how long you punish your other self, but MY soulmate had better be released when I've had enough! Is that all you brought us here for?"

You sort of tilted your head side to side as you nodded.

She nodded in acceptance. "Fine. I'll bring my soulmate home and his lovers and I will proceed to tease the ever loving fuck out of him, so rest assured, his punishment WILL sting. But I warn you now, when I bring him back and demand you take the cage off him, you had better!"

You raised a brow in challenge. "Or what? I'm pregnant, and not even YOU are heartless enough to harm a pregnant person."

She growled but turned to glare at her man. "You buggering idiot! How many times have I warned you NOT to upset Harry?!"

Ron and Hermione got up to leave. "So... if we're torturing Blaise tonight, I wonder what we should start with?" Ron asked.

Hermione laughed. "Spanking, more than likely."

I summoned a long fat 'finger' of ginger and handed it to Ron. "Here, fig him."

Blaise paled a little. "Wait! Can't I just beg for forgiveness and suck Harry dry a couple of times?"

You shook your head. "Not tonight, because I'm in the mood to cast a denial spell on and then ride my husband until I pass out from sheer exhaustion."

I swept my arms out theatrically and gave you a little bow. "As my husband wishes."

Which was the start of a BRILLIANT couple of hours!

But now that I've gotten up and danced Jaz back to sleep, I remembered that I wanted to reassure you about something: I WILL abide by your rules. So, with that in mind, I called Hannah and asked her to look into the cold case files for something that she thinks we'll both 'enjoy' working on and come over any night this week - except for Friday. Friday December 4th is when we're scheduled to leave for California. Our Drag Show Fundraiser is scheduled for the following Friday, which will give us an entire week as a group with Miles to perfect our routines. Then Pippa has us booked to fly to Hawaii on Sunday night - since it's a really quick trip from California to Hawaii. We'll be in Hawaii until at least the following Monday - a week later. Which means that we'll come home *just* in time to finish up our Christmas shopping before the deluge of holiday events.

Such as the Yule ritual and our family's Christmas ball. And that super slaggy going away party for the Quartet - which I can't remember WHEN it's scheduled, and Pippa's already in California, so I can't just ask her.

Lastly, Pippa requested a final count for everyone coming with us to California so that she can ensure that there's plenty of accommodations for everyone, but all I can remember you saying on the subject is that our entire circle is coming with us - so you'd probably better answer her directly.

No wait, LASTLY, I have decided that I want to do two songs with Blaise and Ron. NAKED songs, haha. (In addition to the Drag songs each of us will be performing.) The first one is called Fight the Urge and is about teen boys in the school locker room, looking around and trying their hardest to - ahem - NOT get hard at all the eye candy. And the other is called Jack's Song. It's about masturbation glorious masturbation, hahahahaha! Both songs would benefit from some extra naked bodies prancing around, but I suppose that we could get by with just the three of us if we had to. And yes, Pippa has promoted this as a Drag Show with a little bit of glistening men singing and dancing all naked and nude. She says that presales for tickets have been so high that she's had to find a bigger venue and then expand it, hahaha!

……. You know, to be fair, not only should we include Drag Kings (I mean you already are) BUT we should see if any of our female friends would be willing to do just ONE nude number. Two if they're really into it. Actually, not only do I think Luna would be more than willing, but I bet it wouldn't take much to talk Parvati and her twin into doing a dance number in the nude. I know something perfect for them, to be honest.

Anyway, I'm going to sign off now and go to bed - oh fine! I KNOW that you are sound asleep, but I FEEL like you are staring me down and tapping your foot until I confess, so.....

Deep sigh...

Okay, so, well, what happened was, well, erm, River apparently invited Ananda over for a bit, and Tabitha had no problems with this since why would she? WE own Unity House and have had various kids here plenty of times in the past. The good news is that BOTH of them were fully clothed and respecting our rule that they can't do the whole half naked snogging thing until they are MUCH older.

Side note, River's having a bit of trouble understanding why he could invite her to join us - naked - in the Onsen, but being topless while snogging is so wrong, and I have to admit that I don't have an answer for this, sigh. I mean *I* understand that it's different when there's touching and things could get heated and inappropriate very easily, BUT he does have a point. We're nudists, we've bathed with strangers in Onsen-like places all over the world. We've taught him that there's nothing wrong or shameful about the human body. Us objecting to his topless snogging DOES sound a bit hypocritical. Bloody hell! This being a dad thing can suck at times!

But as I was saying. So, River invited Ananda over, and I suppose that neither of US really gave a second thought about it - or maybe we weren't paying full attention when he slipped the tidbit into the conversation we were having. In any case, by the time I did have a chance to think about it and go check on him, the two of them were in his bed - FULLY CLOTHED - snogging away, and...

I really didn't know what to do. I mean they were sort of following the rules in which snogging is okay, they're both clothed, nothing else was happening, but somehow, I had a feeling that you would have blown up if you'd been the one to catch them. So... I defaulted to a relatively safe:

"Alright kids, that's enough for now. Go on and do something else for a while. Watch TV or something WITH OTHERS! Play a board game. Go swimming or just bloody pet Amala. I don't care what, just..."

I trailed off and walked away, practically tearing my hair out as I did so. Why oh why do sweet little kids have to grow up into hormonal teenagers??? Why can't they be like five or so until they're 18? Or 10 actually. Old enough to surf and maybe play quidditch, but NOT old enough to be interested in snogging. And then BAM! On their 18th birthday, they transform into adults and we don't have to freak out as much if they want to... do things....

Ugh...

How can you see, into my eyes like open doors, leading you down, into my core, where I've become so numb, without a soul, my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold, until you find it there, and lead, it, back, home, wake me up inside, call my name and save me from the dark,  
Draco


	108. Chapter 108

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has no idea what the final count is and Hannah comes for a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everyone! ^_^

Thursday December 3, 2009

The Best Part of my Circle,

I'm not sure if I have enough memory space on my computer to hold the entire list I have to get to Pippa so she knows who's coming! There are so many of us! Ha, Harry in the closet wouldn't believe that he has so many wonderful people in his life that he can barely keep track of them. I just can't get over how different my life is from what I was expecting when I was younger. I thought I deserved nothing when I was Harry in the closet, once I got to the Wizarding world I assumed I wouldn't live to adulthood, and now I am part of an immense beautiful circle of loved ones.

The people from our circle not coming is the shortest list: Bill, Fleur, and their kids are going to be celebrating the Holidays early with her family in France, Percy and his family are staying in the UK due to some big project he's working on that he can't get out of, and Dudley and Donna's family is staying home as well. Dudley assured me it had nothing to do with the big fight with the Viper and insisted it was about not pulling Daisy out of school right before Hols.

So far, I think the Queens performing will be you and I, Miles, Blaise, Ron, the Viper, Sirius, Lucius, Charlie, and Theo. The Kings will be Luna, Pansy, and Kisa! I had no idea Kisa was going to perform, but it does make sense, she just screams confidence!

The attendees will be Narcissa, Andi, Molly & Arthur, Hermione, Neville, George & Angelina, Ginny & Viktor, Greg & Millie, Yesenia, Ivan, Rolf, and Colm. Ugh … and Lainie and Phillip.

The kids that are coming along for the trip but not actually attending the Drag Show will be our (other) 9, George & Angelina's (other) 3, your 4 siblings, the Viper's 4, the quartet's 4, Teddy, Sammy, Frank, Keisha, Greta, Mason, Pearl, Paige, and not sure which of Yesenia's kids will be coming.

As far as seats at the event, Pippa needs to rope us off eighteen seats. For the entire trip? Sixty-three plus however many kids Yesenia is bringing.

Holy Shite, that's a lot of people! I know our place in Cali is big, but I think we're going need to rent a few additional places for everyone else to stay. As far as who's staying at our house I would just say us, our ten that live with us (Miles, Colm, and Sammy will stay at Miles' place he hasn't let go of yet) Sirius, and I assume the Viper and his four. Everyone else should hotel it up or rent some houses in groups.

I feel like I'm taking over and bossing everyone about this show but I am so so so excited! I can't wait. I actually worry that it's going to be too long with all of the ideas of different songs I want to do. You have your two naked songs (which I am pretending are not happening and I will hide in a cupboard and eat Ben & Jerry's during them), you'll have a solo song, I'll have a solo song, and I want to do one you and I. Everyone else is setting up their own solos. I want to do a big group number, I am thinking the entire group of performers doing Lady Marmalade!

But, I have an idea for an amazing song for Blaise and/or Ron to do. I'm not sure how Kisa will feel about Blaise doing it, so I suppose Ron COULD do it as a solo, but I think Kisa has finally gotten to the point where she's feeling secure about her place in Blaise's life and Hermione's place in his life. So, as long as Kisa doesn't think about murdering me for suggesting it, I think Ron and Blaise should do a duet of "Stacy's Mom!"

Ok, if I keep thinking about ideas for songs we might be here forever. Maybe I should go into the Drag Show business and just get all of my ideas out week by week! Ha.

I should really get back to prepping for the trip, we leave in just a few days and since Pippa is already in California getting everything ready, we're a bit on our own in making sure everything we need makes it there.

Oh, the whole thing with River and nudity and shame and etcetera. Here are my feelings on the whole situation. We have taught them that there is no shame in the human body. We have taught them that bodies are not inherently sexual. That being naked either alone, or with someone else, does not have to be sexual in nature. And if we had all been sitting around nude and they had found some place to snog, I probably wouldn't have made a big deal about their nudity. But just because nudity isn't automatically sexual doesn't mean it can't be used sexually. When they made the choice to shed the clothing they were already wearing, for no other purpose than to touch each others bodies in an intimate way, they made it sexual … which is inappropriate due to their ages. I don't know if he will understand why it's not hypocrisy or a double standard, but the reality is they are children who chose to drop their clothing to do sexual acts.

It's funny that you say I would have freaked out, because I honestly wouldn't have done anything different than you did, "Hey, you young people, you're caught, go play board games with witnesses!" and that would have been the end of it for me.

You're my soul and my inspiration, without you baby, what good am I,  
Harry

P.S. I got a message from Teagan, it seems that couple we met on the African cruise have met with her to start the process to adopt!

P.P.S. Do you think Blaise and the Viper have been tortured enough or should I leave the cage on for a few more days?

 

Thursday December 3rd  
OOO OOO!

I just got confirmation from Parvati and Padma! They're coming! They'll do it!

I'm so looking forward to seeing their act - both on stage and during practice. It's probably a good thing that they'll be practicing in the SUPER EXPANDED exercise room of our California house, because I have a thing for twins, and watching the both of them dance naked on stage (if I didn't have some exposure to get used to it first) is going to bring a little realism to my song Fight the Urge, hahahahahahahaha!

Yesenia said that she got her parents to watch her kids, so the only one she's bringing with her is the bun in her oven. And you know what? We were right about her and Derek. With her *subtly* Mind Healing him like she is, he's been getting on with her rather well and might actually stick around to be part of her life as a good friend who helps out with the new baby once it's born.

So it's after you've fallen asleep and we're leaving for California tomorrow, so I naturally have to recap my day. As you know, Hannah came over today. You opted to watch TV in the entertainment room with River, Ananda, and various other kids. And so, you weren't on hand to hear what she had to say about the last case.

So, she went digging like she said she was going to. Here's the good news, simply telling Sharon what happened to her son did put her at peace enough that she's ready to go when her time comes. She never got married again nor had any other children, so it'll be nice for her to get to the other side and be with her son once again.

Even better, she's still alive and may even remain so a bit longer now that she's at peace. Hannah thinks maybe she's holding out to hear the whole story, but who knows?

Anyway, after telling Sharon what I saw in my vision, Hannah used some free time to visit the house that Liam's dad and step mom lived in with him. Side note, Hannah could really benefit from that public floo system I want to build, and yes, I adore that you associate it with the Tardis ^_^

Once at the house, she introduced herself to the newest owners. They're a young couple not yet 25 expecting their first child any day now. When she explained that she was there to investigate a vision that may or may not have happened, but that if it did, there was probably a little boy buried in their backyard, they surprisingly agreed to let her have a crew come in to dig for him.

Here's where I'd actually helped her out just a bit more. There's a spell to search for dead *human* bodies that some pureblood families use when building or adding onto their homes so that they don't disturb an ancestor's rest - or anger the spirit of someone who used to live on the land that been newly bought.

However, since I wasn't going to be there to cast the spell for her, I took a tiny stuffed toy dog and cast the spell on it, charming it to remain dormant until Hannah puts it on the ground and tells it to find the body. The dog - which looked like a real but tiny purse dog - a chihuahua? - while it was doing it's job - sniffed all around the yard until it started trying to dig up the ground under a tree.

Well, this tree looked like it had been there about 50 or 60 years, and Hannah felt that it made sense that the step mother - or perhaps Mr. Parker - would have planted it to either cover up the body, or to commemorate it. Or both, I suppose. So, she was already on her mobile calling in a crew.

THEN the toy dog found six OTHER spots in which bodies were apparently buried. So now Hannah wasn't sure what to do. The boy could be in any one of them, and honestly, she wasn't quite sure that the dog was still doing its job rather than just playing around because the job was done. That said, the owners of the house thought it would be an interesting story to tell their neighbors and friends - even if all the holes turned out to be empty - so they gave permission for all seven spots to be dug up.

The professional crew that contracts with the police came in and dug them all up and found... seven bodies. Only the one under the tree was a child, and so they prioritized him. A quick DNA test against Sharon proved that it was indeed Liam.

As for the other six bodies, no one yet knows who they are or why they were there. They're all from roughly the same time as Liam. They're mostly women, but one was a young man. So... Hannah has to do a lot more 'digging' to figure out what happened to them. That said, the police local to the area have taken over the case. The best part was that it didn't take them long at all to track down the ex Mrs. Parker. She's living in an assisted living home, but still seems rather spry and active for her age.

Here's where it gets tricky: When Hannah went to question her - to tell her that they'd found Liam's body - calm as day, she said that she knew it would happen eventually, and that it was her husband (his father) who had murdered and buried him in their backyard. When asked why, she had a fairly believable tale about finding a new woman he wanted to marry and SHE didn't like the idea of him having kids from a previous relationship. So he arranged for Liam to die mysteriously, but don't ask her how because all she knows it that she put him to bed one night, and he was fine, but when she went to wake Liam the next morning, he was long dead.

The other details matched my vision though. The fact that Mr. Parker had left to go to work on Christmas. The fact that Liam had gotten a new sled - which was able to be returned to the store. So Hannah is convinced that my vision is true and Mrs. Parker's just trying to keep her arse out of jail.

With that out of the way, Hannah pulled out a thin file and tossed it on the table. "There's nothing to focus on, so I have no idea if you can get a vision, but I was hoping that this case will be quick and easy to solve - if you CAN get a vision. See, six years ago, a then 14 year old girl ran away from home. At the time, her mother had an abusive husband and couldn't do anything to stop her daughter from leaving - and actually suspected that there was a reason the girl wanted to leave.

"The girl - Byrony - was actually picked up by police for possible shoplifting, but then was let go because she didn't have anything on her. Therefore, the police have a mugshot and her fingerprints. Byrony's mother was forced to throw all her things out, so when her husband had a heart attack and died about a year ago, she didn't have any photos or the like to give to police, just a physical description of what she looked like when last seen."

Hannah sighed. "Byrony was never picked up by police again, so I think she probably froze to death on the streets one cold winter night. BUT I checked all the unknown young women who have come into the morgue over the years, and none of them were her. So..."

She gestured to the file, which I picked up and riffled through. There was pretty much only what she described, the photo and fingerprints. I focused on them.

To my surprise, a vision did come. "She's... shopping. She looks about... 20. Let me see..." I described all the scenery I could, specifically streets and the like as I followed Byrony around. After a while of this, Hannah was able to figure out which part of London Byrony was in. Best of all, Byrony eventually brought all her shopping bags home to a flat. At this point, I felt like I had all the information needed and let the vision go.

Hannah was extremely happy, giving me a quick kiss before rushing off - also remembering to thank me for getting the floo connected to her house. I must admit that it was nice to have a vision that didn't concern death, but even if it had, I would rather know than not know. But now I'm going to sign off and go to sleep. And probably molest you a bit first, haha.

Cherish the thought of always having you here by my side, Cherish the joy, you keep bringing it into my life, Cherish your strength, you got the power to make me feel good,  
Draco

P.S. Pippa reports that she's made arrangements for everyone, so there's nothing to worry about as for accommodations. Sheer space to have that many people roaming our house while we practice the show until we drop is going to be a different matter altogether, hahaha!


	109. Chapter 109

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The entire circle is in California!

Saturday December 5th  
Good morning from Sunny Beautiful California!

I'm really glad it is actually a sunny and beautiful day here otherwise I wouldn't be able to use my favorite travel greeting! What am I going to do when it's time for us to go to Canada? "Good morning from the beautiful tundra where it's so cold my bollocks have crawled inside to hibernate for the winter."

It seems my miscounting the amount of people coming with didn't seem to cause much of an issue. I had said sixty-three, but then Padma and Parvati confirmed they were coming. Well that was great! So I told Pippa to count on sixty-five. But for some reason I didn't count Derek. Did I count Yesenia? Of course I did. Did I count two Dels and two Haz's? Sure did. But because I wasn't sure if Derek was planning on dancing or just attending I decided to put him on neither list. So we ended up bringing sixty-six, plus Mr. Lott, plus our Saoirse Rhys and Leah. Yeah, didn't count them either. Why do we put Harry on any sort of job that requires brain function?

Our little Bun is going to be the most brilliant mind that has ever gone through the Wizarding world. Step back Hermione Granger, there's a new brilliant magical person in town. How do I know that? Because this baby has sucked all of the brains right out of my head. I have to hope that they're at least planning on using the intelligence they've drained from me.

So, I told Pippa 63, updated it to 65 at the last minute, and it ended up being 70. Oh well, we're all here and accounted for so it couldn't have been too much of a problem. I hope Pippa isn't reading this, I can see her frantically trying to make up for my ineptitude and hearing me say "it couldn't have been too much of a problem" and wanting to superglue my mouth shut. Good thing she adores me huh?

The flight yesterday wasn't too bad. I know we're accomplished travelers, but I always get a bit worried that things are going to go poorly for some reason. But as with any time we fly west I always laugh when we've gone back in time a bit. Twelve hour flight and it's only four hours later? That's some real magical stuff!

I think it was funny watching the Viper become so flustered over the article about him in the Prophet. He and I are not the same person, but up until our final battle it seems like our pasts were pretty spot on. You'd think he'd be used to the press by now! For crying out loud we had our teen years full of all sorts of nonsense printed about us and got through it without hysteria. It's not like he had some bully talk to the Prophet and make up nonsense about him in an effort to slowly torture him.

Hypothetically.

Although from what I've heard, it seems like people are just overjoyed to have another "savior" to fawn over. More power to them, if the interest in my life from the public can get split in half, having a clone will be totally worth it! Also, there's all the extra organs in case I ever need a transplant.

Kidding!

Have you managed to talk with him about his appointment with Genevieve? I don't want to pressure him, I know how personal mind healing is, I'm just curious if he's feeling optimistic or if he hated it and refused to ever go again. I just want him healthy. He's alright I suppose. Fine! I admit it, he's grown on me. When he's not assaulting my husband I think he's a good guy. Damnit, why do I have to like him? It was much easier when I couldn't stand the bloke.

I'm sure you'll be shocked by this, but I was up bright and early this morning. I am so excited to be here, this is probably my favorite of all the places we've created Unity Houses. It's beautiful, the beach is a quick run away, the mountains on the other side, it's warm. I really missed it. But, I have a feeling the super fit, blonde slave driver that's running the Drag Show is going to demand constant practice from the time he gets his sweet arse out of bed until it's time to put the make-up on Friday night. So, while that gorgeous Dictator is sleeping in, I am going to head off to Dana Point with any of our crew that's up already. I can't wait to hit the water. I need to breathe in the ocean air, it missed me.

But before I go, I have to tell you the best news. Zaire was naughty this morning! I know to most people that would sound crazy, to be excited about some toddler naughtiness? But he's been so careful to be a "good boy" for us. Which I'm not exactly complaining that he's been well behaved, but trying to be good constantly means he's not secure in knowing we won't hurt him or get rid of him for naughty behavior.

I was trying to get us all ready to head out to the beach, and I had packed a small bag of beach toys. Pails and shovels, that sort of thing. And there was also a really cool sand-dune-buggy thing. Well, Z wanted to play with it, and I told him it was already packed and was staying that way until we got to the beach. I turned to get Jaz into her little suit and I heard a scraping sound. I turned around and saw him pulling the beach tote off the table and trying to get the dune buggy out.

"Zaire Langa Malfoy! Daddy told you that was for later, we're not playing with it right now." I was so proud of myself for staying stern when I really wanted to just hand it to him.

"No Daddy, I play now." and then his sassy little self kept trying to get to the toy.

"No. Daddy said it is for later and you will not be playing with it now." and then I moved it completely out of his reach.

Since then he has been sitting on the floor pouting that I won't give him the toy. Cute little arms crossed, sour little face, Merlin Draco it's taking everything in my power to not give in! But it's so good! He isn't screaming and making a fuss, but he's not flinching away from my stern voice and even better, he's not just assuming he doesn't deserve the toy. He's acting like a three year old boy who was told he couldn't play with a toy should react.

I could not be happier. But, I'll be even happier when Viona gets her kiester out of the loo so we can get to the beach before my handsome taskmaster wakes up and makes me practice! I can't wait to get to the beach and give Zaire the toy. It's a good day!

Gleefully yours,  
Harry

 

Saturday December 12 - around 2 AM  
The life in my bones,

Well that was certainly a week. As I understand it, those of us who came here but AREN'T performing had a rather lovely vacation. Went sightseeing. Went swimming. Went shopping. Like a LOT. Had fancy lunes as a group and separately.

As for you, Blaise, Ron, the Viper, Sirius, Charlie, Theo, Luna, Pansy, Kisa, Padma, Parvati, and my father, you all were trapped in a large room with me and Miles being utter bitches for an entire week before FINALLY, we let y'all go get ready to actually perform. I am so grateful that Miles, Pansy, and Parvati took care of all costumes and makeup because I would have murdered someone as violently as possible with my bare hands if I'd had to do that too.

But actually, with Miles handling all of the choreography with help from Parvati as necessary, and me in the role of the task master that rode all your arses (except my father's blech!) until you got it right, I am confident that there will be almost no mistakes. This will be a show worth the exorbitant fee that some people have paid to see.

And that was a bit of sheer brilliance on Pippa's part! She promoted it to BOTH the muggle and wizarding populations, and so, there were prime seats available to both populations if they wanted to spend the extra money for them. The muggle prime seats are the first five rows of the audience, whereas the wizarding prime seats are in a bit of wizarding space right above them, which arguable will give the witches and wizards sitting there a slightly better view, haha.

So anyway, with the seats having different prices according the how close to the stage they are, she was able to 'really' pack a bunch of lesser cost seats in the back and sides of the theater. Basically, there is room for every single person who bought a ticket to attend, and then she spent the hours up until the show starting adding more seats so those who decided to show up at the last minute could still attend. She only promoted it around California, assuming that no one would really want to come from farther away that perhaps right over the border of the state, but as usual when you are involved, word spread like wildfire and people from all over the country dropped everything to come see the show. Witches and Wizards brought their squib relatives and even muggle friends to come see the show. Of course the muggles didn't necessarily know who *you* were, but they could appreciate needing to raise money for an orphanage for 'special kids.'

Also, perhaps not surprisingly, right after the Daily Prophet ran the article on the Viper on the Wednesday before we left for California, they got wind of our plans for this show and ran a 'tell all' about it, so anyone who could make the trip to the states has come. It's probably a good thing that we started the show at 7PM, because that gave travelers from abroad plenty of time to check into hotel accommodations and get something to eat for dinner before arriving at the theater.

Pippa really went above and beyond, conscripting our non performing extras into helping her make sure that everyone who called a special hotline asking for directions or some form of transportation got what they needed. I'm still impressed with her after all these years of having her as my assistant.

But then it was time for the show to begin. We pulled a clever trick to give the audience some time to settle down by having some upbeat music play, which when the curtains opened, flowed into the ensemble piece that kicked off the show. It had all of us on stage singing and dancing in full drag. I was actually going to have 2 costume changes, so I began the night in a stunning blue gown. You looked fabulous in shimmering green.

Slytherin green... >:D

After the ensemble piece, Miles volunteered to go first so that the rest of us had time to get over any lingering nerves. Plus he's been doing this for years and knew exactly how to get the audience in the right mood. The interesting thing about Drag Queens - professional ones - is that they have different styles and flavors. Miles likes to specialize in looking as much like a woman as possible, and has trained his voice to sound smoky and jazzy. So, his performances are usually a sort of blues song or ballad.

For this, he picked Madonna's Material Girl and was even wearing something very close to her iconic pink dress. ([Material Girl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCKjMjZWv8s))

Well, my love, I could spend all night recapping what happened and STILL not cover everything! So I think I will overview most of it and I apologize if I skip anything that you feel I should be gushing about.

After Miles, Charlie and Luna did a duet, which was not only surprisingly good, but also funny because she was the King and he was the Queen, but aside from the size difference and her natural fluffiness, they did a good job characterizing the opposite gender.

Blaise and Theo did a duet. Miles did another ballad, and then Blaise, Ron, and Charlie teamed up to sing a song with YOU as a prop, hahaha. Yes, for this particular performance, Pansy used a few spells to quickly change your costume from the gorgeous green dress to a tiny pair of gym bottoms. A TIGHT pair that left little to the imagination, heh heh…

Then they took turns spanking you and more or less groping and drooling over you as they sang about how you are such a good bottom, mmm.... ([Boy is a Bottom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0kqobQRcUo))

Then it was my turn to do my 'set' which started with me in my blue gown singing a song by Lily Allen:

"Look inside, look inside your tiny mind, now look a bit harder, 'cuz we're so uninspired, so sick and tired, of all the hatred you harbor... So you say, it's not okay to be gay, well I think you're just evil, you're just some racist who can't tie my laces, your point of view is medieval..... Fuck you, fuck you very very mu~~~~ch, 'Cuz we hate what you do, and we hate your whole crew, so please don't stay in tou~~ch!"  
([Fuck You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxGYSyZ8VkM))

As the song picked up, I did a very light dance that was basically just strutting and shaking my stuff. After I was done, I got off stage for my first costume change. Luna took my place to do her first nude song and dance. It was a slow and sensual song called Girl Crush, and I have to admit that she KILLED it (in a good way). I could listen to that all night...  
([Girl Crush](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZMT8otKdI))

When she was done, I came back on stage, only this time I was naked - and so were Blaise and Ron, who were more than willing to sing with me and use you as a prop/eye candy again, buwahahahaha. We sang about being horny gay teens in the special hell that is the locker room. Only where they were drooling over Bobby Baker, we changed that to Harry Potter (sorry, I know better than anyone that you're a Malfoy now, haha). By the way, you are FUCKING HOT when wearing very little and strutting back and forth for us to tease the bloody hell out of us, mmmmm….  
([Fight the Urge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnrRRCrzvmo))

Then since all three of us were going to do a second naked song called Jack's Song, we basically stayed there and rolled right into it. This time, you needed to run off to get ready for YOUR number, so you couldn't be eye candy for us, sigh. The song itself is rather crude but funny, but the best part - in my opinion - is actually the 'dance' that goes along with it where we slapped ourselves rhythmically. It was rather catchy.  
([Jack's Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RINolhzD5sM))

There was just the one last naked song, and so it made sense for it to go next so that the entire rest of the show could be drag. Thus, Parvati and Padma strutted onto stage as we were swaggering off it. And as far as I could see, the collection plates had practically been flying around during the part where YOU were the eye candy we were drooling over. Elena even catcalled us, hahaha.

Actually, that nearly threw me off my groove. Good thing I had Ron and Blaise to help keep me in the moment. That girl, sigh...

Anyway, the twins were not wearing any sort of fake wigs for their number as their hair is naturally long and gorgeous. BUT they did have their hair in un elegant updo with some long tendrils hanging down as they sang and performed this super cute little dance. After working with Parvati for so many year, I KNOW they could have gone all out if they wanted, but it was actually in keeping with the theme of the night for them to remain simple and flirty. The audience definitely loved it. They were naked to begin with and so, didn't have to take anything off, but the added to the flirtiness by sticking sparklies to their smooth and creamy brown skin. It almost looked like they were dipped in sugar and I had an urge to lick it off them.  
([Twin Duet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC4nMAHQwCQ))

As I mentioned (and you know because you were there), your song was next. You had chosen a song called Crazy and kept the dancing to a sexy sway. Although you turned all the lyrics containing man or male terms to girl and female terms. And DAMN! Even with you going all soft and feminine with your voice, you sounded so good I nearly had to be restrained from going over and kissing you, and then dragging you off for a few minutes. Not that YOU would have minded...  
([Crazy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMNgbISmF4I))

You did a duet with Luna, which was mind blowing in how you (now wearing a clingy blue velveteen dress) and her in a sharp suit managed to sing this song almost perfectly in character. Once again, I was so overcome with lust that I had to be dragged off to get into my next costume so that I wouldn't go molest you in front of our audience who hadn't quite paid for THAT, heh heh..  
([The Prayer - PMJ Version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW0o_BuCqfM))

I was actually so fussy with my dress and make up that I completely missed everything up until my father's performance - who was scheduled to go right before Miles sang his last song. I was supposed to close out the show and had something special in mind. So special that I'd actually refused to practice it when you were in the room or even in earshot.

My father sang an absurd song that worked because his long flowing platinum blond hair as actually rather perfect for it, haha. Pansy sang the part of 'Ken' - which is now one of my top ten best life moments! Too bad, hahaha, it such a shame that my siblings had to miss this, ahahahahahahaha!  
([Barbie Girl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyhrYis509A))

Side note, my father WAS NOT happy to be given such a silly song, but ended up getting an unnamed reward from my mother, and so, he did an excellent job. I'm rather proud of him XD And the picture of him in that Pink Pencil Dress with his legs looking disturbingly fit is DEFINITELY going on our wall!!!

Miles wowed us all with Bring Me to Life. It honestly would not have mattered what wore. He could have been in a suit, or even completely naked, and that ballad would have still have brought us all nearly to tears. I was so focused on him that I can't even remember who did his back up vocals. I think it was Pansy again. But in addition to one of the Kings doing the male part, I'm pretty sure the twins were simply harmonizing and the like for some of the background parts.  
([Bring Me to Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YxaaGgTQYM))

But then it was time for me to close the show (aside from the ensemble piece that we were all doing as an 'encore' haha). I calmly glided onto stage, now wearing a long and shimmering white/diamond/silver gown. My hair had been ne up in a twist in the bac, but the sides had a nice pretty/wavy curl to them. Plus I'd thought: what the hell? - and put a tiny little barely there tiara on to give it just a hint of sparkle. My makeup was flawless, making me look like a woman blessed with excellent complexion who only needed a touch of makeup. The most dramatic part was the blue of my eyeshadow to bring out my eyes.

Pansy did as I'd asked and pushed you out onto stage as the music began so that I could take your hand and gaze into your eyes as I sang this song specifically to you. I knew that you were probably going to start sobbing, but I planned to bend you backwards and kiss you in front of everyone the moment the song was over. So when both happened, I was thinking: Check and check!  
([I Have Nothing - Von Smith Cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tprURvLFSjE))

The Audience was stunned into silence for a long moment, and then clapped and cheered so loudly that an encore was naturally demanded. Good thing we had one ready, huh? It worked out fairly well with all of us in our gowns and the Kings in their suits. It was meant for girls I suppose, but we rocked it! The Audience was left happy and in high spirits.  
([Lady Marmalade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQa7SvVCdZk))

And so were we. There was NO WAY we were just going to be able to go home and go to bed after that, so we had a bit (or a lot) of an after party. Which was good because it gave the audience an opportunity to meet with all of us and give us even more money. I really think that Unity California will be set for at least two years after this! And so, once again, my wonderfully caring husband, my dearest love, you are a big success.

I love you,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you are wondering, the reason I chose Von Smith's cover of I have nothing rather than the original By Whitney is because A: I figured you've all heard the original, and B: I wanted to show what Draco *could* have sounded like while singing it - as a man trying to sound slightly feminine. ^_^


	110. Chapter 110

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry talks about the results of the Drag Show, and Draco has a chat on the plane with the Viper.

Saturday December 12th  
My Everything,

I can't even begin to tell you how much your song meant to me last night. But you will never have to worry about having nothing, because you will always have me. Haven't you figured it out by now? You are stuck with me for life. You are everything I didn't dare wish for myself. I love you more than anything.

I'm not crying, You're crying! Fine! I'm sobbing, just like I did last night.

Now I am really glad that I didn't murder anyone who saw you dancing nude. And it's probably just as well that you didn't lick the Patils. Seriously? Should we have posted a sign somewhere saying "Do Not Lick the Talent"? I somehow doubt we would have gotten to that portion of the evening if the police or the aurors had had to show up to arrest me for murder or assault. And we wouldn't have been able to make so much money for Unity California. I contacted Tre at Unity this morning and apparently the donations are still trickling in today. It's looking like the House is funded for at least two more years, four if the money is explicitly managed, and possibly more if they invest portions of it in a low risk security of some sort.

All of the slave driving this past week was well worth it. Every single stressful moment meant the show was entertaining to watch, fun to perform in, and profitable for the whole reason we held the show. And it really wasn't all that bad, I think you're exaggerating a bit, Miles certainly wasn't a bitch!

The children from Unity were not at the show last night, while everyone has a different comfort level with nudity and different standards for what kind of music would be appropriate at different ages, everyone putting the show together agreed that the guests would be more likely to let loose, and subsequently loosen their wallets, if they were assured the show was adults only. I know our older children, and your siblings in particular, were not pleased by that choice. But it seems it was a good decision as we made so much money. This morning though, they played a few of the less risqué performances on the telly for the Kids. I guess they really enjoyed it and there was much clamoring to the music room to put together their own numbers.

Speaking of children that weren't in attendance last night … they were. While I was eating breakfast this morning, we were talking all about the show, and I even mentioned that it had been recorded so while the older kids weren't invited they would still be able to see most of it. And while I was talking about Grampy Lulu's dance, Sebastian said something along the lines of "I can't believe you had Pansy do Ken, she's not even a blonde!" and a number of judgmental Malfoy eyes started glowering at him.

I was actually anticipating this situation, but you know I had to mess with my little brother! "Sebastian, no one said anything about Pansy playing Ken, I don't think I even mentioned that he danced to Barbie Girl, how on Earth did you know that, hmm?"

If any of these kids had the power to kill him with only a look it would have happened at, "We just wanted to see a little bit of the show! I can't see why we shouldn't have been invited, we've seen almost all of the performers in less than they were wearing last night!"

I attempted to pull out your slow, sly, grin. I know I didn't manage it, but I tried! "We, Sebastian?"

I was then inundated with six or seven children shouting angrily at their brother/uncle/friend. I could not stop laughing. Not only did Sebastian out that there was more than just himself that snuck into the show, but their own shouting slapped a guilty label on themselves. "Hey guys? I knew you were there. We had wards up that told us if anyone without a ticket got into the seating area."

And silence fell.

I just can't believe that Lainie was the only one you could hear catcalling! In case you were unaware, our sneaky little thieves included all four of your siblings, River AND Viona, Delphini and Tommy, and Mac. I'm sure you're absolutely shocked that our Divas Eri and Haz didn't sneak in as well. Yeah, they didn't sneak into the seating, but I did actually physically catch them backstage. They were playing in the costume area. I know, "shocking"

I wouldn't be surprised to find out either Eri or Haz tried to steal your gorgeous white and sparkly ball gown. All they'd need to do is cast a few simple tailoring charms on it. That color on you was devastating. All of your gorgeous creamy skin, your platinum hair, you were an angelic vision with a voice to match. But I have the feeling on our dark little pixies the color would be just as striking but with the opposite effect, that pale dress highlighting their olive skin and raven hair. We have some beautiful daughters don't we?

Have I mentioned yet how much your song meant to me? I will never forget that moment as long as I live. It ranks pretty darn close to the moment you first sang "At Last" to me. What did I ever do to deserve someone as wonderful as you? And don't try and act like it was just me that was moved by your performance, like it's just the fact that I'm in love with you that made it so amazing. I'd bet there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Did you like my performances that much when I was just a prop? I have to admit, the one about locker rooms made me think of you after a quidditch match. How did it take me so long to realize I was gay? I wasn't shy about being naked in general, but once I hit a certain age it was really hard to be around all that male flesh and not … firm up. I thought that's just what teen bodies did when presented with nudity. Yeah, when they're gay!

I know both you and I were a bit disappointed to have me lose my beard. I'm fully aware that I could have just kept it, some Queens do, but the benefit to my lack of height, slight build, and mildly androgynous features is that I COULD pass for female so why not milk it? It won't take me long to grow it back. I think when I decided to grow it out at first it took me under a week to go from a fresh morning shave to a nicely filled out (short) beard. So it will be back before we get home from Hawaii!

Eek Hawaii! I'm excited to spend the day here in Cali now that we have some time to play and not just rehearse. However I will not be as sad to leave as I usually am since we will be headed to our next destination. I want to see the volcanoes and go to the beach and do whale watching and surf at the beach and go to the local history museums then probably stop off at the beach. Seriously Draco, beach. When it comes time for Orion to make the Manor his home I think you and I should retire and spend the rest of our days in some oceanside cabana paradise.

Think about it! We could spend all day in the water, shagging. Then move to the warm sand, I can spread you out and get the ocean water off of you with my tongue. And after that we can go cool off in the house, lie on our bed and shag. Fuck me, I've hit the horny portion of my day again. Damnit, you were up so late last night there's no way I'll survive a wake-up attempt. I think I'll just go take a shower and relieve the tension thinking of all of your performances last night.

I won't sleep, reality with you is better than any dream,  
Harry

 

Monday December 14th  
My Harry,

Some of the kids were there??? Oh Merlin! I'm SO glad I didn't know that at the time because it was hard enough singing the nude songs (the songs themselves, not the being nude part) knowing that Elena AND MY MOTHER were in the audience! I'm really not sure I would have been able to sing about masturbating if I'd known the other kids were there too. For my own sanity, I'm going to pretend they firmly covered their ears during those songs and DID NOT hear a word I said.

I'm going to catch River humming: "I beat my meat," aren't I?

Sigh...

So, we're currently on the plane to Hawaii and I'm reading the Daily Prophet. Looks like they decided to report on the show, and once again, they leave me feeling mixed. There was definitely some good points to the article. They have a picture of me all dolled up and singing to you looking gorgeous in your blue velveteen dress. You're already teary eyed and I look far more emotional than I remember being. It's lovely and our copy of the paper naturally came with our copies of the photos.

They had nice things to say about your solo and duet. They think you can sing well, which I've been saying for years. They also loved the Viper's performance of Live to Tell - not to mention the gorgeous red dress he wore. The funny thing is that they weren't quite sure which of you was which until they asked someone at the after party.

The thing that angers me a bit and I'm going to send an official response to is the bit where they talk about how you were turned into nothing but eye candy/a prop for several of the songs. They took the tone of being offended on your behalf, but considering how THEY tend to treat you, I find the comment to be in poor taste. I'm going to "Quote" you as saying: For most of my life, I have been treated like an object. Sometimes a good object intended to bring hope to others, and sometimes a bad object intended to be a bit of a cautionary tale. I decided all on my own that if I was going to be an object anyway AND it could bring some desperately needed money to one of the Unity Houses I built from the ground up, then I would do that and so much more if necessary. I thank you for your concern, but it's not necessary.

And I'M going to add something along the lines of: Ta ever so, but please fuck right the fuck off!

I *might* be a tiny bit more diplomatic than that.

But speaking of the Prophet and the rest of the media, we've actually been INNUNDATED by requests to broadcast the show. The WWN wants to play all the songs as one solid radio show a couple of times, and then play the songs individually as they like - paying us Royalties, of course. I'm going to go ahead and approve that as I assume anything that brings in added revenue for Unity House is okay in your book.

Witch Weekly has promised to pay an enormous amount for the rights to broadcast the entire show on their members only website. But rather than approve that one outright, I'm going to compare it to a few of the other offers for the rights to broadcast it. If I can find one that will bring in significantly more residual income than all the others, I'm going to go with that, otherwise, it might not be a bad idea to give Witch Weekly what they want for a few months, and then accept the offer to make it into DVDs to be sold worldwide.

But I must say that I'm surprised by how the prophet responded to my singing. Specifically, Fight the Urge. They write, and I quote: "Our second favorite performance of the entire night was a hot and steamy number by Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, and Blaise Zabini. That seemingly unlikely trio dared to bare all and 'titillate' us while still managing to make us laugh in the best possible way. Not only did they sound good and bring us back to the days of awkward shared showers in our dorms at Hogwarts, BUT they all three positively drooled over our beloved Harry Potter (who has been Harry Malfoy for over ten years now). We roared in delight when they literally chanted his name whilst looking like they sincerely wanted to pounce on him and shag him right there on the stage.

"We would not have objected!"

BUWAHAHAHAHAHA! If we ever do something like this again, perhaps we SHOULD take it all the way ^‿^ 

-

Oh... So the Viper came and sat down next to me when you'd gone to 'nurse' Zaire (I use quote marks to differentiate between the harness and the future nursing after you've taken the potion and can do it directly) in the bedroom of the jet simply to give Zaire some quite to fall asleep for a nap. It's a short flight, so I assume that it's not going to be a nap so much as a quick wink to soothe him until we can get to the fabulous beach house we rented.

Anyway, the Viper looked highly uncomfortable about something, so I decided to pretend like I was very focused on this email until he was ready.

"Look, I know I've only had two Mind Healing sessions and can't possibly be in a healthy frame of mind for making major decisions." He stopped as if he'd either changed his mind or didn't realize that he hadn't actually gotten to the point.

"But?" I prompted curiously, setting my laptop aside for the moment.

"But..." He took a deep breath and held it for a long moment. Then he looked away, even shifting his chair so that he could stare out the window. "Well, when I was standing off the side of the stage waiting for the encore, I had nothing better to do than watch you sing to your Harry. HE was sobbing like a bloody waterfall! But I... felt tears..."

"And?" I asked, a bit confused as to where he was going with this.

"I realized that now that I don't have to worry so much about my kids and have time to think about other things that... I... erm… I think I had basically locked my heart in a cell and built a wall around that cell for good measure."

"Understandable," I murmured because I nearly did the same and I hadn't been through quite as much as he had.

"And, well, I guess, erm, well, hearing YOU sing to your Harry... it made me realize that I MIGHT have already been at least a little in love with MY world's Draco when I was captured. Thus, when I locked up my heart, I locked up all feeling for him that wasn't directly grateful for him helping me kill Voldemort and - later on - trying to help me protect my kids. I would have went my whole life never experiencing love if I HADN'T come here, but the problem is that if I'm here, I won't experience it anyway because HE'S back there..."

"Are you saying that you want to bring your kids back home after all?" I wondered, honestly dismayed to hear it.

He shook his head. "I would NEVER bring my kids back there. I would rather die the most excruciating death possible than bring them back there."

I tilted my head to the side in confusion again. "Then what ARE you saying?"

He finally decided to look at me again. "I'm saying that after I've had a bit more therapy, I might have to figure out how to go back on my own. I think I'm never going to fully heal until... I NEED to see if there could ever be anything between me and my world's Draco." Then he exhaled a disgruntled sigh. "Although I'm dead certain that I'm just fooling myself because I have you and YOUR Harry shoving yourselves and your over the top love in my face at all times. Maybe I'm just - oh what was that word she used?! Erm... Projecting? Something like that. The feelings that the two of you have for each other, I'm probably using them as a plaster over my wounds - so I can tell myself if I end up all alone at the end that I COULD have had love if he wasn't in a different world."

"You got all of that from just TWO sessions???" I asked in amazement.

He shook his head. "Not so much. I felt a bit lost in my sessions, to be honest, but since G is sympathetic and able to put me at ease, somewhat, I'm going to try sticking with it until it does start making sense. I just, well, like I said, I saw you singing to him, and suddenly, things seemed to shift way down deep inside."

I smiled at him. "Well, if you ever DO decide to go back and give it a try, I wish you all the luck in the world." Then I smirked. "And who knows, maybe you'll dig in and fix that bloody world while you're at it!"

He snorted a laugh. "Who knows, maybe I will."

I held out my hand to him, waiting until he stopped scrutinizing it warily and placed his hand in mine. "I hope you know that if you DO decide to leave, my Harry and I will take care of your kids like they were ours."

That made him chuckle with real warmth. "Now that I can believe. I've only seen three of your Unity Houses, but I already believe that the two of you really are barmy enough to try to care for and protect every child in the world!"

"Too right!" I agreed with a grin. At that point, you returned to the general seating/lounge area because we were about to land in a couple of minutes. You're eyes announced clear as day that you didn't like us shaking hands and laughing, so I dropped his hand and finished up this email, but it's time to disembark, so I'll sign off now and go kiss you so that you'll stop being so jealous. At least temporarily, haha.

Underneath your clothes, there's an endless story, there's the man I chose, there's my territory, and all the things I deserve, for being such a good boy, honey,  
Draco  
P.S. We are SO shagging on every part of this gorgeous island we can!


	111. Chapter 111

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Draco, and their entire brood plus entourage have made it to Hawaii :-)

Tuesday December 15th  
Good Morning from Sunny Beautiful Hawaii!

It just never gets old does it? This might be my most favorite of any of our tropical destinations. It's otherworldly, like this island exists out of time.

Huh, I didn't even mean to segue into talking about the Viper and existing in another time or space or universe, but when the opportunity shows up I guess I'll go with it. I'm not surprised that he thinks he has feelings for the other Draco for multiple reasons. I know he's not me, but again we have such a similar background prior to the final battle, that if we're as similar as I think we are, he definitely already had feelings for other you. And not just the physical feelings (although we all know those were there as well), but emotionally I was drawn to you for so long. And even though it was one of the worst nights of my life, seeing you lower your wand on the astronomy tower was probably the beginning of my tumble down the hill from infatuation to adoration.

And I am sure our happy marriage has done nothing but help solidify those feelings. You're not the same as his Draco, but even I ship them! If his Draco could make him half as happy as you make me, Viper should do everything in his power to get to his Draco.

Then there's the fact that if he gets his own Draco he will stop eyeing up mine!

But I really can't wrap my mind around him being willing to go search for him. You certainly weren't wrong when you told him that you and I would take care of his kids as if they were our own. I already adore them. And Ori seems to have really attached himself to Bel and Tommy. I think even if Viper stayed and they moved to their own place that we would be seeing a lot of them.

How could he be willing to leave those kids though? To go back to a world, even for the love of your life, where you would live out the rest of your days without your children? Every time I try to come up with a scenario extreme enough for me to leave my children I come up short. I love you more than life itself. You know that. But if you were trapped in another world with our children and left them to come find me? I'd skin you alive! To leave them for a chance at love? Again, you are my everything, but I couldn't abandon our children. Not even for you.

Unless of course if I thought your life was in danger. To save your life would be enough reason to leave them in the safe arms of one of our loved ones. But even with that, I wouldn't go find you and stay there. I'd just go all caveman, throw you over my shoulder, and drag you back here. Although one Draco Malfoy is probably all our world can handle.

Why couldn't he and Sirius have just found love together? Yeah, they are most definitely not a couple. Just some mutual "let's celebrate the fact that we're both alive and free" shagging. I talked to Sirius about it, asked if they were getting serious, and he busted out laughing. I figured he was just laughing at the serious/Sirius pun, he loves it and it just never gets old. But no, he was laughing at the idea of them being a couple.

"Haz, we both needed to remind ourselves we were alive, we both had an itch to scratch, but even if I were willing to date my alternate universe godson, I think he and I are definitely much too fucked up to accomplish anything but a terribly dysfunctional relationship."

That's where the conversation ended, because our Haz heard him and got quite feisty at her Uncle Sirius to, "Don't call him that! It's bad enough I have to share the nickname with Harrison, I'm not sharing it with my Dad as well!"

I left the two of them to duke it out, I wonder who won? Ha! I am of course kidding, I know there's no way Haz didn't win. She's brutal!

Speaking of brutal, your response to the Prophet concerning me being a prop was a bit brutal as well. The first part isn't so bad, but "fuck right the fuck off" may be a bit much. If you haven't already had Pippa send our response in, allow me to voice my two knuts. "While I would normally appreciate concern over whether or not I am being used as a prop, I have a hard time taking that concern seriously when it comes from a publication that spent so much of my youth holding me up as a prop in an attempt to sell papers. I spent the first year of my life in hiding because the Death Eaters wanted to use my death as proof of Voldemort's power. I spent my childhood hidden away and simultaneously hailed as a beacon of hope, your boy who lived. My teen years were spent reading articles in your publication that went back and forth between my being the Wizarding World's Chosen one, or their lying scapegoat. I was manipulated and used by people I trusted. Please rest assured that I have grown and matured in such a way that the only time I am able to be used is when I have allowed myself to be used for the good of people I love."

It's just insane that within the same article they condemned the use of me being a prop while simultaneously saying one of those numbers was the highlight of the show? You can't decide you don't want me to be used and then glorify my use! How do they not see the insanity of these two conflicting thoughts?

Whatever, I can't give those people any more of my precious little brain space.

I am so excited for whale watching today! They have these amazing viewpoints from land where we can see the annual winter migration. These land views are so cool, from what I've read you get the amazing experience of whale watching without stressing out the whales that can happen during tours that go into the water. I love sea life, and would love to have a humane way to view them, but I won't go to places like Sea World that exploit the animals. So this is just the perfect combination of seeing them in their natural habitat without harming them.

Oh, speaking of exploiting, yes we should sell the rights or the DVD's or whatever to the show we just put on. But first I want to have each person who performed asked if they're comfortable with that. Let's say most everyone is alright with it, but Lucius didn't want his dance number reproduced and sold, there are ways to create a DVD while editing out his parts. They'll probably have to settle for either putting up with the group numbers being in there, or possibly having their face blurred out. Otherwise as long as the performers are alright with it, I can't see why we shouldn't continue to use the show to raise funds for our Unities.

I do draw the line at you and I going further in a future show. No, I will not be performing in an amateur porn to release to the masses. What happens in our bedroom should stay in our bedroom. And our playroom. And the random clubs we attend. And the Glastonbury Festival. And our lawns.

Hmmm, shagging outside. I am going to take you so hard under the moonlight after all the kids are in bed tonight!

Damnit, horny again.

Love,  
Harry

P.S. I thought you saw no shame in the human body or sexuality? Hmm. Maybe it's not so silly for Harry to go all flushed when people discuss shagging in polite conversation!

 

Wednesday December 16th  
Beloved Harry,

I know you always think that I'm just a little nuts (I'm punny haha!) whenever we're on an amazing holiday and I decide to add a little work to the mix by buying a business. But this one is SO worth it! And actually, Orion agrees with me, so HA!

There we were, on this gorgeous tour, when all of a sudden I noticed this stunning Hawaiian woman practicing her hula dancing in a grass skirt and nothing else in a field of Macadamia Trees. I stopped our laid back tour guide and asked him to give me a few minutes to go flirt. But actually, I'd ALSO noticed a big sign that said this was an organic macadamia farm, and I was curious because I love Macadamias.

The fact that I was suddenly craving them with an intense need had no bearing on the situation.

I cautiously approached the woman, giving her plenty of warning that I was coming, and when she simply stood there watching me come closer with curiosity, I walked up to her and started asking questions about the farm. She told me that she and her sisters had bought the farm because they were passionate about organic food and macadamias, but that it was a small farm and hard to earn a living for all of them. Their main problem is that if they hire help to harvest the nuts, it cuts into their profits, and if they don't, it can be hard for the three of them to do it all themselves because the Macadamia Tetraphylla trees can grow up to 18 meters tall and have a rather dense foliage.

She then gave me, Orion, River, and Viona a bit of a tour - while you were feeding our littlest loves. She had some Macs that were perfectly roasted but salt free as this variety is naturally rather sweet, and I swear that it had a wonderfully buttery taste that just made me purr! So, I told her that I would be willing to invest in her farm and could even increase their income by selling directly to places like the Magical Child, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, your book store, and Honeydukes - among others. If this began right now, it's just in time for people looking for nice gifts for Christmas.

I can't help but wonder what delights Honeydukes could come up with if they suddenly had access to fresh organic Macadamias. Cover them in chocolate seems obvious, but also bake biscuits and OH! YOU could bake them into biscuits and I could dunk them into my Sanguinaccio Dolce! Fuck I'm hungry now!

Orion was excited - almost as much as I was - and suggested that they could be packaged under the brand name of Orion's Belt, and the logo could be a picture or caricature him wearing a 'belt' made out of Macs in the formation of the 'belt' of the constellation Orion. I can't decide if that's cheesy or clever as fuck!

So, as I was saying, I bought another business - or rather, invested in it. I'm going to give Orion a little freedom and a little coaching, and see what he does with it. Meanwhile the sisters who own the farm are overjoyed to be able to afford proper help with their harvest. All in all, it's definitely a win!

But even better than that was after our tour was finished and the two of us had an opportunity to just lay out on a beach and watch the sun set. And shag, mmm..

I'm giving him something he can feel, all my lovin', to let him know, this love is real,  
Draco  
P.S. There's a difference between telling my kids that masturbation is natural and normal and that I do it whenever I can't just Apparate to you, and having them listen to me sing a song about doing it often and with relish, hahaha!

P.P.S. Now I have that song stuck in my head! - I beat my meat, I get a grip and if it's stiff, I'm going to give myself a treat!

P.P.P.S. I suppose it could be worse, it COULD be the song: Well it seems last night, you caught me spankin' it, no use denying it, I was really crankin' it! Now dry your eyes and don't be sad, but I wouldn't use those tissues, they've already been had, just because it was your bed, it's not that bad, oh daddy daddy, please forgive me and [talk to me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tRsfEbkL-w) dad!

P.P.P.P.S. Eff! Now I have that song stuck in my head after all!


	112. Chapter 112

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco are having cravings and everyone goes surfing.

Thursday December 17th  
My Love,

I've always known you were a little nuts, you fell for me didn't you?

Nothing about this situation was surprising to me. Hmm, Draco got distracted by a pretty half-naked dancing lady and fresh delicious food. I'm never shocked when you decide to invest in businesses. This sounds like it should be a fairly profitable enterprise. And even if all you ever get out of it is access to fresh macadamias? I think you'd still find it to be worth it.

I'm really looking forward to getting a massive stash for my own use. I have a killer recipe for some insanely soft biscuits made with macadamia nuts. I also recently found a recipe, although I haven't managed to make any yet, for some biscotti with macadamias. And I think the thing I'm most excited about it how fantastic they should be for Zaire. Still suffering from malnutrition, although getting better every day, he needs to eat foods that pack a nutrient punch. His stomach is still small from hunger, so being able to eat a handful of nuts and still get a meal's worth of healthy fats, iron, or protein is so important.

And the fact that they're delicious helps quite a bit! It's not like when I try to get him to eat spinach, which is yummy, but you can only eat so much of it. I mean, lately I could eat quite a bit of it, but I'm not a three year old boy! I think I've had a full bowl of spinach salad every single day. Anything we eat that traditionally has lettuce with it I have been substituting fresh spinach instead. Oooh, you know what would be a freaking delicious addition to my spinach salads? Macadamia nuts! Ooooh, as soon as I finish writing to you I am going to go make myself one.

With how much I've been eating lately, it's going to be really easy to tell the difference between the Viper and I really soon. I'm already showing a bit. Not really when I'm dressed, but I certainly have a small bump. Fourteen weeks seems a bit early for that, but I always tend to show early anyway. I love this stage, I can start to see the changes in my abdomen, the nausea has mostly abated, I haven't gotten uncomfortable enormous yet. The only weird thing for me is how this pregnancy has messed with my sleep cycle, and the nonstop horniness but I really like that side effect! It's like we've swapped personalities a bit, I have become the one who's up all night, and I want to wash down everything with a glass of you.

It's actually the middle of the night, and I am sitting alone in the kitchen debating whether I should devour a mountain of spinach or sneak under the covers and devour you. Hmm, since I am already in the kitchen I think I will eat and then once I'm full of food I'll climb in bed for dessert!

Oh! Change of plans, Jaz just popped into my arms so I guess she and I are going to have a snack and then I think I'm going to bring her outside where she and I can watch the waves to lull us back to sleep. I need to get at least a little sleep tonight if I want to kick your arse at surfing tomorrow! You may be able to out-surf Sirius, but you're no match for me! Bwahahaha!

Love you,  
Harry

 

Thursday December 17th  
Ooo Barracuda!

I feel so invigorated and alive! And STARVING!!! I must have passed the super tired stage of pregnancy and reached the FEED ME SEYMOUR stage.

We definitely surfed for most of today, and that was wonderful and why I feel like I could take on the world right now. BUT I had to take frequent breaks and eat something. It seems like I'd eat a half a papaya, ride one wave, and then have to come back and eat a ring of pineapple. And Macs! I had the pocket of my wet suit filled with them so that I could just snack on them in between trips to the shore.

And then **I** hit the massively horny portion of the day. Lucky for me, Jaz had fallen asleep from her super rough and active spot on my chest (I kid, she was snug and well protected), so I was able to order Muffy to take her and lay her on a blanket on the beach. THEN I was able to summon you from your board as you rode by so that we could both eat some gillyweed and find the best spot to shag under the Pacific.

I'm just so content with life right now, *happy sigh*

LOVE YOU!  
Draco

P.S. Apparently we were just competitive enough today that Padfoot and Viper BOTH want to murder us rather violently for showing off, hahaha! At least their surfing instructor for the day was rather beautiful to look at and she kept flirting with all of us (even the kids in a somehow NOT inappropriate way), so they definitely had something nice and inspiring to look at while they suffered, haha.

P.P.S. It's that time of night when I'm usually awake with Jaz, but she's decided to stay asleep. Meanwhile, you seem to be in the kitchen again, so I'm going to come hunt you down and drag you off to someplace with a good view of the moon and stars. And then I'm going to insist that we snog and frot like bloody teenagers!


	113. Chapter 113

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More drama!

Friday December 18th  
My Partner,

Do you think we could go a full five minutes without some sort of drama from one of our children or from the tall children named Viper and Sirius? I understand that in a family of … I don't even know anymore … twenty-four I think, there is going to be more happening than in a family of four or so. But this is getting ridiculous. I feel like I should just become a professional firefighter as I have so much experience putting out fires.

We were all sitting around the dinner table, having a lovely time, good food and good conversation. I made the horrible mistake of thinking to myself, "this is so nice and relaxing" and jinxed the whole thing.

Out of the blue, Delphini asks, "So Uncle Sirius, when are you going to pop the question to Dad?"

I'm not sure who looked more panicked, Sirius or Viper. I suppose Sirius' features looked more panicked, but Viper spitting wine all over the table from both his mouth and his nose was clearly the bigger reaction. We all sat in silence just staring at the three of them until Viper managed to clear the wine out of his sinuses, "Why would you think Sirius would propose? We aren't together Del."

Your rather inelegant snort didn't help matters any.

Del scoffed at him, "You can't fool us, you've not dated or even slept with anyone as long as we've known you. Now you've shagged Sirius, even if we hadn't heard other Harry screeching about it, both of you are shite at silencing charms. And the other day I heard you talking with Draco and I didn't catch everything but I did hear you saying something about having gone your whole life not knowing love. So obviously you were talking about Sirius. He spends so much of his time with you and us, you're adorable together, and now you two should get married." She looked quite proud of herself for her deductions, but had fallen a bit short of the mark.

Then he did that ridiculous stammering thing he does, "Um, er, well, you see … Uh." Seriously, just spit it out man, you sound obnoxious! Luckily Sirius, having been raised a Black, was a bit better about putting on his mask and keeping calm, "Delphini dear, your dad and I aren't together. I obviously love him, he's my extra Godson! But we are not together, and we're not going to be together. I love you guys and you're stuck with me as Crazy Uncle Sirius though!"

And that's when Bel went off! He's normally so quiet, I'd barely heard him at all and now he was raging, "What do you mean you're not going to be together? You heard Del, Dad's in love with someone he thinks he can't have, he's been through so much in his life, he's grieved your death in our world for years, and now he's not good enough for you?"

I think hearing Bel spitting fire at Sirius managed to shake Viper out of his stupor, "Bel, calm down. All of you, thank you for caring, but I am not now nor will I ever be in love with Sirius. I love him, him being back in my life has been wonderful, but the nonromantic feelings are quite mutual. I wasn't talking about Sirius."

Delphini's one eyebrow arched so high that it was practically hidden beneath her hairline, "Then who were you talking about being in love with?"

More stammering, "Um, well you see it's complicated, he's uh..."

I couldn't hold it in one more second, "Good gods man! Just spit it out! Sac up and tell them already for Merlin's bloody sake!" Looking back, I may have been having a mood swing.

"Fine! I was talking about our world's Draco."

Sweet little Harrison (well, sweet when he's not harassing our Haz, who he actually hasn't said a single unkind word to since Australia, but I digress) piped up with, "But Daddy, you said it wasn't our world anymore. You said we'd never have to go back. Are we going to have to go back so you can be with him?" His big wet eyes just about killed me Draco!

Viper was quick to stop that line of thought, "No! No of course not Haz, I would never bring you guys back there. You're safe here and you'll be staying here."

Tommy and Haz seemed relieved at that, but Del and Bel both caught the missing parts of that underhanded sentence. I have never heard either our Della or his Delphini's voice ice over like this, "Nice choice of wording father dear, but I wasn't born yesterday, you will not be leaving us behind. Do you hear me Harry James Potter? I will. not. have it."

Oh hell, I was not prepared for this conversation. I had a feeling it was going to get ugly fast, so I just about shrieked out a "Malfoy kids, let's go walk along the beach, we can give these guys some time to talk!" I think half of our crew was relieved to have an excuse to avoid the drama and the other half was not happy with me about removing them from the interesting drama.

And that's when I shoved my foot in my mouth, "Come on, then Dad and Orion can tell you all about the new business they're working on!"

Viona, Eri, and Haz stopped dead in their tracks. Viona pulled out her scary eyes, "Daddy is letting Orion run a business? Of all the sexist bullshite double standards I have ever heard in my life! I have been sitting in on business meetings with him since before I could walk and I have not once been given the choice to run my own business! And Eri and Haz have been designing gowns for years with the idea they would someday have their own fashion line, but Orion gets a business? Merlin-be-damned patriarchal bullshite!"

So you ran off to follow the three angry Divas, I herded the rest of our crew to the beach for a drama free walk, and the Viper stayed back to deal with his own shitstorm. Lainie either wanted to watch the show that was about to go down with you and the Divas, or she had her own ideas to pitch businesses to you, because she followed you out. Unsurprisingly, Saoirse, Rhys, Leah, and Pippa came with our calm group down to the beach.

We eventually made our way back to the beach house, your group is still gone, and Viper's group seems to have silently split up to their respective rooms. So I am just snuggled in "nursing" our littlest loves and waiting for you. For now they both still fit in my lap, they are half asleep and milk drunk, and they're holding hands. My heart aches with how full it is.

Oh! When we get back I am going to tell Healer Rowe that I'm ready to start the potions to induce lactation. My nausea is mostly gone so I think I can manage to eat enough for all of their needs.

Hopefully I will see you soon … and in one piece.

Love,  
Your Harry

 

Friday December 18th  
Harry, my beloved co-parent,

Did Viona start having her period without me knowing it? I would SWEAR she was channeling Pansy on her rag today. I mean she's only 10 going on 11, so it's probably not likely, BUT did she??? I was more than a little afraid that I was not going to survive today!

First of all, she was standing with me and Orion the entire time we were talking about investing in the macadamia farm. How did she MISS when Orion suggested selling them under his name???

Second of all, I would swear on my life that Viona has known since before she could even talk that she's my successor. As much as I've talked about splitting up my businesses amongst the kids someday, what I really mean is that I'll give them the ones they want or help them start up new ones if they don't like any of the ones I own. BUT VIONA is going to get first pick and ALL of the ones no one else wants. If she wants to continue on as I have been doing, silently owning them, keeping them profitable, and basically letting them do their own thing, she can. If she decides that there're too many and wants to sell them (in the future when she's in charge), she can do that too.

Third, she's never ONCE indicated that she wanted to run one! If she had, she would be!

But in this, it seems that what she was most upset about is that Eris and Hazel really want to launch their own fashion design label, but while they are fantastic at design, they're shite at business. She was irate that Orion basically gets to take one of my projects and make it his own when THEY'VE had a half a business ready to go for ages now - having done a good bit of leg work, which I didn't realize.

So... now the three of them are about to start up a company called Hazeris.

Meanwhile, you were right, Elena felt that if I was in the mood to help the kids start up their own businesses, SHE has one half ready to go as well. The only thing she thinks might be a problem is getting YOUR permission. See, she wants to add another school - of sorts - to the property of Unity House and Traditions - the original. She wants this one to be a dancing/singing/acting school.

I told her that I didn't think you'd have a problem with that, however, that for what she wants, she might be better off finding an old theater or building that could easily be converted into the type of school she wants. Especially since all she really wants is to start it and get it up and running, and then own it more or less silently.

With that drama finally settled, the girls ran off to brainstorm.

I sort of meandered a bit. I took Bear, Remus, Romulus, Amala, and even Venus (that daft cat!) for a walk. I expected the dogs to love the beach and ocean. I also expected Bear to get swept out by a wave, and so charmed her so that she couldn't. What I DIDN'T expect was for Amala to like the ocean. Or at least, she was fascinated by it. Didn't really want to get in it like the pups, but she did seem to enjoy chasing the waves out and running from them when they came back in. As for Venus, she kept digging in the sand as if looking for something, but stayed well away from where she might get wet. I think she found a crab or something to munch on.

When I came back from my walk, you were in our room, but I got stopped by the Viper.

"Feel like talking?" He asked.

I smirked at him. "I have a feeling that you're not going to be making any more Mind Healing sessions."

He shrugged. "I might," he murmured as he invited me to attack him. "The kids and I came to an agreement."

"Yeah?" I asked as I tried to sweep his feet out from under him and he evaded it.

"Yeah," he confirmed as I intercepted a punch. "We've decided that I *do* deserve the chance to have love if possible, but that I *won't* bring the kids back to that world. So, I'm going to return for a month. At the end of the month, I'm coming back no matter what."

"If it works out, do you plan to bring him back with you?" I wondered, blocking punches and kicks since he seemed more interested in having something to do than actually sparring.

"Probably not," he said with a shake of his head. "He actually IS doing what he can to change the world over there. He's working in the Ministry as a sort of law expert in order to fix the damage Voldemort and his cronies did when they took over."

"Interesting. So... then what?" I had to ask since it sounded like he hadn't really thought this out.

"Then we'll probably have to try a long distance relationship - a REALLY long distance!" The Viper said with a chuckle. "The bigger problem is I have no idea if I can even GET there in the first place. I feel very strongly that *if* I can, I'll be able to use my blood connection to my kids to come back whenever I want, it's..."

"Going home that's going to be the problem," I stated in understanding. Then I held up my hand to signal him to stop attacking me, so he turned to throw off his shirt and use a palm tree as a practice dummy. "You used blood magic to get here in the first place, so obviously you're powerful enough to cast such a spell. Blood magic MIGHT be able to get you back, especially all on your own without kids taking up extra energy, and factoring in the fact that you actually BELONG to that universe. It's entirely possible that it might not be hard at all to return. We only assume that it will be because no one has ever done it - that we know of.

"Even if it is possible, I think we should probably cast a circle and have as many people as we can get involved to raise power and set clear intentions. Not to mention firmly anchor your magic to your kids so that you CAN come back when you want to. If you're DAMN lucky, however you did it in the first place will have created a door of sorts that is now firmly shut and locked, but doing it again might have the effect of unlocking that door and allowing you access to both worlds as you like.... mmm..."

I trailed off because I couldn't help something beyond my control. See, my eyes were seeing you, and my hormones were needing you, and my body was reacting to someone who looked just like you. He looked over and caught me practically drooling over him.

"Are you actually looking at ME like that???"

I shook my head. "No, in my head, I'm seeing my Harry. I clearly need to go find him!"

"Aww, too bad," he pouted, but I could see that he was just copying an expression you make because the emotion didn't reach his eyes.

I harrumphed. "As I was saying, wait until we get back home. Then we can come up with a circle and as many precautions as we can think of, plus we can almost certainly get Hermione to help, and Bloody Buggering Hell! I HAVE to go find my husband! Good night!"

He caught me as I passed him, pushing me up against the tree and very very lightly placing a hand against my throat. "Does your Harry ever make you submit to him? I noticed that he loves to submit to you, but YOU give me the feeling that as much as you like bossing and dominating him, you'd actually love submitting."

"I do," I informed him with a flirty grin. "And he does. He actually puts his entire mind and heart into it when he knows that it's what I need. Not too long ago, I fucked up so badly that I nearly broke our marriage, and I insisted that he beat me half to death in punishment."

"Huh," he said, sounding impressed. "I didn't think he had that in him."

"If it's something I need, he'll do whatever it takes to give it to me."

He nodded in understanding. "Which is why you don't flirt with me despite flirting with almost everyone else on the planet. You know he can't stand the mere thought of it, so you don't. I'm impressed, and honestly hope I can find that with the Draco in my world."

"So do I. Now kindly remove your hands from me before MY Harry thinks something bad is going on and goes into rampage mode," I advised, tilting my head so that my chin pointed in your direction.

The Viper wisely raised both hands as if surrendering and took a couple steps back. He turned to look at you. You looked very suspicious. And slightly murderous.

"I know you don't like the thought of me doing anything with YOUR Draco, but there are a few non-sexual things that I was wondering if you'd let me try. Specifically, he just mentioned that he can take a beating. I would love a chance to do that - beat him UNDER YOUR SUPERVISION. Not in a sexual way - as I said - but to see if I have it in me to remain in control. If I can do it without turning into the cold blooded killer that Voldemort tried to make me, but also, if it really IS possible to fulfill some need I have to hurt people without ACTUALLY hurting them." He sighed heavily. "That doesn't even make sense, does it?"

You were quiet for a moment. Then you held your hand out to me, which I responded to by walking over and taking hold of it. I also kissed you because I could sense that you were feeling territorial at the moment.

"I... I have to think about this a LOT before I can respond. And before I can even begin to think about it, I need to go to bed and snuggle with my husband. We'll talk more about this later," you said, and then turned and half dragged me into the house.

Once we were in our bedroom, I pulled you into my arms and held you tight. Kissing you. Nuzzling your neck. You purred a little, and then pushed me slightly away.

"You want him to do it, don't you?"

I shrugged. "I wouldn't mind, but it's not a need. We have a very clear dom/sub dynamic, but I do occasionally like to be the sub. I do occasionally like to be beaten - and we know from our previous pregnancies that it can be done safely. BUT this is not something that I will ever make an order. I will never say: 'Harry, I want you to supervise as the Viper dominates and beats me' - unless I catch you trying to trick me again and invoke your punishment. I may be the Dom, but you are the one in complete control of me. So this is something that you have to decide if you are comfortable with it happening. Otherwise, it simply won't happen."

I kissed you, and then kissed you again. "I love you."

A hint of a smile tugged at your lips. "I love you too. Come on, let's take advantage of these hormones while they're still driving us both mad."

"Definitely!" I agreed with a grin.

You make me want to say, me, a family, a house, a family, ooooo can we be a family, and when I'm 80 years old and sitting next to you, and we'll remember when we said, I do, I do, I do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, oh baby, I do-do-do-do-do-do-do,  
Draco  
P.S. Tomorrow we're going to have SO MUCH FUN!!!!! We're going to make a special trek to a beach called Kaihalulu (red sand beach) where we can strip off and lounge naked, and then we're going to eat until we burst at Luau Kalamaku - not to mention watch OTHER people firedance (among other dancing), which'll be weird, haha!


	114. Chapter 114

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is way too full, and Draco loves volcanoes.

Saturday December 19th  
Ughhhhhhh,

I am so full from that Luau. I'm surprised you didn't have to roll me back to the beach house. I feel a bit like Violet Beauregard, except instead of being full of juice it's so much meat. I'm not even much of a meat eater. To be honest, I could probably easily become a vegetarian if I truly wanted to. Between the Kalua pig, the poke, and the lomi-salmon, I made an absolute pig of myself. And then the fruit?!? I don't think I have ever had better pineapple in my life. Hmm, I'm full to bursting but I want some more pineapple! How? What are you thinking stomach? There is no room in you!

Really glad we did the beach lounging before the luau. I'm already feeling self conscious and fat enough with my little baby bump, but I'm feeling quite unattractive right now. It's not going to stop me from jumping you once I've finished this email and had my stomach settle a bit, but I will probably make you keep the lights off.

The fire-dancing was great. The dancers obviously have nothing on you! But it was definitely hot. Ha, get it? Hot!

I was thinking about your concerns over Viona's fury the other day, and now that I've had time to calm down (I was still a bit shook up from the whole night's worth of arguments) I think I have some better insight as to what had happened.

First of all, do not ever insinuate or ask her if she is mad because she's hormonal or on her period. I may be a hella gay man who knows next to nothing about women, but I know that much! She is tiny and beautiful and looks like a little angel sent to Earth, but she will cut you.

And actually, I think she's quite close to that age where she will be getting it any time now. According to Rowe, all the signs are there and it's likely she'll be getting her period in the next year for sure. She'll be eleven in January, which definitely would make it on the earlier end, but still normal. And without biological family history we really don't know what to expect, it's not like we can just call up Olivia and ask her when she started getting her period!

I know I'm talking about Viona here, but talking about Rowe and puberty and all of that reminds me that it's getting to the point where we have to decide if Hazel can start on the hormone potions. If we're going to allow her the hormones and eventually a full physical transition before she hits seventeen, the best time to do it is before her body starts going into puberty. When she emotionally transitioned at four, thinking about this was so far in the future that I don't think we had as thorough of a discussion as we will need to have now. She certainly seems comfortable in her body for now, but I worry that puberty adding masculinity to her body will be really horrible for her.

So, anyway, Vivi. I think what was really upsetting her was her anger for her sisters. Knowing how strongly they felt about fashion and eventually making it a business, and then seeing you think nothing of handing Ori a business made her protective big sister instincts go on high alert. And I know that you have her as your business successor. She knows she's your business successor. But as far as I've ever heard, or that she's ever heard, you've always made mention of it for "when I retire" or "when she comes into her adult vault". I have a feeling that you never mentioned to her, maybe you thought it was too obvious but she didn't, that you'd be willing to let her take over anything before she hit adulthood.

And in case you were wondering, I am in love with the company name "Hazeris"! So so cute, but without being babyish. They might be MY babies, but Haz and Eri do NOT like to be considered babies! As opposed to my sweet Zwei who seems to have regressed a bit since we brought Zaire home. I think he was trying to hard to keep up with Siri that he acted tougher than he was feeling. With Zaire's medical and emotional needs, he's been getting a ton of cuddles and carrying and babying even though he's three. I'm pretty sure seeing that Z could come in for as many snuggles as he'd like and still be allowed to go all out at the park and not be picked on his "babyish" behavior from Siri made Zwei realize that he could probably get babied a bit as well. He's been climbing into my lap constantly. And when I just have Zaire in my lap nursing, Zwei will climb on the other leg and snuggle in. I thought it was jealousy at first, but now I don't think so, he seems completely content to share my lap.

And of course Lainie can build a performing art's school. She's welcome to build one in conjunction with Traditions or Unity, but unless she's specifically aiming at the Traditions and Unity Kids, it might make more sense to build it on a separate location. I really like your idea of an existing but abandoned theatre. I've told her to put together a full business plan and pitch it to me after the holidays. Not that I'm going to say no even if her report is terrible, I just think putting it all together in order to get it approved will help her really brainstorm and pull it together into a solid plan instead of a vague future idea.

It's kind of like when I email you about things I'm feeling, at the beginning of writing I often don't actually know how I feel. Just the process of putting it into words while sitting alone and trying to explain them to someone else can have the effect of making me aware of what the underlying feeling was.

I'm going to have to do some serious writing to figure out how I feel about the Viper/otherDraco situation! I know it's not my life, not my business, not my kids, not my Draco. I just can't get over how none of it makes sense to me. He's going to go back, but just for a month, to see if they work. And if they work he's still going to come back here? And try to figure out something long distance? I have a hard time when I don't see you for a day or so when I have a busy day at Unity. I can't imagine how I would feel knowing you were a universe away. And again, I know we're different people, but if he already has become aware enough to know he loves Draco? He's already arse over tits. He's going to go there, fall deeper in love, and coming back is going to kill him.

Ok, I have to go wake you and shag off the frustration!

Incoming!  
Harry

P.S. Don't you call my cat daft! YOUR cat is the daft one, doesn't even realize she should be a wild animal!

P.P.S. Are you as excited as I am about volcano day tomorrow?!?

 

Sunday December 20th  
Volcanoes National Park,

Is there anything more beautiful than an active Volcano that ISN'T likely to kill you? Well, I mean, obviously our family, but other than that?

So, while we *could* have done the easy thing and hired a vehicle or 5 to take us all on driving tours, what's the point of being a wizard if you can't occasionally do things that muggles can't? To that end, we bought three large 'Hawaiian style' carpets and charmed them so that they could fly and would be invisible to anything under them. This allowed us to take the self guided tours, BUT get a whole lot closer to the sights if we wanted. We still maintained a safe distance from the lava flows and the like, but at least we got plenty of amazing pictures.

First, we flew around Crater Rim Drive, even stopping to do a bit of hiking on Devastation Trail. After spending a good two or three hours in that large circle, we then turned off on Chain of Craters road. It had so many breathtaking views that I honestly can't do them justice. That said, my favorite part actually came near the end, when we reached the Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs. There's something like 20,000 primitive pictures describing all aspects of historic Hawaiian life, and they're fascinating!

We ended the day with a family picnic on our respective carpets over the ocean with a good view of the Holei Sea Arch.  
(https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/things2do.htm)

My second favorite part of the day was when I looked over at the Viper and he hastily wiped a few tears away. Trying not to call attention to him, I silently raised a brow questioningly, and he shook his head before sighing and admitting that he never once took any sort of time in his other world to simply stop and take a look at the beauty all around him. That his kids only ever knew running and hiding and stress, and he'd forgotten to show them that the world could be both ugly AND wonderful.

Well it can, but I daresay there's a reason his world is more ugly and less wonderful.

After watching the sun set, we naturally couldn't just go to bed and sleep until we leave tomorrow. Oh no, WE had to go play on the beach. We found one that whether intentionally or sort of spur of the moment, had a large drum jam in progress - which a good portion of our family joined in on. Also, there were a lot of people who had stripped off to varying degrees so they could do an astonishing array of Poi.

Were you betting on how long it would take me to join in? Hahaha! Yep, I was naked and dancing with first my staff, and then swords and other props, so quickly that I may have accidentally vanished my clothes. Elena was by my side, and Eris and Haz were in front of us. They used the flaming hula hoops since they both can do a bit of gymnastics and that pairs well with the hoops.

None of that was surprising. What WAS surprising was when Bel and Tommy asked for staves to basically twirl and spin with since they haven't quite learned how to dance yet. Meanwhile, Delphini and Harrison were sort of dancing together with a group of others who were just sort of hopping and swaying to the beat.

In many ways, it was a LOT like one of our rituals at Hogwarts in which we all basically devolve into heathens playing with fire. But in other ways, it was completely unique and beautiful because there were a lot of native Hawaiians doing their unique dances - some even wearing bits of or entire costumes that are gorgeous representations of their culture.

I'm definitely not describing this very well, but hopefully Pippa or the MMMs got plenty of pictures and maybe even some video clips so that we can look back and remember it despite my pitiful attempt at writing about it.

All in all, this might be one of my favorite vacations yet. Even so, I'm glad to be going home tomorrow so that we can finish up our Christmas shopping and get some rest before the flurry of activity that defines the holiday.

But before I will allow either of us to go to sleep, we simply MUST take one of the flying carpets out and have a glorious shag under the stars.

Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling, do you feel my heart beating, do you understand, do you feel the same, am I only dreaming, is this burning, an eternal flame?  
Draco


	115. Chapter 115

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Christmas and then the trio's going away party.

Sunday December 27, 2009

My Dragon,

I don't know if we've been a good or bad influence on the Viper. He was so hard when he got here, and he's certainly not as free with his emotions as I am, but he's been tearing up left and right. I see him smiling fondly at our whole chaotic mess of a group. But seeing him react to Christmas festivities with the family was like seeing a mirror held up to my emotional squishiness.

As always, my favorite part of the holidays is watching people light up over the gifts we've gotten for them. And it's usually the Unity Kids that really get to me the most. But watching Viper's confusion when he saw I had gotten matching pajamas for his kids to go with the ones I got for ours, our siblings, and Teddy was wonderful. When do you think he'll finally get it through his thick skull that we mean it when we say they're part of our family now? It's really refreshing seeing him and the kids thankful for the pajamas since so many of the older kids have decided that they are "over" matching pajamas. They all wear them, just grinning and bearing it through gritted teeth for their ridiculous Dad/Big Brother Harry/Godfather, but Del, Bel, Tommy, and Harrison seemed legitimately thrilled to be included in my silly tradition.

Hey! At least I no longer make the pajamas ridiculously babyish! The year Elena turned thirteen and had to be bribed into wearing the footy pajamas was the last year I attempted that. This year they were a nice, cozy set of flannel pajamas; comfy pants with the button down top, and a nice deep green and silver plaid. Christmassy while still something they can wear throughout the year since it's not covered in snowmen or Santa Hats.

I hope you enjoyed your gift as well. It was just a repeat of the gift I got you years ago, but different babies! I figured even though you've been sleeping well lately, at some point you will have trouble sleeping again and what better calming noises could I put to music for you than the three combined heartbeats of our newest set of almost triplets? Of course I also had to gift you with Jaz and Zaire's hands for our clock. I've already consigned the creation of three more, but they are blank until we have names and birthstones to finish them off.

My absolute, no doubt about it, favorite part of Christmas this year was watching Zaire realize he was getting gifts. We always do gift opening somewhere in between the people who let each person open each gift one by one and the families where it's just a paper-flying free for all. We try to make sure when opening a gift, at the very least the gift giver is watching it being opened. You remember when I had to instill that rule the year Teddy opened his very first broom while I was in the loo? Still mad. I was trying to make sure gifts were passed out, I was watching some gifts being opened, and Miss Jaz seemed to want to "talk" my ear off. So it took me a bit to realize that Zaire hadn't opened any of his gifts. But he was bright-eyed and happy watching everyone tear into theirs.

I made my way to him and asked him "Hey baby, why aren't you opening yours?" pointing at his untouched pile.

I keep thinking I've cried all the tears there are to cry, and then my sweet boy asks me with that cautiously beautiful smile of his, "For me Daddy?" like he's not quite sure if he can believe it still.

I helped him read the tags so he knew which present was from whom, and after every one his eyes just lit up and he ran his little self across the room to thank the givers.

Between Zaire's happy thankfulness, Jaz's excitement to rip every piece of paper into tiny shreds, and the Viper family's joy in having a "normal" Christmas, this might have been my favorite Christmas ever. We'll see if next year's can come close, we will have three new babies by then!

Oh, we have our next appointment with Rowe on fourteenth January. We'll both be over the eighteen week mark, so we might be able to see which version of babies we're getting! Maybe I'll finally be carrying a little girl! I've had a few baby girl dreams, so I am anxious to find out if they've been right.

Boxing Day at the Burrow was super fun. It's always such a joy to see Molly surrounded by little ankle biters. Watching her face shining with joy at having her whole family together is one of my favorite gifts I give myself every year. There's nothing she likes better than caring for, especially feeding, a small army of loved ones. So I assume we're her favorite kids since we've given her the most grandchildren to spoil. Especially now that we also live nearby again! We definitely beat Ron and crew since they're moving to Russia.

Do not tell Molly I had anything to do with that situation!

Tonight we have the Triad's going away party, you're off getting ready, and I will climb into the tub with you in a few minutes, it had just been so long since I've written that I wanted to get some of my thoughts out before it goes all fuzzy and sated tonight! I'm glad we're waiting until Tuesday to get everyone together to figure out Viper's magical universe jump situation. I don't think anyone's brain function is going to be performing at max capacity tomorrow!

I was going to write more, but now I'm thinking of you in a hot tub full of bubbles and that's all I can focus on.

Love you.

Incoming!  
Harry

 

Monday December 28th  
My darling Harry,

I know that it can be tricky to buy presents for each other because we can both afford to buy whatever we want and tend to do so at every opportunity. So, rather than buy you clothes or jewelry or even little things like flowers, I've given you the same thing each Christmas for the past - oh? 7 years? I originally set up a scholarship fund in your name so that poor kids who want to do things but can't afford to can obtain the money from the scholarship. Things like go to summer camp, or take karate or singing lessons. Anything they are passionate about really. And then each year for Christmas, I add more money to the fund.

Not a very romantic present, I know, so any time you can think of something you'd rather have, just let me know and we'll both try very hard not to buy it for you before Christmas, haha.

As for the going away party, it started out very family friendly. We had arranged to have *two* parties. The first one had literally everyone Hermione knows attend. See despite the fact that all three of them are moving to Russia with Kisa - and thus we called it a going away party - it was really a party to celebrate the fact that Hermione has gotten such an amazing opportunity. And yes, having been through it a few times, *I* still recognize how amazing the opportunity is.

Thus, Hermione was 'crowned' Queen for the night and even given gifts that might help her in this new phase of her life. The first party actually sort of resembled a birthday party because of this; presents, cake, well wishes, funny anecdotes, and lots of laughter. Kids were running around everywhere, and people we don't really know or haven't even met before were there to see them off.

The woman that manages Blaise's club plus a couple of his favorite employees were invited. Naturally, this included the bar tender that has been there since the beginning. As I understand it, the club will still be the same as ever with Blaise taking a step back and only coming back for quarterly reports and emergencies.

Ron and George are busy enough that they do need employees to help them run their shop (side note, Blaise and I 'nudged' Ron into opening up a branch of WWW in Russia), so they were invited too. This meant Lee was a fairly hilarious guest and their main assistant, Gloria, seemed to make it her mission to spread joy - and probably sell their products whenever she had an opportunity, haha.

People came to the first party that weren't planning to stay for the second - naughtier - one. People such as McGonagall and Hagrid (who weren't actually invited to the second party in the first place, haha), but also people such as George and Angelina - who do not play around - and Ginny and Viktor who only play on the very rare occasion and never with anyone from our circle (for obvious reasons such as most of them are related to her, haha).

Kisa and Elena were also at the first party, but both had plans to leave before the second party. Kisa - I suppose - technically had a right to be at the second party because it was literally FOR three of her lovers, but she (like us) didn't really feel comfortable playing at a party that involved us and most of the guests were people she didn't really know except as our friends. Obviously, the same reasons apply to Elena but probably even more so, hahaha.

So, noon to six was dedicated to the first party, with an hour or so 'break' in between to give people who were leaving time to gather up their things and say good bye. Plus, give all the kids time to finalize which Grandparents or Godparents they were going home with. Viona actually insisted on going home with her Greg, which I still find adorable after all these years.

But then it was definitely time to start on the playing!

I was the host, and so I basically stood back and watched things happen for a while to make sure that everyone had everything they needed. Because of this, I noticed something endearing. YOU had finally wrapped your head around the fact that your best mates were no longer going to be right by your side as much as possible without literally living with us, and so you gave yourself to them as their submissive for the night. Anything they wanted, you made it your mission to do. Fuck you're hot when submitting!

I claimed the right to give Hermione her first orgasm of the night (since she was the Queen and deserved it) using only my mouth and hands, but then I stepped back and took a look around the room to make sure people were enjoying themselves and respecting the rules for consent and safety. For example, Neville and Charlie (who had decided to bend their no playing with anyone but us rule for the night) were using our Sounds and sort of teaching others to do so at the same time. I had to watch for a bit to make sure that Neville was giving all the safety information and using strong sanitization charms before letting others try the somewhat intimidating toy.

After that, I moved on to find that Luna had strung a few people up for some whipping, beating, and torture, but I KNEW that she was concerned for safety and keeping a sharp eye on all of that for me. So I went over and gifted her with a gushing oral orgasm before moving on to teach a few people how to tie a proper Karada Harness - along with a few other bondage ties. This allowed me to tease the fuck out of a few people I've never actually played with before. Such as Lee - who had been in a longterm relationship for a few years, but now is single again (for over a year) and decided that playing at a party could be interesting

After I had Lee tied up and seriously frustrated, Blaise's club manager came over and decided that Lee was her pet for the rest of the night. That was pretty hot whenever I had a chance to look over and find her 'forcing' him to be a good boy and please anyone she chose in any way that interested her. I daresay that Lee looked a little love struck after a while, haha!

Several people offered to give me a blowjob, and since I'd cast a denial spell on myself, I let them. However, I didn't want to just get off and be done for the night, so I warned them about the denial spell and told them not to be disappointed that they couldn't get me off.

I KNOW that I was the official host, and so SHOULD have been able to tell you what every single person was doing at all times the entire night, and as I have described, I do know a little. BUT - once I was certain that everyone was having fun and being safe - I ordered Muffy and Dibly to keep an eye out for anything that needed fixing - such as running out of drinks or someone needing some proper aftercare - and then I let myself get caught up in my own playing, and so, I'm not even sure what YOU were doing. Although, I did look over at you often enough to know that you were probably in heaven, getting spanked and being ordered to please people. At one point, I noticed that you were bottoming for Ernie while blowing Ron - and so, probably feeling very good, haha.

Ernie, huh? I honestly thought he was 100% straight, but apparently not. We once talked about whether or not he was bent and weren't quite sure, and despite working with him on rituals over the years, it's never really came up before. He also never seemed to be interested in coming to our play parties, so it's a bit fascinating that he came to this one and decided to play with you.

Or perhaps Hermione invoked her Queen of the Night privilege and ordered the both of you to get to it, hahaha.

Anyway, I *also* got to fulfill a long standing fantasy. I got to have fun with the Patil twins! At the same time even. Not to worry, they didn't do any sort of sexy playing with each other, but they did make a pact to rock my world as much as possible, and with the denial spell in place, I think I damn near passed out from the pleasure before they were done! And you know me, I like the ladies on occasion, so I had a ton of fun trying to make THEM pass out from pleasure in return.

Eventually, I had reached a point where I felt like my legs were made out of gelatin, but I didn't take off the denial spell because I didn't want to immediately pass out when I should probably make sure that everyone else was still safe and having fun. I felt a bit exhausted and wobbily, but I'd made both of the twins squeal and pass out (at the same time, aren't I talented? Heh heh heh), so I had a chance to rest a bit and look around. That's when I caught the Viper watching me with a curious and somewhat confused expression on his face.

I beckoned him to come sit next to me so that we could talk. "Something wrong?" I asked in concern.

He shook his head. "Not really, I was just, erm… I suppose I was confused by you having spent the last - oh.... three hours? Playing with a pair of women. And as I watched the end, I was turned on by the fact that you obviously know your way around a woman's body, and then curious by how that would feel, and I don't know... I think part of me wondered what it would be like to do some of those things with MY Draco."

"So was I," you stated, interrupting us, sort of startling us because we hadn't known you were behind us. We both turned our heads to look at you. You smiled at us. "By that, I mean that I was watching him watch you and I realized that I was suddenly imagining all sorts of things happening and they were all so bloody hot that I got turned on all over again - despite the fact that I really thought I was done for the night!"

"Okay...?" I asked, confused myself now.

"So..." you drawled with a devilish smirk. "I'm going to take over as YOUR master for the rest of the night and force you to do all sorts of things for MY viewing pleasure."

I raised a brow. The vast majority of the time, I'M doing exactly that to you, but I can't quite recall a time in which you wanted to do it to me. "Are you sure?"

Grinning, you kissed me. "I'm certain. Now get on your knees and put your hands behind your head."

I have no idea why, but I nearly blushed as I complied.

"Fuck! I say this all the time, but no matter how much I love to sub, seeing you be submissive is ALWAYS so bloody gorgeous!" You exclaimed appreciatively, your hand in my hair. Then you snapped your fingers twice at the Viper and pointed to the floor in front of me. "You! Stand here so that my dragon can show you his fantastic oral skills!"

"Er...You don't have to tell me twice," the Viper murmured as he obligingly got into position. By the look on his face, I daresay he agrees with you about how I look while on my knees. With you behind me with your hands on my shoulders and in my hair, and him in front of me making soft pornographic noises, something unexpected happened very quickly. I entered a blissful subspace in which I was aware that I was doing things and things were happening to me, but it was like I was swimming in an ocean of pleasure and can't really remember exactly what was going on.

The only thing I *do* remember clearly was when I felt like I was going to explode and die if I didn't come soon. I was begging - *BEGGING* - to be allowed to finish. I 'woke up' enough to look down and see that you were now sucking on me, and so, the person bending me over slightly and buggering me quite vigorously must have been the Viper.

Understanding that I was at my limit, you countered the denial spell and let me finally shatter into a billion pieces. I'm dead certain I straight up passed out after that! The next thing I knew, I was waking up in bed with you serving me my favorite tea and these delightful pecan shortbread biscuits I've been craving lately - along with my Sanguinaccio Dolce. I looked into your eyes, found that your love for me was shining in them as bright as ever - and thus, you couldn't be the Viper. Then I kissed you and pulled you into my arms so that we could snuggle - which will always be my favorite thing to do with you.

But then you were called away to bond with our babies so that I had a chance to eat and get up and ready for the day. Naturally, I decided to write this email before doing anything else - aside from eating, which I can do at the same time. But now I suppose that I should really get my arse out of bed and see if I can walk a straight line to the en suite, haha!

Love you!

I'll be there for you, these five words I swear to you, when you breathe, I want to be the air for you, I'll be there for you, I live and I'd die for you, I'd steal the sun from the sky for you, words can't say what love can do, I'll be there for you,  
Draco


	116. Chapter 116

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry catches Draco keeping another secret, and Draco is worried that he's acting like a pervert.

Saturday January 2, 2010

My Everything,

Wow, another whirlwind of a couple days. December was crazy, and January isn't shaping up to be much easier! I do have today to breathe so that certainly helps! I already went for a run this morning. It was so nice, certainly cold but the sun was so bright, and Siri decided to come run with me. Draco he is only six, and I've been running with him for a few years, when he first started running in the mornings with me I obviously ran slower and ran a shorter route. Now, I am getting closer to my regular speeds and we ran about three fourths of my usual route. His legs are practically half the length of mine, how is he this good at running already?!

The best part was just having him all to myself for the morning. We talked about everything and nothing. He went on about all the fun things they did while we were in California. I guess his favorite thing was hiking through the redwoods. My little outdoorsman. That would have been fun, but I'm alright with having missed it since the finished product was massively successful. With the drama that's been unfolding for months it was so nice to check in with my mellow little guy. He's this breath of fresh air, steady and constant. Sometimes I worry - fine I worry constantly you caught me - that he gets lost in the shuffle of our hectic life. But he's just moving along, calm and steady.

And while I've been worrying, don't think I haven't noticed you disappearing at odd times. You know, I feel like I trust you wholeheartedly and I know we're in a healthy place, but the Auror situation from months ago is still sitting in the back of my mind. I find the worry of "what if" creeping in when I don't know where you are. I've never been one for keeping tabs on you, or trying to control where you are or who you're with, so it surprises me every time I panic when you're not with me. And I am going to blame it on these crazy pregnancy hormones, because they are a nightmare this time around, and admit that I followed you.

I'm sorry! I know I should trust you, and I do, but that part of me needed to know you weren't putting your life in danger. I know better, because even if you may still push the limits of putting yourself in danger because you still think you need to atone, I know you would NEVER put our babies at risk. I felt such shame when I was following you, but I could not stop myself. Then once I saw what you were doing, I felt even more ashamed. You were going around passing out musical instruments to what were obviously underprivileged children. I should have known you'd find a safe way to continue putting good out into the world.

Now I know why you've been stockpiling instruments like there was going to be some musical apocalypse!

It's just so YOU. It's like your annual gift to me. I can't believe you think it's not romantic! Besides our family, there is nothing more important to me than helping children feel safe and happy, and you give that to me every year. You give it to me pretty much every day anyway, but this annual extra push is wonderful. I know you, and you'd prefer to buy me something big, extravagant, and flashy. It's who you are. And instead you give such a silent and thoughtful gift because you know how much it means to me. What could be more romantic than that?

Well, perhaps lying snuggled in your arms on New Year's Eve, surrounded by our beautiful children and the Unity Kids, while we watch the fireworks is pretty darn romantic. I could not hold back the tears when I looked back at you and saw Lainie had snuggled up next to us and laid her head on your shoulder. Just like our very first NYE, when you weren't quite ready to admit she was ours. She's an adult, a strong woman, who still needs to cuddle up to her Daddy from time to time.

The parade yesterday wasn't emotional, just fun. We had our nice reserved area all roped off, so I wasn't worried about losing one of the Kids in the crowds, but we did keep Jaz and Zaire close to us. Jaz might be mobile but definitely not to the point of wandering off, and you wearing her just meant she was above the crowd and could see everything. Zaire, on the other hand, was a bit overwhelmed with the large group and just needed to feel secure. Not a problem little buddy, I will carry you as long as you'd like. You had to be exhausted, you're already carrying our two tiniest inside of you, then you were wearing Jaz, and Zwei insisted he sit on your shoulders! You're amazing!

As always, the holidays were fun and full of love and laughter, but I am going to enjoy a little down time while it's here. It sounds like the planning process to send Viper home went well. I am willing to help out as much as I'm needed, but I was actually relieved when Hermione told me it would be best for me to not be there at all since my magic and my biology is too similar to his. We wouldn't want the magic to get confused and send me there instead! For a lot of reasons, the biggest of which being I don't know how I could handle being away from you for a month!

I could barely handle being on the other side of the room from you for an entire play party the other night! You're so beautiful my Draco. You're gorgeous when you're dominating me or others, you're amazing when you're surveying the party to make sure everyone is safe, and I certainly don't want it all the time, but fucking hell are you a vision on your knees. You didn't even question me, I told you to kneel and you gracefully just melted into the floor. Those long lean lines of you, given over to me for safekeeping. The pride and the pressure, knowing you were mine to care for, it's a heady feeling.

In the moment I really wanted to watch you with the Viper, but even as it was happening there was a little voice in the back of my head wondering if I would regret it in the morning. If I would end up murdering Viper for doing something I ordered him to do. If I would be angry with you for doing what you were told when in that beautiful submissive headspace. Nope. Not something I want to repeat, that I know of, but it was beautiful. No regrets, no jealousy, just a memory of watching you shatter into pieces for me and then trusting me enough to put you back together.

I love you with all of my heart.

Some time this week we, along with Pansy, Narcissa, and Angelina are getting together to discuss the January (and February 1 in Mac's case) birthday party. I don't even remember who came up with the idea of doing one big party for all of the birthdays in a particular month, but it was genius! It wasn't such a big deal to do an individual party for each child when there were only a handful of children. As the families grew though, it seemed like there was a party every week. So the one big party is for the entire circle to celebrate those kids, on 23rd January, we'll be celebrating Pearl, Viona, Gavin, and Mac. We'll of course do something for just Viona with our family and her Godparents on her actual birthday, and I know Mac is doing something with his friends to celebrate his sixteenth, so each child will still get their own special day.

The only other thing I have to accomplish this week is my meeting with the Publishers that want to discuss my books and a meeting or two with our Lawyers to make sure any contract I sign is acceptable. I can't believe this little thing I started so many years ago, that I thought was just my own rambling nonsense, is going to be a real book!

I'm just glad our lawyers were able to "negotiate" with Skeeter. I can't believe I had to worry about the legalities of "plagiarizing" my own life story! But I think a little pressure, a little bit of warning that I had grounds to sue her for making money off of an unauthorized depiction of my life, and it was all settled without having to see the inside of a courtroom.

I have finally figured out what name I am going to publish it under. Harry Malfoy in the wizarding world. And Harry Potter in the muggle world. I know! It's not my name and I hate not using my real name. But the muggles already know who Harry Potter is, they are going to be marketed as almost a spin-off of Skeeter's books. "You've heard what someone else wrote about Harry Potter, now get the real story from the Boy Who Lived himself!" It sounds like the people who fell in love with HER version of Harry, can't get enough of my story, so why not write for the audience that already exists and is loyal?

Anyway, I am going to go play some games with the kids while we wait for the sleepyheads to wake up and join us!

Loving you,  
Harry

 

Monday January 4th  
My soul,

Hannah is AMAZING! It's almost exactly two weeks before her wedding and she must feel a bit like a chicken running around with her head cut off, but she STILL found the time to dig through cold cases.

But before I get into that, I can't believe you followed me! I mean I can believe you did it, but I can't believe that I didn't notice you and take evasive maneuvers or that I wasn't sneakier about getting away unnoticed, sigh...

It just... It's a bit embarrassing, alright?!

It all started when I was walking around that area where I'm having that park built. I saw kids basically just sitting there with not much to do. Some of them had the muggle equivalent of the Magimobiles and were staring at them a bit like zombies, but others were more or less doing nothing and looked bored and unbearably lonely. So I not only thought about making a park/safe space for them to go and play and perhaps interact with each other, BUT I thought about how much music has transformed the lives of most of the Unity Kids around the world.

We ALWAYS made a point to give them instruments and lessons because it gave them something to do and a way to express themselves.

BUT just giving a child an instrument is not necessarily going to help them learn to play it, and I couldn't exactly hire teachers to go around giving out lessons too - or at least, not until the park is ready. SO I needed a solution on how to help these kids have this form of expression and actually be able to use them.

It took me a bit of time, but I figured out how to program all the instruments with spells to simulate a teacher. If they want to learn a new song or technique, they can tap a 'button' to put the instrument into teaching mode, and then that instrument will light up in certain places so they can play those notes and learn how to play songs and the like.

It's one of the reasons I bought nearly every drum I ever came across, because in my opinion, playing a drum is one of the easiest things to learn. Even if you don't know a specific song, you can almost certainly figure out how to play a rhythm that sounds pleasing to you and hopefully others. Which actually leads me to the last bit of charmwork I put on these instruments.

I figured that not everyone is going to like these kids making noise, and so the instruments might get taken away and thrown out or even destroyed. But no matter what is done to them, they're going to repair themselves and come back to their owner during the middle of the night. If the instrument should happen to need a battery or power source - such as an electric guitar - it has a never-ending magic battery that ALSO cannot be permanently removed or destroyed.

THUS these kids will have a tool they can use for many years to come and no one can take it away from them.

The best part is that the instruments themselves can sort of cooperate with each other, so if two or more kids are playing near each other and need to use the teaching mode, the instruments will teach them the same song so that they basically learn to play the song together, hahaha!

But despite all the very cool things I've built into these instruments, and despite how proud of them I am, I STILL feel rather embarrassed just walking up to kids who don't know me and handing them out. I feel a bit like a pervert or a drug dealer. I walk up in my expensive clothes, looking well groomed and probably just the sort of man who might approach them for illegal favors. I don't want a tussle with their parents, so I'm a bit secretive, beckoning them over like: "Psst! Hey kid! Come here a mo, I have something nice for you!"

Well of course the kids think I'm a creeper! But that's actually how I got the first two to come over to me. I started with a pair of lads that looked about 14 or 15, and they were old enough that they felt they could come over and tell me to fuck off and even defend themselves if necessary. I opened my rucksack and pulled out a set of drums.

"Either of you ever wanted to learn to play the drums?"

The younger one replied with a rather elegant: "Bloody hell! OF COURSE I have!"

I handed it over to him, explaining how to activate the teaching mode. Meanwhile the older kid looked wary, suspicious, and very very interested. "Ya got a guitar in there?"

"Certainly," I informed him, pulling it out and handing it over. As I was explaining it to him, kids from a bit farther away could see that I appeared to be giving things out and rushed over to see what was going on.

"And...….. What do you want in return?" The boys asked me skeptically. One actually and unconsciously rubbed his bum and vaguely nodded as if thinking he would do it in exchange for something like this.

I shook my head. "Not a thing. Look, I happen to have 10 kids, with three more on the way. And they've taught me that having music in one's life - that being able to play an instrument and sing and dance - goes a LONG way to being happy even when everything else in your life seems like shite. When I saw you lot sitting here with not much to do, I thought that you deserved the chance to do the same."

Still suspicious, the older boy edged away as if he felt he needed to sneak off with the guitar. "So... I get to keep this. For FREE???"

"Exactly!" I informed him.

Clearly, this made no sense to any of them and they all looked at me with deep suspicion. That said, each time I returned, it didn't take long at all for groups of kids to find me and excitedly ask if I have more instruments in my 'magic bag.' I had actually put a Notice-Me-Not ward on the bag - specifically aimed at adults - so that no matter where I carried it, only kids would notice it and me. I DIDN'T want to have to fight off parents or others who didn't like the idea of me giving out such noisy and potentially irritating gifts to all the kids in the area.

As I was giving out the instruments, I also talked about the park I was having built. It's far enough along that the playground can be used. Greg and Millie have the structure designed so that in the winter, a sort of dome can be pulled over it to keep it warm, and in the summer, the dome can be retracted so that they can have the light and warmth of the sun.

The OTHER thing I've been doing when I sneak away - and the excuse I've been giving you for all of it when you've asked - is I've been helping with the wards and charmwork on the park. Greg and Millie have enough power, but having a third person involved in the casting makes it stronger and sturdier. It's a bit like the difference between building a 'teepee' with two intersecting poles or three. Two can stand quite well if dug into the ground and provide a temporary shelter for a single person. But THREE will support the whole structure so that it can be a bigger and safer enclosed space for more people.

The kids that have gone to the park to look it over seem very interested and excited. I overheard most of them wishing that the place had places to eat and do their homework so that they can avoid certain difficult people in their lives. Which means that I pushed forward my plan to hire someone to cook and hand out meals.

I know that all of that in and of itself is plenty to be proud of, but the thing I am most proud of is the charm I added that places a mild Notice-Me-Not ward on any kid in the park (and on the park itself, for that matter) so that they won't be noticed walking home from the park. Basically, I've extended the safety of the park to them until they get home. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do if they aren't safe at home, but at least perverts can't prey on them until then.

I know I just gushed on and on about it rather a lot, but I'm actually a bit disappointed that you found out about it - the instruments, that is. Because not only is it embarrassing to literally BE such a sap, BUT having you know about it makes me feel just a little bit like I'm doing it for some sort of validation or glory. When I was keeping it a secret, obviously there was no glory in it for me. I was just helping kids in this small way that made me feel like a good person inside. NOW if I keep on doing it (I actually more or less finished in this area), I feel a little like a kid who is drawing a picture of rainbows and puppies and immediately showing it to their parents saying: "Look what I did, aren't I amazing? Praise me, love me, pet my head and call me a good boy."

And I don't really want that, you know?

But getting back to Hannah.

She came over for a spot of tea and to chat about her wedding. It sounds like you've managed to squeeze in some time to help her out. She's particularly LOVED your ideas on how to decorate beautifully for less. It seems you pulled out OUR wedding album and compared some of the things that were done with things you might like to try differently if given the chance. Things you actually had time to research and find lovely and cost effective alternatives. NOT that you are in any way disappointed by our wedding. I know this. I also know how much you love weddings and planning and wish you had a reason to do it again, haha.

After getting caught up, Hannah pulled out a file with a heavy sigh.

"This is a boy who disappeared about 5 years ago. At the time, he had an abusive father and his mother simply assumed that he ran away. But he was 15 and he'd be 20 now. His mother took courage from his example of running away and did the same. She did a runner to a women's shelter that helped her get a job to support herself while filing for divorce. She started looking for him when she had a safe place they could both live - after her divorce went through and one of the stipulations was that she had custody of their missing son."

She took a deep breath. "Police tried looking for him too. But they've not seen him. Irene has put out adverts in the paper trying to appeal to him directly or to anyone who might have seen him. So far, nothing. I originally picked up this file thinking that MAYBE we could find and then reunite another child with an anxious mother, but as I interviewed her, things came to light that make me wonder..."

She sighed heavily. "I think he's dead. From the picture his mother painted of him - figuratively - he didn't seem the sort to just run away. He took the abuse from his father and even fought back a little. He had plans for what he wanted to do the moment he was old enough. He planned to take advantage of the law that would allow him to live on his own at 16 if he had the ability to support himself, and planned to get a job in construction - which he had already learned a bit of, somewhat ironically, from his father."

She shook her head. "I just think something fatal happened to him. I also wonder if his father 'accidentally' beat him to death and managed to make it LOOK like he ran away."

I nodded in understanding, KNOWING that she was withholding certain details from me so as to NOT influence my vision. She handed me a dirty flannel.

"His mother held onto this. It was the flannel she used to wipe away the blood from the last beating he had before he ran away. At first, it was simply in the dirty laundry waiting to be washed, but once she realized he was gone, she figured that it might me a good idea to have some of his DNA. Plus it has a few of his hairs on it - as far as she can tell."

I held the flannel in my hands and looked it over. Yes there were a couple of hairs on it - which I left alone - and a few large spots of blood. It was the blood I focused on.

Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths and waited for something to happen. Suddenly, a park appeared. This one appeared rather run down and didn't have anyone there other than a pair of girls that looked 14 or 15. I looked around to see if I could find a boy until I realized - with a bit of a start - that I WAS the boy.

At that point, I sort of had to relax into the vision and let it play out without trying to control it.

Then I was moving toward the girls. I had a hand in my right pocket and pulled out a bit of money. With a smile, I handed the money to the slightly less pretty of the two girls - who was a dirty blonde with blue eyes and a chubbiness that should have made her look a bit angelic, but instead, seemed to make her look a bit like a bull dog.

"Hi there. Thirsty? I'd love it if you went and bought us all something to drink."

She looked at her friend, who rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Why not?"

After the friend left, I was obviously alone with the pretty auburn red head with greenish brown eyes that had flecks of gold in them. She gave me a look that made it clear she thought I was being pathetic.

"Just because I let Emily go buy drinks with your money, it DOESN'T mean that we OWE you anything."

I shrugged. Then - rather abruptly - I reached out and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her hard and tossing her to the ground where I immediately tried to pounce on her. But she rolled away and elbowed me in the side.

"I KNEW IT! I *knew* you just wanted to fuck with me!" She roared, sort of flipping back onto her feet. "But I also knew that I could kick your arse to the moon and back before I let you lay a hand on me!"

Not daunted, I tried again. It was strange because vision me had enough skills to make the fight a somewhat tough battle for her - even though she WAS clearly better skilled. Yet vision me had nothing on my level of skill, and so I sort of kept trying to help him fight better - even though I didn't actually want him to WIN.

The fight went on long enough for the friend to come back with a thick and heavy unopened can of something to drink. Actually, she had three of them, but only used one to throw. It hit the back of my head, prompting me to turn around to see what had happened, then she used a second can to bash in my head while the pretty ginger punched me in the kidneys and kicked my legs out from underneath me.

The vision went black at some point while they were beating the bloody hell out of me, and even after waiting a while, nothing else happened. So, I can only assume that they literally beat me - er HIM - to death.

I opened my eyes and did my best to answer questions about the park and things I'd seen that MIGHT help Hannah locate where this happened. After I'd given every detail that I could, and she'd written it all down, she sighed and set the file aside so that we could talk about other things.

"There's not so good news, and then great news," she announced. "First the not so good news. Remember Liam? Well, the OTHER bodies found in that same backyard turned out to all be victims of the same killer. They were mostly women that Liam's father had liaised with during the three years of living in that house. His wife at the time would get jealous, go out and make them disappear, and then bury them in the back yard. She used the same method to kill them all, so they didn't really suffer at all. The only anomaly - other than Liam - was a man who had actually witnessed her snatch one of the women and had to be disposed of.

"We figured all of this out using forensic and DNA techniques that didn't exist at the time of the murder, and so by this point, I'm quite sure that Mrs. Parker thought she was going to escape justice until she died. She ALSO tried quite hard to blame everything on her husband, but the thing that really cinched the case against her was that I didn't think that these murders looked like the work of a beginner. So I dug around a bit more and found an previous address of hers - which happened to yield MORE dead bodies - four of them. Two men and two women. And then a place she lived at for a few years AFTER Liam's death and her divorce yielded a further NINE bodies! So yes, she is well and truly caught and going to spend the little remaining bit of her life in jail."

Hannah sighed and shook her head, but then shrugged off the frustration and smiled. "As for the great news, I found Byrony and reunited her with her mother. The two are happy to be together after so many years apart and say they plan to support each other in everything from now on."

"That is great news!" I cheered. But then I sighed. "However, I have to excuse myself now. I feel a bit tired and I might need to call my Mind Healer for a quick chat before I go to bed."

She nodded in understanding, getting to her feet and kissing me on the cheek. "Alright luv. You rest and take care of those babies. I'll see you at my wedding."

"See you then," I murmured before heading off to our bedroom.

Just so you know, yes I called Yesenia, had a mini session with her, and then sat down to write this to purge it from my mind so that I could go to sleep. I know it's early for me - you're not even back yet! But there it is.

Love you to the moon and back,  
Draco  
P.S. Oh! I almost forgot. Hermione thinks that IF it's even possible to send the Viper back to his world, we've come up with a bit of a workable solution. We're just going to have to try it and see. SO tomorrow he's going to spend the day with his kids before we cast a circle and try to send him off. YOU will not be there as Hermione is right - you'll probably get mixed up in the magic and sent off too. But if it works, then Hermione is as sure as she can be (which is about half considering that this is all theoretical) that the Viper SHOULD be able to return all on his own. She even agrees with me that this might 'open' a sort of 'door' he can use easier in the future. But... We'll see...


	117. Chapter 117

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is able to bond directly with his littles :-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the sparse posting lately. I recently got a job and haven't been able to email my fictional husband near often enough! Thus, we're actually catching up to what we've written and I've had to slow down posting. Sorry!

Tuesday January 5th  
My Love,

I was typing out something long and sappy, but it got away from me so I decided to just go with the simplified version; my love. What I wanted to say was, My love whose faith in me is strong enough to cause me to have faith in myself. The meeting with the Publishers went better than I possibly could have hoped. They have officially picked up "Harry Potter Found More Than a Stone" and "Harry Potter and Both of His Secret Lives" with an option to purchase the rest of the series depending on sales of the first two books.

I'm an author! All our years of me rambling nonsensically will be turning into a (hopefully) lucrative and definitely fulfilling career for me! The Publishing House I'm going through is muggle, but the CEO has a sister who's a witch, so they've managed to start a successful branch that sells within the wizarding world as well. I can either have both copies exactly the same, and just have them sold in both worlds, or I can choose to alter the cover or any of the artwork to use magical pictures. And since I will be using my real name in our world but my maiden name in the muggle world, there will automatically need to have two different versions anyway. So I am thinking I will definitely be adding some magic to the copies sold here.

They're allowing me to set my own timetable for the book tour. They need to do a bit of editing, find someone to do the cover art (I recommended they contact Dean Thomas, his artwork is fantastic) and then actually print the book! I told them our January was crazy, and there is no way I am going to be traveling during my baby girl's first birthday! It sounds like it's very likely I will be leaving for the tour in the middle of February or possibly the beginning of March. I have plenty of my specially tailored pants to hide my bump and I'm not due until June, so my pregnancy shouldn't be an issue.

Oh! And I didn't think they would have an issue with it, but they agreed to me wanting a portion of the profits to go to the NSPCC. I made a much bigger deal about my abuse at the hands of the Dursley's than Skeeter did. She made it sound like it made me into a better person, like I was stronger for having dealt with it and come out on the other side. Yeah, no, I came out damaged, it made me hurt, it's still going to be a book read by children so I didn't want to go extensively graphic but I didn't downplay it either. By going into a bit more detail I thought it was important to have some of the profits going to a charity that specifically fights to end Child Abuse.

Speaking of working towards helping disadvantaged children, I promise you that I am well aware you're not helping children for the glory or validation. I know you just genuinely feel called to help where you can. And because of our money and our lives, you have the chance to help a lot. If it genuinely bothers you to have me praise you for it, I will stop. You know I wouldn't want to make you so uncomfortable that you stop doing something so good for you (and for others!) but just know that anytime you want to talk about it, come home and cry on my shoulder about a hurt child you saw, or go on and on about some wonderful kid you met, I'm here and always have that shoulder ready for you.

And honestly Draco, even if that's what you were going for, am I really the person who is going to think less of you for wanting to be petted and told you're a good boy? Do you think less of me for wanting to be so good for you?

I was thinking, Viper is spending today with his kids before he takes off for worlds unknown tonight, right? What do you think about giving them some space and taking our entire crew to this new park of yours? I'd really like to see it. And since you seem to have found a crowd of kids who don't quite believe you're not going to eventually extract some type of payment, maybe it would be good for them to see you with this tiny army of children you told them you have. And you know me, any excuse to play at a park like a small child!

Well, I have news. I really went back and forth about whether I wanted to try for the first time in front of you, or keep it to myself in case it didn't work. And I eventually decided on keeping it to myself. I started taking those potions a few days ago, maybe a week? So this morning when Jaz woke up, instead of getting her a bottle, she and I snuggled up in the rocking chair to see if she would latch. She did. Oh Merlin Draco, I was feeding our baby girl. I've been feeding her a bit using the harness so I didn't realize how different it was going to be when it was direct. But just, wow. I felt so connected to her. Physically, it felt kind of weird, but not really any weirder than when I'm pregnancy and the baby kicks. It's a good feeling, nothing negative, but definitely surreal.

And after we'd been snuggling and she was nursing for a bit, Zaire woke up and joined her. My heart was so full I was a bit worried I'd run out of room in my chest for breathing. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.

Until of course they started acting like sassy toddlers. They were snuggled so close to each other that they started tickling each other, well laughter and mouths full of milk is a recipe for soaking wet and sticky Daddy Harry. I just got us all out of the tub, and they've been playing sweet as can be ever since. But I am in the mood to make a massive tower with Zaire and let little Jaz-zilla destroy it!

Love,  
Harry

 

Tuesday January 5th  
My amazing husband,

Congratulations on being an official author! I just love how they want to capitalize on the success of the 'first series' of Harry Potter books by pushing your publishing timeline up - in essence putting you at the head of the line rather than the back. It usually takes a year to get to the: My book is out and now I get to go on tour with it - stage, but because you are you and this is going to be big, they're doing it in just a month or so. Brilliant!

I'm rather exhausted because even though we were all VERY careful not to use too much of my magic while casting the circle to send the Viper home, I used just enough to make me feel tired enough to go straight to bed and sleep for three days straight. So I will basically sum this up:

We cast a circle - which comprised of me, Hermione, Delphini, Tommy, Bellerophon, Harrison, and Sirius - magically bound the Viper's magic to his kids (in essence tethering him to them so that even if blood magic wasn't enough to bring him back, which it should be, he has a sort of magical rope to guide him to them), and then chanted about a hundred spells that were mostly repetitive so that our intentions were VERY clear that we wanted to send him home to his world, but not permanently. That we wanted him to have a way back here, and also a sort of door to use to travel between the worlds in the future that only he can use. That bit was rather complicated too, but we made certain that he can bring others with him IF it works, but that no one else can just stumble across the door and walk through it.

So..... As far as we can tell, it worked. After we chanted all the spells and raised as much power as we could, we all paused and held our breath for a long moment because the time had come for the Viper to decide if he was going to actually do it or not. He took a last long look at his kids, absently cradling his lightly bleeding arm (we'd used some of his blood for the spells), and then cried out the words that we set to activate the actual crossing to the other world.

And then he was gone. SO it either worked, or he was just sent to another world entirely and we won't know about it until he comes back to tell us it went wrong..... or never comes back. And even then, he could have gotten to the right world and just not been able to return. So basically, we're all hoping that this works out the way we want it to and that nothing went wrong.

Best of all, you were in a ward that contained all of your magic so that the spell definitely DID NOT take you too. I verified is quite thoroughly with my hands and mouth after the spell before basically abandoning you to play with the kids while I crawled into bed to write this and pass out.

Good night! Afternoon, evening, whatever.

You are the dream that is the wish my heart makes when I'm fast asleep,  
Draco


	118. Chapter 118

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is panicking just a little and Draco reassures him.

Wednesday January 6th  
My Soul,

Good morning! Hopefully you and the babies didn't miss me overly much last night since I wasn't able to come to bed. It's actually about 6:00 A.M. and I am thinking about climbing into bed with you now. You won't mind if I spend the day sleeping and wake up just in time for dinner right?

I put Jaz and Zaire to bed last night, then went to read a couple of stories to Siri and Zwei. With the four smallest being sound asleep, I figured I would come find you wherever you were and drag you off to bed caveman style. Except Harrison found me as I was slipping out of Siri's room.

"Hey, um, Uncle Harry?" They call me Uncle Harry, isn't it the cutest?!? "Delphini, Tommy, Bel, and I were wondering if you wanted to come watch some telly with us? Viona was telling us all about this show Avatar, and well, we thought you liked it too and would want to watch."

His eyes were all pink like he'd been crying, but didn't want to be crying so he rubbed the tears as soon as they'd fall. Poor little guy, I used to do that too. "Yeah, sure Bud, I can come watch an episode or two before bed." And that is how I ended up sitting in the entertainment room all night with the Viper's kids. We've all been talking about Viper's trip back for weeks. His kids even helped do the magic that sent him back. They've seemingly been just excited for him. I think they've noticed how lonely he's been for years, and they're honestly happy for him. But they're also kids whose Daddy just left for a month, and there's a possibility he won't ever be able to come back. The poor little things.

I sat with them and we started from the very first episode, meeting Aang, Katara, and Sokka. And of course, Appa and Momo. We even watched long enough to get to the poor pathetic cabbage vendor. I tried once to tell them it was late and we should head to bed, and they all looked at me with the saddest faces, just resigned to sitting in their beds worrying about their Dad. And that's how I ended up sitting on the couch, Harrison's head in my lap, Del's on my shoulder, Tommy sprawled on the floor lying on my feet, and Bel with his head in Del's lap.

So the bad news is I am exhausted, physically from just being awake all night and emotionally from watching these sad little faces missing their Dad. But the silver lining was getting to rewatch Avatar! And you know how sometimes you watch something you hadn't watched for a while and you realize it wasn't actually any good in the first place and your memories have tricked you? Yeah, not an issue with Avatar, Aang and friends holds up!

I'm glad I got everything squared away with the publishers and the lawyers already, because I would not have the brainpower to deal with any meetings today. I think part of the reason this is moving so much quicker than most book publishings is because of what you said; they are eager to cash in on the "Harry Potter Cash Cow" while people are still obsessed with the story. But it probably seems quick to you because you've only known about the books for such a short period of time. You have to keep in mind that I have been in talks with my agent for months. The books themselves have been finished and were sent off to my agent who I believe sent them while we were still living in Iran.

I know, it even took months after that for me to tell you, I was just so worried you would think it was terrible. I'm still actually really worried about whether or not you'll like them. What if you think they're terrible? What if reading about our childhood rivalry will remind you why you used to hate me and then you'll hate me again? What if you read them and remember that hate and then you decide to leave me and then I have to live the rest of my life without you?

Breathe, Harry, breathe. Ok, I am going to climb into bed with you. I think I might be a bit hysterical, but just in case I am going to get in as many snuggles as I possibly can before you leave me and I have to live without your snuggles for the rest of my life.

Hopefully Yours,  
Harry

 

Wednesday January 6th  
My beloved heart that resides outside my body,

Look into my eyes  
You will see  
What you mean to me  
Search your heart  
Search your soul  
And when you find me there, you'll search no more

Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for  
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for  
You know it's true  
Everything I do  
I do it for you

Look into your heart  
You will find  
There's nothin' there to hide  
Take me as I am  
Take my life  
I would give it all, I would sacrifice

Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for  
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more  
You know it's true  
Everything I do  
I do it for you

There's no love  
Like your love  
And no other  
Could give more love  
There's nowhere  
Unless you're there  
All the time  
All the way, yeah

Look into your heart, baby

Oh you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for  
I can't help it there's nothin' I want more  
Yeah, I would fight for you  
I lie for you  
Walk the wire for you, yeah, I'd die for you

You know it's true  
Everything I do  
Ohhhhhh  
I do it for you

Draco


	119. Chapter 119

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's testing a new product and doesn't tell Harry anything about it.

Thursday January 7th  
My Fierce Dragon …

… with the warmest and squishiest heart. Don't worry I won't tell anyone what an unbelievable loving and romantic sap you are. I will keep that knowledge all to myself. Our children are well aware of your inner squish, and our nieces and nephews certainly know, and there's always your good friends who have seen the best in you, not to mention your parents and siblings, also anyone who has seen you interact with me and our children. But, from everyone else, I will keep your secrets.

I climbed into bed with you, exhausted and emotional. I was having a complete mental breakdown, for some reason I was moronic enough to think that you would ever stop loving me. I may not be a Draco or a Hermione, but I'm not exactly unintelligent either. Despite this, I actually had a moment where my hormones and my own insecurities thought there was a chance that reading about our childhood rivalry would make you want to leave me. Yes, now that the chemical cocktail is no longer flooding my brain, I do realize how silly that sounded.

And instead of calling me a moron, which we all know you are willing to do, and instead of sniping at me for waking you up, you held me and sang me love songs. And when I had finally passed out, you let me sleep in your arms. If that wasn't enough, when you made your way out of bed you made sure to send me the lyrics to one of the beautiful love songs you sang to me. I certainly didn't need a reminder, I have the memory of every song you've serenaded me with etched into my mind, but it was heartwarming to see those words typed out in stark black and white.

I have found you burnt into my very heart and soul. I take you as you are and humbly hope that what I am is a fair enough trade. My heart for yours.

My day consisted of being sung to by the love of my life. Falling asleep in his arms. Sleeping the day away. And then spending my evening helping Hannah put the finishing touches on her wedding plans. Could it have gone any better? Oh, it could have, I could be ending the day with a fantastic shag with aforementioned love of my life. Oh wait, I CAN do that!

Anyway, I floo'ed over to Hannah and Davis' place and caught them and a few of their wedding party doing a bit of that "holy hell our wedding is a week away and we still need to do ___" hysteria. When I walked into the room they were all hunkered down in, Davis looks at me and goes, "Another bloke! Harry, tell me you've come to save me from the wedding madness?"

"Save you? Why would you need saving? Wedding planning is heaven!" I laughed and sat my tush right down at the table to help hot glue ribbon onto the centerpieces. And so what if I mostly just pretended to hot glue while subtly casting sticking charms to the ribbon? What the muggles don't know won't hurt them! Besides Davis' panicking, it was a lovely evening. Hannah has a really nice group of friends. We talked flowers and accessories. And after most of the ladies had had WAY too much wine, they got quite giggly and we all made Davis quite uncomfortable with talk of the wedding night.

I'm really looking forward to the wedding next weekend. Any excuse to dance with you! And you'll be looking so bloody fit in your muggle formalwear. You know that I think you are sexy as fuck in wizard's robes, you were an absolute vision at our own wedding, but I so rarely get to see you fully decked out in a tux. Mmm, you are going to get so lucky that night! And maybe that day. Who knows where we might be able to find some cupboard for me to drag you off to and have my wicked way with you.

However, the thing I am most looking forward to is our appointment with Healer Rowe this week! Squee, we'll get to hear our babies' little heartbeats. We'll get to see them wiggle around and move and suck their little thumbs on the "sonogram" and if we're lucky and they're cooperative we might even get to see what versions we're getting! I honestly don't know why I get so excited to find out their gender, I don't care either way and you and I both know that just because they're born with certain parts won't mean they're going to identify that way. But there's something about knowing just a little more about them than we already do, finally being able to pick out their names, just makes it all so real. They stop being "my little bun" and become a little person I can put a name to.

How were my littlest loves today? I wasn't in bed with you, Zaire, and Jaz all last night, I slept the day away when I would normally be playing with them, and then I went to Hannah's for the evening. By the time I got home a few minutes ago, they were already sound asleep. Am I the worst father in the world if I accidentally poke them when I climb into bed? Just a little jostling and I can dance with Jaz while I tell stories to Z. Yeah? No, you're right, that's probably a terrible plan.

To heck with you! I'm doing it anyway!

Yours,  
Harry

 

Thursday January 14th  
Ma raison,

As I understand it, I made today a bit frustrating for you. See yesterday, I FINALLY figured out how to do something I've been working on for months. I mentioned it a while ago, but all I said was that I was working on something new and didn't want to talk about it until I figured it out. Well, now I have.

See, what I was working on was a potion. George had talked to me at some point about how he has quite a few older gentlemen customers who have expressed an interest in taking a potion that is a bit like the muggle drug Viagra, only better and without the potential side effects.

As you know now, I finally figured out how to make the potion, and slightly embarrassingly, I actually had to ask Sebastian and Severus for a little help, but it all worked out. I now have a potion that can make a man hard and keep him hard all day long, thus allowing him to enjoy sex at his leisure without reaching a climax unless he so chooses to cast an instant orgasm spell on himself. The act of orgasming does override the effects of the potion, so the user isn't stuck hard for several hours after having his fun.

Before I recap all the rigorous testing I did on you today, I just want to add that the potion is NOT just for gentlemen. If a lady should happen to take it, she will also find herself aroused and in the mood to go all day long. However, since she cannot get an erection, the potion works on her by infusing her clitoris, making it plump up a bit and be more sensitive, perhaps even much easier to orgasm several times throughout the day. I am not 100 percent certain on that aspect and will need to test it on someone to find out for sure. Luna would almost certainly volunteer, but she's ALREADY near constantly horny with an exceptionally blessed ability to orgasm several times a day, so she would not be a good candidate.

Thus, I have to think of someone else. Would you object if I invited the Patil twins over again so soon?

But back to today. Having finished the potion yesterday, I wanted to test it as soon as possible, and so, this morning, I took a dose. Better yet, I woke up rather early for me so that I could test it for the full 12 hours the potion should work. Thus, right about 9 o'clock in the morning, I had Muffy show me where the kitchen is, which was naturally where you were.

Finding you bent over searching through a drawer for a utensil - presumably - was PERFECT. I magicked your pants and trousers off, cast the quick prep spells on you, and slid myself home inside you within seconds. You were naturally and pleasantly surprised. In no rush, I slowly worked my way in and out of you, reaching around so that one hand was pleasuring you as I did so. After the first gasp of surprise, ALL of your noises were of enjoyment, so I took that as a good sign.

I then sped up a bit at a time until I was pounding into you rather rapidly. I think you were purposely TRYING to hold out as long as possible, but eventually, you couldn't hold back any longer, throwing your head back and crying out delightfully obscenely as you painted the drawer and all its contents. Good thing we have house elves to clean up our messes, hahaha!

As you were panting happily from your orgasm, I withdrew and put myself away so that I could hold and kiss you for a moment, then I turned and Apparated away, leaving you to the chocolate cranberry cake you were making. I'm sincerely hoping that you're planning to ice it with cream cheese. And perhaps a dollop of Sanguinaccio?

I did a little of this and that - such as take a shower and do some stretches - for nearly an hour before deciding that I was ready to test the potion again. So far, it had done its job of making me hard and keeping me that way. Also, I had not gone off when you did.

So, I found you in the Kids' toy room. I popped in and told the littles that I needed to borrow you for a few minutes and that they should behave for Leah. Then I manhandled you into the nearest private spot, which happened to be the closet. After casting a silencing charm and a locking spell, I pushed you up against the wall, cast all the necessary quick prep spells - incidentally, in case you were too focused on what I was doing and missed it, I was using the naughty version of my chore control device to cast those spells so that I didn't use any magic I didn't need to while the twins need as much as I can spare. Then, up against the wall and with copious hot and demanding kisses, I shagged the hell out of you.

When you were done, you looked rather sated and lethargic. So I kissed you one last time - for the moment - and left you to recover. Then I repeated the performance not quite an hour later. That was the time I normally wake up, and so after that performance, I wandered off to get ready for our double appointment with Healer Rowe.

She was delighted to tell us that everything looks good. Best of all, when she was casting her hologram spell to take a look at the babies, all three of them cooperated and we got to see what we were carrying. You are finally carrying that girl you want and I'm so happy for you. When we heard that, we both assumed that if my dreams were correct, that means you have that girl I've been dreaming about with the long blonde hair and *I* have twin boys.

But we were wrong - as apparently are my dreams. Because I am carrying a boy AND a girl. Fraternal twins, obviously. Which makes sense as they are the result of two different potions taken over the course of two or three days. Knowing what gender they are somehow makes them feel more real, and so after our appointment, we went straight home to celebrate by me shagging you into our bed quite vigorously.

But my test wasn't done yet. Not quite every hour, but more or less every hour as I randomly decided I was ready for another round, I found you wherever you were - and you were trying to go about your day as normal, and so were doing things like playing with the kids and gardening, whereas I had been secluding myself in our suite so that I could write down notes on the experiment and try to wait a few minutes (by exercising) before attacking you again. Upon finding you, I'd drag you to somewhere private and have my naughty little wicked way with you in every way imaginable.

The first half a dozen times or so, you simply kept your mouth shut and enjoyed the fact that I had apparently made it my mission to get you off as much as possible. But perhaps your body ran out of spunk or something, because eventually you looked a bit put out. By 9 PM, you almost looked afraid of the fact that I was all over you again.

You chuckled nervously. "So... apparently YOU'VE hit the massively and exceedingly horny portion of your pregnancy..."

As I was currently making love to your neck, I couldn't do much more than hum - which wasn't a yes or a no. The good news for you was that the potion was wearing off, and so, I actually climaxed rather quickly. Shamefully quickly. Like I barely got inside you and I was already squealing and pumping you full. That bit is frightfully embarrassing and if I'd known it was going to happen, I would have timed it so that I sought you out a good five minutes sooner so that I appeared to have a decent amount of stamina.

In any case, despite being frustrating and exhausting for you, the potion seems to be a huge success and I will have to pass it onto George so he and a group of volunteers can test it more before selling it in the backroom of his shop. As for you, I am willing to bet that you will sleep like the dead tonight!

Meanwhile, I only orgasmed once all day, despite shagging nearly every hour on the hour. And so, I think I'm going to use your hand to please myself, or maybe I'll use my own hand but then finish things in your sleeping mouth. We'll see how it goes.

Love, the kind you clean up with a mop and bucket, like the lost catacombs of Egypt, only god knows where we stuck it,  
Draco  
P.S. So when I was consulting with Sebastian and Severus on the potion, more than once really, I was amused by the fact that Sebastian apparently told Sev after our Drag Show that my father had worn a pink dress and sang Barbie Girl. Sebastian ALSO used a memory camera to print up a copy for Sev to see, and so - you should go see it actually, you'd probably be shocked out of a year of life, haha - Severus Snape, sourpuss extraordinaire, is not only smiling, but he's also giggling and sniggering almost nonstop. Sebastian somehow managed to magic the memory photo into the portrait with Sev, so he has it to watch whenever he's bored and in need of some amusement, hahaha!


	120. Chapter 120

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry wants to talk names, but Draco has a one track mind at the moment, lol.

Friday January 15th  
My Love,

We saw our babies! Our perfect little healthy babies. And now that we know genders we can start talking …

NAMES!

I'm actually drawing a bit of a blank with boy names, I keep coming back to the one I've already suggested Caelum. I also really like Egan, Leander, and either Sander or Xander. As long as we aren't having a Draco the third I probably won't be too picky. I'm sure that whatever you think up I will end up falling in love with, crying a bit, and saying "oh Love, that's it, that's the one!"

With our girls, I'm not going to put my foot DOWN, but I am going to push it in a downwards fashion in the hopes you will finally FINALLY give in and let me use it! Can the girl I'm carrying please be named Persephone? Since the day I found out I was pregnant I have had the feeling that I am finally carrying a girl. And in my head she has miles of blonde curly hair and her name is Persephone. It's just. I just know that's her name. I don't have a real preference for her middle name, but between these two new girls I would love to honor our mothers. Maybe Persephone Narcissa? Vega Lily? Again, not feeling to determined about any names other than Persephone. But both of our fathers have been chosen as part of our sons' names, I think the women who've saved our lives should be shown the same devotion.

We have/had the best mums in the history of the world Draco! And I don't feel badly not naming one after Molly, unless of course you were adamant about the name, because she not only has plenty of kids who could use her name but one of them already has! As much as Percy was a prat growing up, and is still not my favorite of my Weasley siblings, his little Molly is one of the sweetest little kids I know.

I have to disagree with something you mentioned at least twice in your last message. I was not frustrated with the nonstop sex yesterday. A little sore? Sure. Curious as to what brought it on? Absolutely. Turned on and appreciative of the constant attention? Most definitely. Am I having trouble sitting today even though I didn't get a single spank yesterday? Without a doubt. But frustration was never one of my emotions. I'm surprised you weren't frustrated though. I like a denial spell as much as the next guy, hooray for stamina amirite? But I don't think I could go a solid twelve hours, watching you have orgasm after orgasm after orgasm, and be ok just staying hard and ready all day.

Anything for progress I guess! Oh no, I should probably delete that whole thing about going twelve hours without completion while you come over and over again, I'm a bit worried I've given you ideas. But I won't delete it, you'll do whatever you want to do, you're the Master you make the rules. And also I am a bit turned on at the idea of being desperate and wanting and just seeing to your pleasure for hours or days as you require.

Damnit, now I am hard as steel here.

I think it's hilarious that you're embarassed or ashamed at your hair trigger orgasm last night. Uh, what do you mean you came quickly? It took you twelve hours! And as much as I loved yesterday, and I certainly wasn't pushing you away, my poor bum was a bit sore after so much friction yesterday, it was probably just as well that last go was quicker. Even with the healing properties of our favorite lube (which you thankfully started using instead of the insta-prep lube about halfway through the day) there's only so much shagging my used bum can take.

So maybe you should get double the test subjects and invite Padma and Parvati over sometime soon. You know how I have been feeling crazy possessive of you this entire pregnancy so far? Yesterday may have cured me of that! I could handle you having a second or third outlet for your passion. Hmm. Now I am picturing it and while I'm not seeing the red haze I would have seen a week ago, I still am not loving it. Looks like the possessiveness is here to stay. So if you're going to invite the girls over I would do it very soon before the rage reappears.

Something that could take my mind off of any possessiveness is thinking about Severus harassing your father about his drag performance. I think it's amazing that they still have a friendship even with one of them existing as a portrait. I wish there was a portrait of my parents somewhere. I'd love to really get a chance to talk with them. I know I've spoken with them during a few rituals, but it's not the same. I mean, Sebastian has a full relationship with his biological father thanks to that painting. It's not the same as if he were alive, but it's something.

And now I have sufficiently bummed myself out. I think I will go treat myself to some of the cake I made yesterday. And of course the frosting was cream cheese, what do you take me for? A heathen?

Loving you always,  
Harry

P.S. I KNEW that's what I tasted when I woke this morning!

 

Friday January 15th  
Light of my life,

I like Persephone as a name. I think the only reason we haven't used that yet is that we've had more boys to name than girls. Elena and Viona already came with a name, and Hazel sort of fell into her name, haha. Also with Jasmine, we just felt it was a gorgeous name for a baby that looked a lot like the Princess from Aladdin, and it just fit her so well. So yes, I agree that it's time we name a girl Persephone.

That said, I have something in mind for the girl I'm carrying... Lily Narcissa. I know that may sound odd that *I* want to name mine after YOUR mother, but I actually have always loved the name Lily. When I was still in Hogwarts, I often thought about naming a boy Scorpius and a girl Lily. Or Lilliana perhaps. But ever since I started having dreams about carrying a girl with long blonde hair, I've just had the name stuck in my head, so I think SHE'S telling me that's what she wants.

Oh, here's a thought, what about Persephone Reina? Or Persephone Light? Or if Light is a bit too odd for you, an alternate version such as Hikari. Lux? Hmm... I'll have to think about it some more.

I feel bad basically abandoning you for the rest of the day, but last night before going to bed, I Magimobile called Parvati and asked her if she and or her twin would be interested in testing out a potion that might potentially give them as many orgasms as they could handle for 12 hours, and color me surprised, she said that they'd both drop everything and come over today around 1 o'clock, and it's nearly that time now. Don't feel like you have to give us complete privacy as you are welcome to pop in and see how things are going throughout the day. Chances are that there will be a lot of down time in between sessions.

But there's good news, when I called George to tell him that I was testing the potion a bit more before sending it on to him, Neville and Charlie happened to be over for dinner and heard George talking about it, so they were intrigued and volunteered to come over any day you want (such as tomorrow) and help the two of us test this potion until none of us can walk a straight line anymore, hahaha!

I told them you'd call them to confirm (or reschedule if necessary). Love you!

I wanna l-l-lick you from your head to your toes, then I wanna move from the bed down to the down to-the to-the floor, then I wanna - ah ah - you make it so good I don't wanna leave, but I gotta kn-kn-know wh-what's your fanta-tasy,  
Draco


	121. Chapter 121

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is a pregnancy brained doofus and forgot something important. Thankfully, Harry remembered.

Saturday January 16, 2010

You pregnancy-brained doofus,

I so rarely get to tease anyone else about their forgetfulness that I have to apologize in advance because I am going to take advantage of this. We had our appointment Thursday, and you spent the day shagging me like crazy. Then on Friday, you spent the day shagging the Patil twins like crazy. Either being pregnant with twins has removed your memory or shagging for twelve hours straight two days in a row was responsible for the memory lapse.

I had to reschedule with Neville and Charlie, they're coming over Monday instead. As you're now well aware, we already had some fairly important plans for today. Hannah and Davis' wedding!

I woke you up this morning, unfortunately not in your favorite way since the kids were awake and wanted to help me wake you up, but I think you enjoyed it regardless. I had Zaire get Bear, Siri and Zwei went and got Romulus and Remus, while Jaz and I climbed into bed and started giving you alternating kisses on your sleep-flushed face. By the time you peeled your beautiful eyes open, the boys had shown up with the puppies. They clamored onto the bed and gave you some much messier kisses.

Once the puppies and boys had settled a bit and were really just snuggling in, Muffy popped in with some of your favorite tea. Zaire settled himself in your lap asking very sweetly for a biscuit. Luckily, Muffy had anticipated this and was back with a trayful of biscuits before you even had a chance to call her. As everyone dug in, we figured it was time to show of Jaz's newest trick. She got your attention, signing away, "Daddy, look at me!" I put her on the floor and she astounded all of us (except for me who saw it happen yesterday) by pulling herself up and toddling across the room.

When she eventually fell on her little padded booty, she turned to us and we gave her the cheering happy reaction she was looking for. She walked herself back to the bed where I picked her up and put her in your lap. You heaped tons of praise on her, she preened like she knew just how deserving of praise she is. She's certainly a Malfoy, preening like a peacock! She's going to be so spoiled, I saw you and her big brothers just going gooey eyed over her proud little face. Good thing my stern self will be there to make sure she's humble.

Ha, like she needs to be humble, she's brilliant and amazing and should know it!

Once everyone had settled a bit and we were just sitting in bed, chatting with the kids and petting the pups, you asked "So when are Charlie and Neville headed over today, Love?"

I chuckled, "Never Darling, you seem to have forgotten about our plans for the day, does a certain Detective Inspector ring any bells?"

You had a slight pause like you were trying to figure out what Hannah had to do with anything and then your eyes bugged out of your head, "Merlin's sagging bollocks! Hannah's wedding is today! What time is it? Why did you let me sleep in? Why am I just sitting here eating biscuits and drinking tea? I need to start getting ready! Muffy! Where are my clothes for the wedding?" As you were shouting out these questions, comments, concerns? you jumped out of bed, naked as can be, and started darting around the room like you couldn't quite figure out if you should be in the bathroom or the closet or somewhere else.

You running around like a chicken with its head cut off caused the puppies to think it was playtime. I am going to print out a copy of this memory for sure. I might even give it to Snape to add to his "embarrassing Malfoy collection" because I don't know if I have ever seen anything funnier than you running around starkers, panicking, while chased by two big dogs and our tiny little fluff ball.

I had woken you up in plenty of time so the panicking was unnecessary, but damn was it fun. Eventually you heard me over the sound of your shouting and calmed when I told you we had hours until we had to be there. It's one of the perks of attending a wedding we have no part in, all we have to do is get ready, attend the wedding, and have fun dancing our arses off.

Which we did. You looked dashing in your black on black on black ensemble. You look fit in anything, but there's something so hot about you looking so much like yourself from Hogwarts, while simultaneously completely different. Wearing posh, perfectly tailored clothing head to toe, your perfect moonlit features a stark contrast just as I picture you from our childhood. But today those clothes were high end muggle fashion, and those beautiful pale features were beaming at me with love. Just as beautiful but smiling with love instead of sneering with hidden love. Ok, maybe not hidden love at that point, maybe hidden lust?

Wasn't the wedding just beautiful? Hannah was an absolute vision. It seems Davis agreed since he started crying when he saw her walking down the aisle towards him. I know exactly how he felt, on our wedding day when I looked over and saw you on your way to the end of the aisle it took everything in my power (and likely a bit of Arthur's strength) to hold me back from just running to you. I couldn't wait one more moment to not be married to you.

I feel like every moment of my life I spent not married to you was a waste of time. What did I even accomplish before then? Nothing. Ok there was that whole war thing and murdering a dark lord and then that time I died. Who cares? I literally died when I wasn't married to you. DIED.

I spent the evening wrapped in your arms, my very favorite place to be. You singing into my ear. Well, singing when you weren't whispering filthy promises into my ear. Promises you made good on when you dragged me off to find a hidden alcove.

But now you're snuggled up in bed with our two littlest while I recap our day. You were so tired, having to wake up before noon, being "forced" to dance all night, I think you were asleep before you head even hit the pillow. But I had to wind down a bit. No plans that I know of for tomorrow, I think there's going to be a little meetup around dinner time to finish plans for next weekend's birthday parties, but other than that we can just laze around and spend some family time

Resting up for Monday!!

All of my love,  
Harry

 

Sunday January 17th  
My beloved mutt,

Yes, shagging for basically two days straight DID effect my memory. I didn't have enough blood running to my brain to remember much more than my name, haha! But don't act like you remembered all on your own. I'm certain you had to have Pippa remind you as part of your morning routine, ha!

In any case, the test with the Patil twins was a resounding success. The potion DOES do exactly what I thought it would. It is intended to make and keep a penis erect, but since a woman doesn't have a penis, it works on her clitoris - which incidentally, I learned as I was researching and making the potion, that the clitoris is actually a long wishbone shaped thing that is made out of the same material the penis would be if they were male. The potion plumps up - or makes erect - the branches of the wishbone that run down along the labia (I know, squicky female anatomy, sorry), making the entire area much more sensitive than normal.

I was able to conserve my stamina NOT by taking another dose of the potion, but by using my mouth and hands on them for the vast majority of the day. I was also right in that each of them would relax and enjoy several orgasms in a row before needing to take a break and recover a bit, BUT I was wrong about having a little time in between sessions because there were two of them. When the second one needed a break, the first one was recovered and ready to go again.

I'm sure the reason you think I physically shagged them the entire day was because you came to check on us at some point during the second half of the day- or more like last third - and by then, the twins had decided that they'd had enough of laying on their backs in orgasmic bliss and were taking turns trying to see if they could ride their way to overpowering a denial spell I'd cast on myself. While giving themselves as many orgasms as they could, which wreaked a bit of havoc on my poor, overly stimulated senses.

But enough about my test. Hannah's wedding.

It was lovely and I could see what decorations you helped with because you'd smile at them fondly. I may have looked rather dashing in my muggle formalwear, but so did you. I had you wearing a suit that matched mine except for the very subtle contrasting color. Mine was a thin gold thread that probably wasn't noticeable except for giving the whole suit a light shimmer. Meanwhile, your hard to see accent thread was a shinning green that brought out your eyes in an amazing way, even if one couldn't quite figure out why, haha.

My favorite part was naturally dancing with you, but my second favorite part was the - what? Third dance? The first was the bride and groom, the second was the bride and her father and the groom and his mother, the third was the bridal party, so ah! The FOURTH dance. Hannah was encouraged by the man in charge of the music to pick a partner from the audience to begin the rest of the dancing, and she chose you so she could thank you again for helping out. Meanwhile, Davis chuckled and invited me to dance, which caused a minor scandal (of mainly heckling laughter by his mates).

During the dance, Davis asked me about the time I'd pretended to be Hannah's boyfriend to help her solve a case. Midway through the dance, they switched partners. Hannah kissed me on the cheek and thanked us for coming to her wedding - and also helping her with cold cases - which she already had another one she wanted to bring to me after her honeymoon. With a devious grin, I pulled out two slim vials of my new potion.

"This is a new potion I just created that WILL be going on the market very shortly for a massive amount of money, but I think you'll find it an appropriate gift for the first day of your honeymoon. Each of you down the contents of a vial, and then be prepared to have the best shag of your life."

Hannah smirked at me as she tucked the vials in her bodice. "I don't think we need any help in that department, but since we plan to be shagging anyway, I don't see how it could hurt."

But anyway, since today is meant to be a lazy Sunday in every sense of the word, I'm going to take Jaz and Zaire - and any of the other kids who want to come - out to the owlry to do a bit of bonding and hunting with the owls. Chances are my father will be out there too since he's not quite sure what to do with himself now that his other children are gone all the time. I think he'll be more than happy to take on the older kids while I handle the younger ones.

And so, you should be able to have a fairly relaxing day in the garden - not that there's much to actually DO this time of year. Even inside the green house, everything is more or less resting. Or maybe you'll spend the day in the kitchen making things for that little meeting about the combined birthday party. Maybe you'll even make me some ribs and kraut with sausage gravy and blood, mmm...

Make me come alive, come on and turn me on, touch me, save my life, come on and turn me on, I'm too young to die, come on and turn me on, turn me on, turn me on,  
Draco

Sent a several hours later:  
P.S. I'm sorry if I startled or scared you. After my lazy day and your lazy day - and the fact that I seem to be craving blood as if it was the finest wine - I put the littles to bed and trudged into the bathroom to join you in a bath that would hopefully put me right to sleep (and keep me safe and warm even if you decided to leave me there). Only I saw you laying down and looking half asleep yourself. Your neck seemed to call my name, throbbing oh so invitingly, so I went over and gave you a love bite - the harmless sort that just leaves a bruise. At first. And then I used a very precise cutting hex to open up a small scratch that bled almost alarmingly despite the fact that I'd been careful not to go near anything major. Then I spent I don't even know how long just licking up the blood that slowly oozed from that scratch while kissing your neck and letting my hands roam your body as they liked. I promise I was NOT trying to literally eat you!


	122. Chapter 122

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Playnight with Neville and Charlie ^_^

Tuesday January 19, 2010

My Owner,

I'm not moving again for at least a month. I think my bones have transfigured themselves into noodles. Oooooh, noodles! We should get Italian for dinner tonight! We can always do Café Exquis if no one else is in the mood for Italian. They make a mean ravioli and the garlic bread is to di for. I just hope I'm able to walk by the time dinner comes around. Right now the idea of even going to the loo is a bit daunting. Seriously, noodle-bones!

I had been in the mood to be a pup for a while now. I wasn't the last time we played with Neville and Charlie in November, but I was definitely in the mood today. I've actually been craving it so much the last few weeks that when I realized you had accidentally invited them for the day of Hannah's wedding I had a split second where I thought about not going to the wedding. I wouldn't do that to Hannah, and I love weddings enough that I wouldn't do that to myself either. But I wanted to be a pup badly enough that the moment definitely happened.

I actually did not need Pippa to remind me of the wedding. I swear it. But that's just because I had been a part of the wedding planning in the week leading up to the ceremony so it was set a bit more in my mind than it must have been in yours. I wasn't distracted with potion inventions and the subsequent testing phase of those potions. Well, I was a part of the testing phase the first day, but I didn't know it until later!

But yesterday's testing process I was there from start to finish.

I woke up early, I was too excited to start the day. I got all of the kids ready for their day with Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur. After multiple loo breaks, a nappy change for Jaz, and three different children needing to run back to their room to grab something they wanted to show Grandma or Grandpa. Eventually I got the entire crew herded over to the Burrow. And wasn't Molly in heaven at the idea of having all ten of them, yes even Lainie wanted to spend the day with her grandparents and her siblings, plus Charlie and Neville had already dropped off Frankie.

Frankie was sitting in one of the high chairs, face already smeared with what appeared to be Molly's homemade cinnamon rice pudding. It didn't take much to get our kids settled around the table for a little mid-morning treat. I left a happy tableful of children, inhaling pudding like they've never been fed before in their lives.

Then it was time to come home and get ready. I took a nice, hot, soapy soak in the tub. Got myself squeaky clean. Just as I was finishing you joined me. Oh no, I was all done washing, whatever will I do while you're in the tub?!? I kept myself busy getting you all squeaky clean. Mmm, warm, wet, soapy Draco is one of my very favorite Dracos.

We made our way to the playroom and managed to get about five minutes of snogging and groping in while we waiting for Charlie and Neville to arrive. They popped in, and I could barely contain my giggles. Besides the collar he wears no matter what he's doing, Charlie had none of his pup gear on. He may as well have since he was so excited, bouncing on his heals, panting a little, big goopy smile, if he had a tail he would have been wagging it!

Well, we fixed that missing piece right away didn't we?

I was already naked from my bath, and with a flourish of his wand Neville had the glamour on Charlie that made him appear dressed dropped. Nev came walking up to me, put his hand in my hair asking, "Harry, I brought you a friend for a playdate, are you going to be a good pup for your owner and I?" I was so excited for today, already anticipating puppy time, that I dropped headlong into my pup headspace with just that question. I just nodded happily. Neville scratched behind my ears "well I guess that's going to make us the owners of two very good boys today, isn't it Draco?"

"I'm not sure Neville, I didn't know good pups stood on two legs" Charlie and I dropped down on all fours before you had the full sentence out of your mouth. "Yes, that is much better. Sit. Stay. We'll go get all your puppy toys." We sat so nicely waiting for you two to get everything ready. You handed Neville one of the potions to drink and one for him to feed to Charlie. Wait, you've obviously tried it, Neville is using one, and Charlie too? Was I going to be the only one who didn't get to test the potion? I must have let out a whine without realizing it because you smirked at me and asked if I was a thirsty boy who needed a potion as well. Uh, heck yes I do, gimme gimme gimme! I obviously didn't say it but my eyes must have since you brought one up to my lips for me to drink.

Mmmphh. That potion goes straight to the cock doesn't it? I was already hard from anticipation so I assumed I wouldn't really feel any difference but everything felt fuller, the skin felt tighter. I was a bit distracted paying attention to my body's changes that I almost didn't hear the command for Charlie and I to "Present!" I paused just a moment to look at Charlie, but he was already shoulders to the floor, with his arse up and out pointed at his owner. Ooh, I could do that too! I got in the same position and shook my arse just for good measure. I felt a sharp crack to my right arse cheek, "Hold still mutt!" What? I was just wagging where my tail should be!

You two owners got your boys all ready. Lubed and prepped for our tails, tails inserted, kneepads placed, harnesses on, and even though we didn't need them because of the potion we had our rings placed as well. "Come Boy!" and "Come Mutt!" came next and we bounded our way over to the couch where the two of you were sitting side by side. "Where are your puppy ears?" Well, duh Master, you hadn't put them on us yet! Which you immediately rectified.

Once we were all ready, we sat back on our calves hands on the ground, awaiting instructions. We were told to go play and have fun and we certainly didn't need to be told twice. We may not do this often the way they do, but over the years I've definitely dropped into pupspace enough that it no longer felt odd to start playing. Years ago I would have let out an inelegant squeaky squeal at the idea of Charlie nosing around my bollocks or licking a stripe up my cheek, but now I just did the exact same back to him. I even added a few playful nips to his arse and headbutted his shoulder to tell him it was time to roughhouse.

The potion definitely added a slightly different tone to playtime. While the rings we wear as puppies and all the naked skin displayed usually meant we were hard for playtime, besides our cocks just bumping into each other as part of the play, it's rarely sexual until our owners tell us it's time to make it so. But I was so hard, and I just wanted to fuck and suck and be fucked and sucked. I could tell Charlie felt the same way.

I could hear you talking about us in that "owner" way like you don't even have to be careful about what you say because what can we do about it? We're just pups. It gets me so fucking hot. When I managed to look over at you, I realized you two weren't quite as calm as you usually were despite the calm voices you were using. Oh, of course, because Neville took the potion too. You hadn't because you wanted to observe the potion's effects without feeling it yourself, but being around two naked men and a Neville with his cock out had you naturally interested. The view I was bestowed with was the two of you, still mostly fully dressed, with your trousers unzipped and each other's dicks in your hands. Just chatting and lazily stroking each other.

I was distracted by that beautiful sight enough that I didn't' even notice my fellow playmate come up behind me. I'm so much smaller than he is that it certainly wasn't hard for him to cover my body in his and start rutting away against my arse. I could feel the wet smears of his precum slicking across my hips and thighs, every hump had him jostling the plug my tail attaches to, and his yips, barks, and panting in my ear all combined to make me a needy shaky mess. "Oi Charlie-Boy, stop humping my mutt. I know, I know, he's so cute it's hard to resist, why don't the two of you come over here so we can give you some attention, hmm?"

I assumed that we were going to be told to lick the two of you all over, but instead you both went syrupy sweet and asked us, "do you good boys want some belly rubs? Who wants a belly rub?!" Well, now that you mention it, this good boy definitely wants some belly rubs. We laid at your feet, on our backs, paws in the air, eagerly awaiting the two of you leaning over to rub our bellies. Except you didn't. You just kept sitting there, still slowly stroking each other, and then the both of you put your stocking clad feet on us. Ohhhhh, yeah that's the stuff. You using your feet actually felt really good, sometimes when you rub my stomach with your hand it can get a bit ticklish, but your feet just rubbed in all the right places. And then you'd nudge your foot downwards, just letting me grind my hard shaft up into the arch of your foot.

"Hey Draco, our boys have been so good about sharing this playspace, and sharing toys, should we see if they can share other things as well?" Why is Neville so good at sounding so deliciously evil?

"What do you have in mind?" you drawled.

Neville got us all situated as he wanted us. He was kicked back on the couch, legs spread, cock jutting out. Charlie and I were of course on all fours, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, cheek to cheek a hair's breath away from the huge shaft. You were behind us, caressing our arses. "Well boys, let's see if you can share this nicely, have at!" as he gestured to his lap. We wasted no time and dove right in. We licked him all over, root to tip. Every so often one of us would swallow as much of him as we could, while the other just licked any exposed skin, then we would trade, and then we would go back to puppy licks all over.

From behind us, you pulled out our tails and began stretching us out, readying us for our owners' use. Starting with two fingers, quickly upping it to three, and even sneaking that fourth in eventually. I assume you were doing the same with Charlie since he was grunting and moaning away while we made an absolutely wet mess of Neville's lap. We were so good right? We shared Charlie's owner's dick and I shared my Master's fingers.

When I felt you sliding my tail back in, I whined in confusion. "Shh shh Mutt, you'll get yours, but I don't want you to close up while I'm taking care of Charlie boy here." I snuck a peek and saw you sliding yourself into Charlie. His happy groans increased as you filled him up. I took a break from licking at Neville, to give comforting kisses all over my friend's face. You had one hand on his hip and the other on my tail. Not quite fucking me with it, but definitely wiggling it enough for me to know you hadn't forgotten about me.

Eventually (I have no idea how long; hours?), you pulled out of Charlie, still hard and ready to go, pressing his tail back inside. I felt mine being pulled back out as you cast a cleansing spell on your shaft, and I knew what was coming. I felt you inside of me, fitting so perfectly, my favorite feeling. You fucked into me for a while, and I'm pretty sure you were giving the same attention to Charlie's tail as you had to mine when you were inside of him. I heard those familiar noises that told me you were about to come. I lifted my head out of Neville's lap and looked at you with what I assume are big puppy dog eyes. I'd begged you years ago to do something for me, but you never have. It's alright, we are kinky enough that I can handle not doing the few things you aren't quite comfortable with. But this time the eyes seem to have done the trick. You stopped before you could come and time stood a bit still for that moment for me.

"You want something else don't you, Mutt? Something I've never given you before? You want me to mark you and claim you like the animal you are right now, huh?" Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, fucking hell were you going to do it? My eyes must have been the size of dinner plates, I was so hopeful. "Ok my good boy, you deserve a treat for being so good for me don't you. Wanna be claimed? Huh baby? Yeah you do." You pulled out of my arse and came around to my face, "You ready Love? Mmm, gonna mark you. Going to claim you. Get my scent all over you." Just an endless stream of filth to get me harder than I thought possible. And finally, FINALLY, you did what I'd been dreaming of for what feels like forever. You came in hot stripes all over my face. I shut my eyes just in time, and once I felt no more pulses I opened them. I had streaks of come in my hair, across my cheek, sliding over my lips, and my vision was a bit blurry from the drop dangling from my eyelashes.

Better than I imagined it being. Trust you to not want me to keep my messy face, so you ran your hands through the wetness on my face and fed me your come fingerful by fingerful. "That's my very good boy!"

After that I felt as though I didn't even care what happened for the rest of the day. I got what I wanted, I could have stopped right there without even coming and still would have been thoroughly satisfied. Thank you for that, I know it's not your thing but fuck was it just what I wanted.

The rest of the playtime was you and Neville torturing Charlie and I. We pulled out of pupspace for a while and were just your subs. Hours in and we still hadn't come yet. As we reached the limits of the potions, Neville suggested we go back to being pups again. We played a bit and got back in the right headspace. Once we were ready, Neville decided he wanted to mark up his boy the way you marked me up earlier. A few strokes, a stream of filthy phrases, and a spell to let him off the potion's restraints had him coming all over Charlie. And not just the face, he covered his neck, shoulders, and chest as well.

"Well Neville, the potions should be wearing off soon, how should we let these filthy boys come?"

"Draco, they should come like the dirty little pups they are don't you think?" After you nodded in agreement, Neville pointed to your and his legs, "go ahead boys, take care of yourselves." and that's when I think I did the kinkiest thing I've ever done. Top five wank bank memories of my life. Still in pupspace, Charlie and I got in close to our owners, and rutted our exhausted cocks up against your legs. The material of your trousers, and the fact that you were both still mostly dressed, adding to the experience. We just humped and rutted against your legs until the potion wore off enough for us to release all over.

As that is pretty much my last memory before waking up this morning, I am going to assume you two owners took your respective subs off to our beds. Snuggling and holding us, showing me why my decision to have you as my Master was definitely the right one.

I love you.

But now that I've gotten it all down on email and out of my head, I am going to go for a quick run, shower off, and then go pick up our babies. I'll see you when you wake up. Take all the rest you need, you've earned it my Master.

Your Mutt

 

Tuesday January 19th  
My good little mutt,

Sweet Salazar's pendulous testicles! Play night with Neville and Charlie is ALWAYS fantastic, but yesterday was..... I have no words to describe just how hot and kinky that was.

Obviously, your favorite part was all the puppy play, and yes, that turned me on so badly that I honestly thought I was going to find out how many times I physically *could* orgasm in one day. But I managed to hold most of it back, haha.

My favorite part was something you lumped under: And then we came out of pupspace for a few hours while you two tortured us. There was the obvious spanking, the Sounding to provoke dry orgasms in both of you, and the Violet Wand play. Even restricting that to your arms and upper back was still fun. But my FAVORITE part was when we had you both tied up and suspended safely from the ceiling. Using nothing but a pair of leucistic peacock feathers each and a lot of filthy praise, we were able to take advantage of the potion keeping you constantly ready to go by lightly stroking every part of your bodies with the feathers and telling you how good AND naughty you both were. You eventually got so bloody worked up that I really think that had you NOT been under the influence of a potion designed to keep you hard and prevent orgasm for 12 hours, you probably would have erupted like a volcano all over me and the entire playroom!

Seeing you look so absolutely desperate actually DID make me orgasm without anything touching my shaft! And that was made even better when Neville saw what was happening and quickly moved to cover it with his hot mouth so that he could swallow it down, mmm... Which led to two desperately horny subs who were tied up and helpless, unable to do anything but watch as WE shagged the bloody hell out of each other. Neville had taken the potion too, so I have to admit that being the bottom to a shaft that size for nearly an hour was an experience that I'm not certain I could handle more than once every blue moon or so. I have NO idea how Charlie takes it on a regular basis!

My poor bum is so sore today that I'd have you massage a healing ointment into it for a few hours if we didn't already have very important plans. Today is the day that we bring Hazel into see Healer Rowe and talk over her options. Good thing Pippa reminded me because my first thought upon waking today was that I really needed to roll over and go back to sleep until everything stopped feeling so sensitive. But no, Pippa was standing next to the bed, staring at her watch as she waited for me to wake up. Apparently, had I not woken up then, she was about to wake me anyway.

"You have an appointment to take your daughter to see Healer Rowe in about an hour, and we all know that you'll need every minute and then some to feel like you are sufficiently ready to go."

"Erm..." I murmured as I sat up. "WHICH daughter...?"

"Hazel, but Rowe is well aware that you and Harry tend to bring more than one child to each appointment, and so, I'm sure that Harry is planning to bring Zaire and possibly Jaz."

"I see, it's that appointment. I'd best get ready quickly then so that Haz isn't tempted to come in and murder me for taking too long," I said rather sensibly for having JUST woken up.

"Best do!" Pippa agreed. "In the meantime, I'll go make sure Harry remembers, and see if Hazel is also getting ready. Chances are that she's been ready for ages and is doing something to distract herself while she waits."

"That sounds like her," I nodded in agreement as I slipped out of bed and began my morning stretches. Now that I'm getting on in my pregnancy, my bump is not only noticeable, but my body is starting to ache no matter what I do. The stretches are becoming a form of mild torture in that doing them hurts a little, but NOT doing them hurts a LOT in the long run, sigh. Then I took a moment to set up the dictation feature on my laptop so that I could write this email as I did my bathroom routine. I'm ready now and about to come find you, and so, I need to sign off.

Love, lust, and all the other emotions, but probably no shagging for another 12 or so hours because I feel like I couldn't get it up again at the moment if I needed to in order to save my life!  
Draco


	123. Chapter 123

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco bring Hazel to see Healer Rowe, and the Draco gives Harry something to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry loves about the lack of posting THREE days in a row! I honestly meant to post yesterday, but then realized that I'd run out of new stuff in my master file and had to update it with new stuff from our emails - and that ended up taking several HOURS! I ended up going to bed and doing my errands today before I finished updating, and so, now I have more chapters ready to go ^_^

Tuesday January 19th  
Mi Pobrecito Bebe,

We just got back from Haz's appointment with Healer Rowe, and I had every intention on giving you a thorough massage since you've been so sore, but I rubbed your back for all of two minutes and you were sound asleep. I will start all over later whenever you wake up, but I figured letting you get in a solid amount of sleep was of the utmost importance. I suppose it's just as well that you fell asleep, it will give me some time to get my thoughts from the appointment out before we have a thorough discussion later.

Three weeks shy of her first birthday, and Rowe feels that Jaz has caught up to her similar aged peers. No more modified milestone charts! And considering how much signing she is doing, she has more signed words than the average baby has spoken words. Jaz showed off her walking skills, which Rowe made sure to heap loads of praise on her for it. Physically speaking, Jaz is a bit on the shorter and lighter side, but she's followed her own growth chart so far. Seeing as we have no idea as to her biological parents' body shapes, we know she's eating well, and she's meeting her milestones, we're just chalking her daintiness up to genetic predisposition.

Zaire's low weight is not genetic predisposition. We already knew that. But he's gaining at a fairly steady pace. He didn't gain much when he first came home, but he's already put on a few pounds since his surgery! Apparently feeling safe and it no longer hurting him to digest his food is bringing on the healing. Rowe was also impressed with how much better he seemed to be doing emotionally. He's still more likely to spend the majority of the appointment on my lap, but he's not cowering into my neck, he's doing a little speaking, and when it came time to have the deeper discussions with Haz he seemed content enough to play with Jaz instead of clinging to me like a little koala.

Oh, and my magic levels are holding pretty steady, I was concerned that by starting nursing in the middle of my pregnancy they would drop, but they're doing well. Yours are draining, but at the same pace they've drained in your pregnancy with Zwei, which considering you have double the baby, the same amount of drain is really a win! Maybe your super creepy vampire craving has been good for you!

Oh Haz. I think it was a productive meeting. Haz had a significant amount of input, as opposed to when we first took her in when she was four and it was really just an adult discussion about her official diagnosis. I think it's fantastic that she has options at her age, but when it comes down to it she's at an age where the final decision rests in our hands.

She has a number of options right now, and I think I know which way I am leaning but I'm so scared of not doing what's best for her.

The first, and least likely, option is to just leave things as they are. Let her continue to dress her own way, choose her name and pronouns, but essentially leave her body completely genetically as-is. While I don't mind waiting a few more months or maybe even a year before the final decision is made, I can't see letting her go through puberty while her body develops in a masculine way when we've known for more than half her life that she's female. She seems content and happy in her body, but will she feel that way if her voice starts to change or she starts getting facial hair? Somehow I don't think she'd handle that particularly well.

The second option is to put her on a puberty blocking potion. This essentially puts a pause on her going through male puberty but doesn't push a female puberty or hormonal transition. It keeps her in a bit of a "little kid stasis." I think this option is best for children who they are most likely sure will continue to identify as their chosen gender for the rest of their lives but no one wants to make a permanent change to their bodies at such a young age. There are definitely benefits to this option, giving her more time to be absolutely certain this is what she wants for a lifetime being the obvious one. But there is very little research done as to whether this will be good or bad for bone or neurological development.

The third option is to start her on the estrogen potion now. This is just about unheard of in the muggle world, but the potions for transitioning in the wizarding world are a bit different. Because we have the magical ability to do such extreme things as polyjuice into another person's body and grow an entire uterus for a man who wants to carry a baby, we have a safer alternative for adding the right hormones without any of the negative side-effects. This would give Haz the ability to go through an altered female puberty of sorts.

As far as I know, in discussions with her, in discussions with her therapist, and just from watching her, I can't see physically transitioning to be something she will regret. If she had just come out to us within the last year or so I would be less likely to want to make a decision that could be permanent or semi-permanent. My take on this whole thing is, if Haz wants to start the estrogen potions now, I am willing to support that decision. It's a bit scary, but there's no doubt in my mind that this is who she is and who she always will be.

I would be alright with the puberty blocker as well, this way she won't have the physical male changes that would potentially have her experiencing some gender dysphoria. My concern with just blocking and not adding the hormones are the lack of bone and neurological development, as well as I can see her having dysphoria issues when Eris starts developing and looking more feminine while Haz stays childlike. But again, if this is the route she wants to take, I will support that decision.

Unless she is having second thoughts about her gender that no one has managed to pick up on, I don't like the idea of leaving everything as-is. I don't mind waiting another few months or maybe a year, but I really think seeing masculine changes added to her body would damage her emotionally. If she were adamant that she wanted to make no changes, I think I would have a hard time supporting that choice. But, judging by her questions and commentary during the appointment, I don't think this will be an issue.

So what do you think?

Did you see Haz's sketches? While we were in Rowe's waiting room she pulled out some clothing designs. I think you were distracted signing with Jaz, but I got to look through the whole stack. I knew she had an eye for fashion, but that doesn't always translate to having the talent to create it. It's similar to someone being wonderful at knowing good musical talent when they hear it but with the inability to carry a tune. But her designs were just gorgeous. She has a really neat blend of wizarding and muggle styles, and they run from highly feminine to slightly androgynous. She even had some sketches for "boy's" clothes. I think you telling her and Eris (and Viona as business manager) that they could start this business has finally given her the confidence to show off her designs.

I've yet to see anything from Eri though, I think when I am done writing I'm going to hunt her down and guilt trip her into showing me the designs she's come up with!

And you're still snoozing away. Ok I'm off to find Eri, and then I think I'm going to talk the kids into doing some dirt biking. I think Viper's crew could use the distraction. They're still missing him like crazy.

Get some good rest!

Te Amo,  
Harry

 

Wednesday January 20th  
My delicious love,

I feel a bit bad because from the moment I woke up I NEEDED you! but not in the normal sexy, let's see how long we can shag today sort of way. No...

I was craving blood again and all I could think about was biting your neck and drinking you like the finest wine. It was so bad that I can only describe it with the lyrics from a song:

Burning the ground, I break from the crowd, I'm on the hunt down, I'm after you, I smell like I sound, I'm lost and I'm found, and I'm hungry like the wolf, strut on a line, it's discord and rhyme, I'm on the hunt down, I'm after you, my mouth is alive with juices like wine, and I'm hungry like the wolf.

So, after slipping out of bed, not even stretching beyond a single arms above my head and to each side once, I immediately Apparated to where you were in the midst of a raucous indoor rugby match with the Viper's kids, and those of our kids old enough to want to play. The reason I feel bad is that I didn't even say a word - not to ask or explain anything - I simply Apparated you to our playroom where I used the Naughty Control to tie you to the bed. Then I didn't even undress you, making us the exact opposite of what you normally prefer - you naked and me dressed - by being naked still from waking up and you being fully dressed.

Then I pounced on you, giving you kisses until you stopped minorly protesting and wondering what was going on. I think maybe you assumed that I'd taken that potion again, but no. I simply NEEDED to drink a little of your blood. This time, rather than cast a precise cutting hex, I used one of the metallic nails we have in a drawer next to the bed in our playroom. I honestly don't remember why we bought them originally, but they are stainless steel caps that go over the finger tips to add a bit of interesting decoration - ornately beautiful decoration - even as the tips of the nails are very sharp and intended to be wicked when used to scratch something.

As I was saying, I used just one on my pointer finger to very gently scratch open a line on your neck so that I could lick your blood as it oozed out of your neck. I wasn't at it for very long - and I tried to reward you for your patience by grinding my palm over your fully covered erection so that you'd eventually have a release. I'd probably really only got a half a cup or so out of your neck before I suddenly felt like my craving was fulfilled. A sort of blissful haze enveloped me, making me sigh happily and lay my head on your shoulder as I pet your chest.

After a few moments, it felt like I woke up from a deeply restful nap and was just brimming with energy. So I released you from your bondage, kissed you quite possessively, and suggested that we bring the kids to that park Greg and Millie were nearly done working on so that they could see it and give feedback. Naturally, we'd have to leave at some point to go to Unity House for movie night, but you'd suggested a while ago that we bring the kids to this park I'm building and we just haven't yet, so why not?

You loved the idea and kissed me before popping off to go round up our brood, giving me time to not only dictate this email, but do my morning routine and get dressed. I'm hungry for food now, and so, going to insist that we stop off at Café Exquis for lunch before actually going to the park.

In any case, signing off now!

Touch me once and you'll know it's true, I never wanted anyone like this, I'm crazy for you,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses on why Draco's craving blood? ^_^


	124. Chapter 124

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco admits that he might need to see Healer Rowe.

Wednesday January 20th  
My Love,

We had such a nice day today, a wonderful afternoon at your park, a fantastic movie night, and now I'm sitting up in our bed with your sleeping head in my lap and our two littlest littles sound asleep wrapped up next to you. I've got so much racing through my head that I just had to write before I drifted off to dreamland with the rest of you.

Sometimes when we email I feel like I am just answering a few questions and don't have much of my own thoughts to share. Sometimes it's just about keeping up this tradition of writing the way we fell in love. And often it's just a lovely way to keep a timeline of our lives so far. But today I have so much going on in my brain I need a way to make sure I don't forget something important that I need to discuss with you.

Tomorrow afternoon Lainie is pitching me her business plan. You and I both know that I'm going to say yes regardless of what she's planning, but I hope the process of creating a presentation caused our Lainie to really think about the business as a whole. From my own experience, it's all well and good to come up with an idea for a business or for a produce, but there are so many aspects of a business that don't always get figured out while you're busy making big plans. Knowing who's going to clean the toilets is just as important as knowing who's going to manage the clients.

However, I did send her an email right before I started writing yours. Just letting her know that I may need to reschedule. You see, I'd really like you to go see Healer Rowe about your weird cravings. You know I'm not judging you or trying to shame you. I was a human puppy for hours the other day, I certainly don't think a little bloodplay is over the top. But it worries me that you seem to be legitimately craving it. This could have an underlying cause, and you know how I worry about you. I'm wondering if it could be something like the disorder Pica, or could it be something totally crazy like you were bitten by a vampire without your knowledge. I know, it sounds strange, but my evil twin who's currently Universe hopping doesn't have the monopoly on strange!

Fine, he's not evil. But on a sliding scale he's certainly the evil-er of the two of us!

Oh, and I finally made an appointment with Julia to do our family pictures. Saturday is the big January birthday party extravaganza, so she's going to come before to take the majority of the pictures, hopefully we can get a few of our extended family as well, and then she's going to hang out at the party taking candid pictures. Besides just random candids we've taken or things we've caught with the MMM's, we have no individual pictures of Jaz or Zaire. So while I definitely want some updated family pictures, that's not my priority. We're going to have three extra family members in four or five months and we'll want to update those anyway. So I want individual pictures of our Zaire and Jaz.

And then I want some other miscellaneous smaller groupings. I think we should get a few really nice shots of Viona, Eri, and Haz or just Eri and Haz depending on what Viona thinks is best for advertisements for their new business. You know I'm going to want my shot of all the boys and one of all the girls. Maybe the mischief twins on their bikes. Possibly one of Jaz and Zaire together since they're the best of friends. And I definitely want to get at least a few of the Viper's kids. I figured he would really like to have a beautiful portrait of his children don't you think? It's probably not something he ever had the chance to do while running from vigilantes. And even if he had, all of their belongings stayed back there anyway. Unless he's able to bring something back with him if he ever comes back.

Taking them all to your park was certainly an event wasn't it? They all had fun, it seemed to really have something for any age. Often a lot of parks are aimed at a certain age, and then it ends up being too hard or dangerous for the smaller children or absolutely no fun for the older ones. But you really did a good job of making sure there was a little something for everyone. I suppose it helps that you wove charm-work in there to avoid the smaller children getting hurt on some of the more elaborate play areas.

I love seeing our whole group letting go and running amok. Our children acting like children. To be fair, I was climbing all over that thing like a child myself. I can't help it! I didn't get the opportunity to do a lot of childish nonsense during my childhood so I am going to spend the rest of my life acting as immature as possible when I can. You knew what you were getting into when you married me Draco Malfoy!

I really enjoyed seeing how much the local kids seem to be utilizing the park as well. There were kids playing obviously, but there were a few tables of older kids that seemed to be studying or doing homework together. You've created an amazing space for these children. I am so proud of you! And looking at the kids that were there, you certainly weren't wrong in thinking these kids needed something like this park.

I'm curious though to see if you noticed the same thing I noticed. Your charm work to keep the kids safe puts off a magical signature, and you've managed to work in some notice me not charm-work as well that keeps the kids from realizing why it didn't hurt when they went tumbling down the climbing wall. So I thought nothing of it when I would see what looked like accidental magic coming from some of the children. But there was one child in particular that was playing in the sandbox and I think I saw her levitate a few of the sand toys. It's not any child I've seen at Traditions, and I know I'm not doing the intake interviews for Traditions or Unity anymore, but I feel like I would have remembered her. A little redheaded muggleborn with big green eyes? Yeah, that may have caught my eye!

Movie night was so fun! We watched The Princess and the Frog. It was good, but it was surprisingly scary. The whole "I've got friends on the other side" thing? And when the Shadow Man gets dragged off to Hell or the Other Side or wherever? Nightmare fuel! I hope the Unity Kids don't have nightmares tonight!

I hope I don't have nightmares either, I guess I'll find out soon because I am drained and ready for sleep.

I'll see you in my dreams Love,  
Harry

 

Thursday January 21st  
My tastiest treat,

Today when I woke up, I felt so tired that for a moment, I assumed that I'd not slept very long at all, and simply had to go to the loo before going back to sleep. So I got up and actually went to the loo, and that's when I realized that it was actually daytime. The sun was shining rather brightly considering that it's a freezing winter day. My second assumption was that it was simply 9 or 10 in the morning and that I was still tired because I just hadn't finished sleeping. So I went to crawl back into bed.

JUST as I got comfy enough to go back to sleep, Pippa popped into the room. "Good morning! It's technically noon, but I know that's still morning to you, haha! You have a rather sparse schedule today. Aya is due to arrive in five minutes so that she can massage your body into a relaxed stupor as you claim that you've been more and more achy lately. After that, you should have enough time to do your morning routine before your and Harry's appointment with Elena to listen to her business pitch.

"I highly doubt that she'll go an entire two hours, but the only other thing you have booked today is an appointment to see Healer Rowe at 4 o'clock. Harry insisted that I at least make the appointment for you, although he will respect your decision if you order me to cancel it."

She smiled as I - after sighing and grumbling but not willing to pass up a massage from Aya for love nor money - slipped out of bed and did a few light stretches.

"Tomorrow is even lighter in that the only thing you have in your diary is a meeting with George to discuss your new potion, the vigorous test results you've already obtained, and what more testing he feels needs to be done before he can sell it in his shop. Also, he wants to talk price. He's not certain that anyone will be willing to pay 100 Galleons a vial."

Aya arrived, Muffy popping her and her table into the room.

"And the only other thing I need to remind you about is the joint birthday party this weekend. Other than that, enjoy your massage with Aya. Lovely to see you again Aya, I do hope you'll have a bit of time to rub me all over when you're done with this lump," Pippa flirted, the cheeky bint!

"I could be persuaded to fit you in, that said, I can never get away with giving just one massage when I visit Malfoy Manor. Viona is booked after her daddy here, and then I am pretty sure Eris and Hazel will murder me if I don't do them directly after. I've basically booked the rest of the day as on call for anyone here who needs me," Aya informed her.

"Is Harry scheduled for later?" I wondered, because the sheer fact that you are pregnant means that you should be getting massaged at least once a week.

"Not specifically," Aya murmured.

"Well then, *specifically* put him down for after dinner, which is usually about 6 - that way, I can be on hand to see to it that he doesn't accidentally forget to let the kids play nicely by themselves for a bit while he relaxes. He has a habit of putting everyone else's needs before his own and if he didn't consider my word law on most things, he'd probably never take any time for himself!" I lamented.

"Yes, I've noticed," Aya agreed with a nod, and having already magicked her table ready, gestured for me to get on it.

Wonderfully for me, Aya only had to put her hands on my back and I was already asleep again. When she woke me up to tell me that the massage was over, I felt like she'd beaten me up in a couple of places, and so, assume that she found a few knots that needed to be worked out. Specifically in my lower back and both sides of my legs. Even with the special cushion she uses to accommodate my bump, I'm starting to get a little too big to be laying on my belly. Which is sad, and so, I may have to see if there's a way to modify the cushion so that I can still lay on my belly even when I'm bigger than the Manor and you are having second thoughts about looking at me naked.

I let her help me off the table with a huge yawn and cast a tempus to verify that it wasn't: "Play a prank on Draco by making him get up way too early in the morning and make him think it's his normal time of day." I actually had to cast it three times before I believed that it really was after 1PM. Then I yawned again and considered going back to bed and calling off the rest of the day.

But even as I contemplated this, I started to feel rather hungry as my stomach had no problems believing that it was the time of day I normally fed it. The hunger manifested in ANOTHER very strong urge to drink your blood, and this time, I didn't even want to take the time it took to Apparate to and tie you to a bed. So, I was extremely delighted to find you just finishing up in the loo.

I pushed you up against the wall, used an old fashioned and mostly decorative, but well-maintained and still useable razor blade to open a small slash on your neck so that I could suck on it like a vampire. It was then that I had a moment of definite wondering if you might be right about needing to see Healer Rowe. I was going to think it over and make a decision before the appointment arrived, but feeling like I NEEDED to drink your blood two days in a row and a total of three times in one week is a bit alarming. What if I HAVE been somehow bitten by a vampire and didn't know it?

Once again, it only took about a half a cup or so of blood before I felt a thrilling high and purred happily as I rested my head on your shoulder. Then I kissed you to reward you for not protesting and silently putting up with me mauling you on a newly frequent basis. Only you turned your head to the side.

"Normally I LOVE nothing more than to kiss you as much as you can stand, but you have my blood all over your lips, and even though I'm no longer in the nauseous phase, it's turning my stomach a little," you explained.

"Oh, sorry," I murmured, licking my lips clean before licking the little bit of blood that I'd gotten on your lips back off them. But then I didn't kiss you again because I could still taste the blood in my mouth and actually wanted to savor it for a while. At least until I got into the bath and ate a large bowl full of Sanguinaccio Dolce as Muffy washed me up. YES I may be an adult, but I still occasionally have Muffy bathe me again. It's better when YOU do it, but I had a strong feeling we'd both miss Elena's presentation if I insisted that you run your hands all over my wet and naked body, mmm.....

Elena did a fantastic job! She impressed me, which considering that I hear business proposals all the time, is really saying something. I love how she took my advice to look for an abandoned theater to convert into the school she wanted. She confessed that she'd originally wanted it on Unity Property because doing that offered the safety and stability of having experienced people on hand to help her if she needed it, BUT once she thought about what would be best for her potential students, having a different place was clearly a better idea.

I know you were going to say yes no matter what, but I think you were so blown away by her well thought out plans that you were sobbing and hugging her tight. So much so that you didn't actually say yes, but I expect that Elena understood the answer anyway.

After her presentation, we had about a half an hour to get ready to go see Rowe, but that was plenty of time because I felt full of energy and had actually dressed up all business like to give Elena the right impression for her meeting - or in other words, I was taking her seriously. So, we arrived at Rowe's a bit early.

For the first time I can remember, we DIDN'T have any of the kids with us. We'd convinced even Zaire to stay home with his Grammy Cissy and Grampy Lulu (I still feel like they'll murder me if they ever found out that I occasionally go along with your silly nicknames for them, hahaha). A: They'd already just been seen (as had we, but I digress), and B: you were wary that something serious might be wrong and didn't want any of the kids on hand to hear about it until we knew everything we could and could tell them in not so scary terms they'd understand.

Elena was torn between coming with us since you had told her a little in the email you sent her last night, and rushing off to begin her plans. Her plans won out simply because she'd anticipated killing it in her presentation and ready had an appointment lined up to talk to a muggle Realtor to help her search for suitable premises.

Anyway, once Rowe was ready for us and we were securely ensconced in her exam room, she did a few basic diagnostic spells on me while we described the problem. All her scans came back normal. As far as she could tell, there'd been no change from our last appointment. Her preliminary diagnosis was one of the things you suspected: PICA.

Apparently, I am not the first one to crave seriously strange things during pregnancy. I could be craving coal, or iron (that one seems obvious as to why in my mind), or even hair. All in all, blood is not the worst thing for me to be eating while pregnant. Rowe thinks that maybe I am not getting enough nutrients from my MANY freaking potions and all the food I eat - even though a good discussion on everything I've eaten during the week leads her to believe that I AM eating enough nutrients for three people and so SHOULD be fine. If that's the case, then my PICA is just that. Not an attempt to meet a need, but rather just a bizarre craving.

That said, she wonders if maybe she's missing something. So, to cover all her bases and be certain that I'm not experiencing a worse condition, she's tagged me with a spell to monitor me until I come back - probably Monday, but possibly tomorrow if something gets worse, such as I suddenly want to drink ALL your blood as opposed to just a half a cup or so. Or if drinking your blood doesn't have the same effect of making me feel happy and energetic. Should I suddenly sprout enlarged canines - things like that.

I get so weak in the knees, I can hardly speak, I lose all control and something takes over me, in a daze and it's so amazing, it's not a phase, I want you to stay with me, by my side, I swallow my pride, your love is so sweet, it knocks me right off of my feet! Can't explain why your loving makes me weak,  
Draco


	125. Chapter 125

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's potion is going to be a big seller! And Harry really doesn't like Anime, lol.

Friday January 22nd  
My Sleepy Boy,

I just sent you off for your meeting with George a short while ago. The kids and I are all snuggled up to binge some Phineas and Ferb. They wanted to watch one of the weird Anime series you all love but I convinced them that you would be so disappointed to find out you had missed an Inuyagonballtorokai … fest. Sorry Love, you know I would do anything for you, and if you were here I would suck it up and watch whatever you all decided on and just watch my beautiful family instead of watching the screen. But seeing as I had a roomful of impressionable children I was able to trick them into thinking this was their idea all along!

Fine! I wasn't able to trick any of them, I bribed them with pudding. I don't regret it for a moment!

I've honestly tried to like them, I've tried for years, but I just can't do it. I think it has something to do with the audio not lining up with the animation of the mouth. It's actually the thing I have the hardest time dealing with when I am wearing one of your amazing translation devices, there's enough of a delay that it doesn't match up but it's close enough that it ALMOST does. Hmm, and I seem to be the only one that gets migraines while wearing the devices for extended periods. I wonder if there's actually a reason behind my dislike and not just a preference thing.

Anyway, since I talked them into Phineas and Ferb they obviously got to choose the episode. They've chosen the Quantum Boogaloo episode which I've seen at least a dozen times so I decided to write instead of watch. I was a bit worried about you today. You've been extra sleepy again. You were sleepy during your pregnancy with Zwei, but I haven't seen you this bad since your pregnancy with Eris. I know you're carrying two, but this just seems so severe. The exhaustion combined with the blood drinking has me really worried.

Hopefully you have your insta-owl on you. I just sent you a message that maybe while you're at your meeting with George, you should discuss your exhaustion/vampirism as a potential side effect. No one else took the potion as many times as you did, perhaps this is something that could happen if you take it too often within a specific time period.

I have a little bit of a bone to pick with you. You, Pippa, and Aya discussing me … I am too likely to put everyone else first? I am too likely to not take care of myself in an effort to care for others? I may not pamper myself with daily or even weekly massages, but I am not the one getting myself to the point of exhaustion while trying to juggle upwards of twenty or so businesses. Draco, your health is more important than money. We can always make more money but we only have one Draco.

Well, technically we have a second with Draco Junior.

And uh, if Viper does what I think he's going to do and drags other Draco back here we'll also have a third.

But none of them are you so my point still stands!

You're obviously working too hard seeing as your brain seems to be addled. I will never have second thoughts about finding you attractive you ridiculous man. Both this time and the previous times you have been pregnant I have found you fit as hell. Your body is beautiful. Your skin glows. The love you have for your family practically shines out of your quicksilver eyes. And knowing you love me so much that you're carrying my child … my children inside of you? There is nothing sexier to me. You could quite literally become the size of the Manor and the only thing I would worry about would be building you a new home you could fit inside of.

Honesty is one of the most important aspects of our relationship. I have never shied away from telling you when something is a hard or soft limit. I have never done something sexually I didn't want to do. Why would I change my policy and lie to you now? And even if I could lie (and you know I'm a rubbish liar), I can't pretend to get hard at the sight of you. My hard cock is an absolute lie detector, don't you think?

Did you see Lainie's face when she got back from her appointments with the Realtor yesterday? It sounds like she has three potential sites that may work for her needs. But she is being cautious and doesn't want to jump in at the first look, so Monday she has another appointment to see a few more places. She said something about going tomorrow, but I gave her Malfoy eyebrow and she very hastily remembered the birthday party for tomorrow. Silly girl, all caught up in her plans she almost forgot an important piece of her calendar. Where she gets that I will never know!

I got a message from my agent earlier today, we leave the Monday after Jaz's birthday to start my tour. I'm excited and nervous. What if everyone loathes my book? What if I go on talk shows and to book signings and people show up just to throw things at me because I'm such a pathetic embarrassment. They'll think I'm trying to ride the coattails of Skeeter's success and I'm just pretending to be Harry.

Ok, I need to get out of my own head. Off to watch a Platypus Secret Agent!

Hysterically Yours,  
Harry

P.S. Of course I knew Zaire would have no problem staying with your parents. He is quite sweet on his Grammy Cissy. It took him a little bit, but now he'd follow her to the moon. Haven't you seen her carrying him around the manor in my toddler carrier? She tucks him in and sings him lullabies. I think he might like her more than he likes me now!

 

Saturday January 23rd  
Mon sucre pain,

The meeting with George was more productive than I anticipated. Because he was concerned with men unable to afford the admittedly high price I'd set for the potion, he convinced me to dilute the potion so that there's now three different versions; a 2 hour potion, a 6 hour potion, and the original 12 hour one. The 2 hour potion will only be 20 Galleons, the 6 hour one will be 50 Galleons, and the 12 hour one will be 80 Galleons. Considering the cost to make the potion and even taking into consideration splitting the profits with George, even if only the 2 hour version ever sold, it would STILL be a very lucrative product.

And honestly, considering the profit margin, if a customer was adamant that they want to have the 12 hour potion but was only willing to pay say 65 Galleons for it, George could accept the deal and still make a killing, so all in all, not a bad product, heh heh heh…

More concerning, my craving for your blood has not gone away. I didn't drink more yesterday or today than I have the days before, and I did some research, the amount I'm taking isn't harmful to you - especially if you drink water, milk, or bone broth to make up for it, as in letting your body literally make more. That said, I'm getting concerned that if I need to drink your blood every day for the rest of my pregnancy, it may eventually take its toll on you. So rest assured that I WILL be making my appointment with Healer Rowe on Monday. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to this birthday party.

I'm currently getting ready for it in fact.

Speaking of things I'm looking forward to, I LOVE the fact that we're going on tour for your book! You're silly to think that anyone would show up just to throw things at you! They'll either show up because they're genuinely interested, or they won't give a crup's arse and won't bother showing up. I am highly confident that it'll be the first option. I'll give you a kiss for each book you sign if you think it'll help you relax and be more confident.

Oh! Muffy just popped in and gave me a look that made it clear you might be on the verge of losing your shit over party prep, and so, I seem to be ready after all. Better sign off and go snog the bloody hell out of you! Love you!

You need to give it up, had about enough, it's not hard to see, the boy is mine, I'm sorry that you, seem to be confused, he belongs to me, the boy is mine,  
Draco  
P.S. No WE are not fighting over anyone, that's me fighting the world for you!

P.P.S I LOVE Phineas and Ferb! My favorite episode is the one in which Vanessa is trying to get something specific for her father and it keeps rolling away from her, and Ferb just sort of casually and mostly silently helps her out, hahaha! He's rather suave that Ferb! My other favorite episode is the movie in which they travel around the world following the sun so that the day lasts 24 hours. The part where they are in Paris and Isabella gets so frustrated because Phineas is so oblivious that her head literally explodes - I died! Ahahahahahahahaha!


	126. Chapter 126

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowe finally figures out why Draco craves blood so much that he attacks Harry like a vampire.

Saturday January 23rd  
My Always,

Today was the best! I love a birthday party. I love our circle. I love our family. I love you. Thank you for helping stop my epic freak out before the party. I know I tend to be a lunatic at the last minute for galas or Unity openings, but I don't usually panic before something as simple as a family birthday party. I suppose it was probably a mixture of my pregnancy hormones, my worry over your health, and my panic over the upcoming book tour. It's easier to express my worries when I hide them under whether or not we'll have enough cake for all the guests (we did) than allowing myself to worry about whether or not people will throw things at me (they still might, you can't say for sure!)

The party was lovely enough. The guests of honor seemed to enjoy being the centers of attention. And as usual, I was in heaven being surrounded by almost everyone I love in the world. The kids all running amok, creating noise and chaos wherever they went. Little hands sneaking sweets when they thought no one was looking. By the time we actually got to singing Happy Birthday to them all and serving the cake, there were multiple little finger marks in the icing from little fingers just needing to take one little taste before it was time. Everything you'd want from a childrens' birthday party.

But you know me, the party was lovely and will make for some nice memories, but the photo shoot beforehand was just absolutely perfect don't you think?

It's so sweet to me how well Jaz and Zaire get along, especially considering their difference in disposition. Jaz seems to adore anyone and everyone, she's open and expressive. While Zaire, most likely due to his earliest days, is reserved and prefers quieter settings and either one on one or small group interactions. As I said previously, getting pictures of our two newest was my priority for this portrait session. but I wasn't certain what order would make Zaire open up best and not get overwhelmed. Should we take the group pictures first so he doesn't feel so spotlighted? Or do we do his individuals first so he's not thrown into a group setting right away?

Julia made the ultimate decision on that and I am so pleased she did. When she showed up, Zaire and Jaz were playing quietly together in the sun room. Zaire's beloved train being the main attraction. She got down on their level introducing herself. Not knowing sign language, she had snagged Siri and Zwei to come interpret for her. She didn't want to spook Zaire by just showing up and having this stranger taking pictures of him so the introductions were necessary. She took a few minutes asking him about his train and then asking him about his sister.

That seemed to be the magic question for Zaire, if there's one thing he loves in this world, it's his little sister. He told her, "My Jazzy can talk with her hands. She likes puppies and trains like me. I take care of her!" The whole time, he's patting Jasmine's arm. His reaction certainly told us the best way to get him comfortable with the photos, take pictures of Jaz and then him with Jaz first.

As much as it's so cold outside right now, I knew we had to get some outdoor pictures, so when I chose their outfits I made sure to dress them adorably bundled up. Zaire was wearing denims, tan sturdy boots, and a cream sweater with the collar of a green and grey button-down peeping out the top. I love the contrast of the cream sweater against his deep skin tone. Jaz was wearing thick cozy leggings in a lavender, cream, and pink abstract pattern, with a knee length rosy pink cable knit sweater dress. She had a headband in the same pattern as her leggings highlighting her beautiful black curls. I couldn't resist adding the brown ankle boots either.

We brought them outside and set them off to wander and play, Julia doing her sneaky candid shots so they didn't even realize they were doing anything more than playing. My favorite was the one of Zaire helping Jaz walk by holding both of her hands in his and walking backwards slowly. He's so good with her. After a little bit of this, Julia was able to get them to pose for some individuals. It's such a simple portrait, but the one of Z standing with his hands on his hips looking straight on to the camera tugged at my heart. He's come so far since he's come home, this shot shows it. He's standing tall and strong, straight on to the camera, you can see where his body is filling out and he's looking healthy, but that often hidden grin of his was front and center. Ugh, tear my heart to pieces that boy does.

The rest of our family had been getting ready while we did the littlests' pictures. Everyone wearing similar neutral and light toned sweater-based outfits. We got a few posed pictures with just our human family, and then we let the animals join us. I have a feeling Julia is going to use that big family shot in her advertisements again. How often do you manage to take a portrait of a family of twelve to begin with? Then you add three dogs, one of whom has only three legs and could fit in a teacup, a beautiful regal cat, and a cheetah. Yes, our family portraits included your bloody cheetah.

After that, the photo shoot was a bit of a blur. I know we got all the pictures I had been hoping for. The mischief twins with their bikes, the Hazeris team, the girls, the boys, the ten all together. We got a great picture of your parents with their five. And we ended up with a few different poses of the Viper squad. There were some really nice candids of Sirius horsing around with various kids. I particularly loved the one Julia got of Sirius and Teddy sitting on one of the iron benches. You can tell they had been talking about Remus and Tonks since both of their eyes were misty.

Sirius has such a different perspective on giving Teddy memories of his parents than I do. I knew them as adults, as order members, as my professor; Sirius knew them as children, as friends, and I love that he's here to give Teddy more pieces of his parents. I uh, I've been thinking about talking with Snape's portrait and seeing if he can share some memories of my mum with me. I always heard I had her eyes, but most of the people who've given me memories of my parents were friends with my dad. Not that I'm not grateful for anything I can get, but I'd like to know more about my mum than -muggleborn, -green eyes, -good at charms.

Thank you for humoring me and finally taking a pregnancy portrait for me. I know I have pictures of you when you've been pregnant, but they've never been specifically of you with your bump on display. When everyone else was off changing out of their portrait clothes and into their party clothes, I asked you to come to the greenhouse with me. I had hoped you'd indulge me so I had an area all prepped in there. For all that it was in a greenhouse, we were able to make that corner look a bit like a meadow. I needed you to see how beautiful you were. Like a god of life and fertility and beauty. I talked you into stripping down to your skin (yeah, it didn't take much!) and we posed and angled you so none of the naughty bits were showing, but it was this beautiful portrait of nature and life.

Then you obviously talked me into joining you so we could get one of the both of us. It's not nearly as beautiful as the one of just you, but I still loved it!

Your Forever,  
Harry

 

Monday January 25th  
My love,

It was a joy watching our huge circus full of kids run mad. Practically every child we know was here! Alright, so I exaggerate because we happen to know a LOT of children around the world, and this was mostly children related to us in one way or another, and yes, I consider being part of our circle as being related to us.

It was lovely to see Julia again, and her daughter - Arietty - sure has grown! Oh sure, she's really not too much younger than Hazel, but since I don't see her as often, I tend to think of her as about 5 years old still.

Our photoshoot was so beautiful! I know we both say this all the time, but our family is so stunning and gorgeous that it's sometimes unbelievable. How did we get so blessed to have all these amazing people in our lives?

At one point, before my naked bump shoot, I was actually sitting down talking rather seriously with Delphini. She has the ambition that's only to be expected of a daughter of Voldemort and Bellatrix, but thankfully, it's being directed in much less alarming ways. She wants me to take her siblings and her through my businesses to see if there's anything that interests them. Apparently they've discussed what they should do if their dad is stuck in the other world and can't come back. They don't want to be a 'burden" on us for the rest of their lives, so they think that if they can learn to run a business - like Orion and the girls are doing - then they'd have a way to eventually support themselves.

So, I made an appointment to meet with them later today that I am unfortunately going to have to reschedule. See, at least one of the littles at the party had the Dragon Flu, and since I'm pregnant and apparently overdue to get sick again, I caught it.

Since I was already scheduled to see Rowe today, I simply made it to my appointment on time. You'd planned to come with me but Jaz was suddenly very clingy and needy, demanding that you feed her, so you decided to stay at home with her and Zaire.

Normally, the Dragon Flu is harmless enough. It's much like the muggle flu but with symptoms of uncontrollable magic, such as sprouting flowers on my head when I sneeze, or sparks coming out of my ears when I cough. And less pleasant - if arguably funnier - things when *other* body functions occur.

But as I was saying, normally it's harmless enough. Just take a potion to help cure it and another to sleep through most of it, and soon you're right as rain. BUT ME, well, I'm pregnant and the potion to cure it has potentially bad side effects for the unborn child/ren. So, I'm going to have to suffer through healing it the muggle way with plenty of bed rest and immune boosting nutrition. It can take up to three weeks to heal that way, but Rowe suspects that it might take longer for me since I am...

Low on magic.

Yep. Even though she had received normal readings from me a few times in a row, that diagnostic spell she cast on me to monitor me all weekend, well, it shows differently. It seems that my intense cravings for your blood - they're actually me *needing* a boost from your magic. As I drink your blood, I'm also sucking on your magic, which you unconsciously and freely share with me because I suppose that deep down, you know I need it. Rowe is certain that you would feel icky and dislike the sensation of sharing your magic if it was anyone else attempting it.

And here's the problem. She says her monitoring spell shows that my magic will dip alarmingly low until I give into the need to drink your blood, and then even just a little bit of your magic will boost me right back up to normal levels. That said, I'm draining your magic at a rate that combined with your own pregnancy, you can't sustain for much longer. She thinks that if this were to go on unchecked for even a month, YOU'D be dangerously low. So she's putting me on bed rest until I'm recovered from this Dragon Flu at the very least, and then probably still on a modified basis until I can either support my own magical needs again, or I have the babies.

She's prescribing me stronger magic boosting potions AND requiring that I take more of them. This is only to replace the magic that I've been taking from you. It won't actually solve the problem of me having low magic levels. Obviously I'm on a strict magic restriction again. Sigh...

There is one thing she thinks might actually help me gain and maintain higher magic levels, and that's a potion. A fairly rare potion because not too many people are in this exact position. But the potion is designed to use the blood of someone with fairly strong magic, such as you, and during the brewing process, incubate the magic so that the same high level of magic is present in each dose of the potion rather than being split up.

So, for example, apparently about a half cup of your blood is enough to help me out. Adding that much to the potion and then immediately separating the potion into doses would mean that each dose only contained a portion of your magic - approximately a few drops of blood worth. But that by brewing it, the potion increases the potency of the magic so that each dose has the same amount of magic as the original half a cup of blood.

She has given me the recipe and it's easy enough to brew that I could do it from bed if I had to, but I am certain that my parents - either together on their own, or with help from Sev - will handle the brewing process for me.

However all of this has led me to one rather disappointing conclusion. I won't be able to go on tour with you. I'll be sick in bed. I'll be too tired and weak. And I probably would only make you worry so much about me in a hotel room bed that you wouldn't be able to correctly sign your name! This way, you'll know that I'm being cared for by Muffy and Dibly AND my parents.

I insist that you go though. There is absolutely no point in you staying home where YOU might catch the Dragon Flu from me, or arguably worse, I decide that having you right there next to me is an invitation to keep sucking your magic away until we're BOTH in trouble.

That said, I do recognize that you taking ALL of the children with you would be detrimental to the point of the book tour. It would distract you and make you focus on the kids rather than the tour. So, I think you should leave Siri, Zwei, Zaire, and Jaz at home with me. Not only can I use the breast harness to feed them while in bed, but they'll give my parents something to fuss over that isn't me. I can only stand so much tender loving care at any given moment - as you might recall.

But that said, you aren't actually due to leave for a bit, and so, I'm going to need you to keep the kids away from me as much as possible until the contagious phase passes. And actually, considering how needy Jaz got all of a sudden, it might be prudent for you to have them all checked out by Rowe to ensure that none of them caught it when I did.

It's times like this that I am tempted to raise a brow at you and ask if you're STILL wondering why they each needed their own house elf. Worst case scenario is that they are ALL sick; how do you imagine that we'd be able to adequately care for them all without house elves? Oh sure, Saoirse, Rhys, and Leah could help, but not Pippa as she will have to take over all of my business until I'm better. It just so happens that it's time for my quarterly meetings again, and without me actually there, she's going to structure them differently, meaning that it will take up more of her time but be easier on her in the long run.

Naturally, Viona can help her out until she leaves on tour with you.

But anyway, I'm getting really sleepy again, and I have to make a trip to the loo - which I am NOT looking forward to because of this Dragon Flu. So I'm going to sign off now and do my business so that I can take a nap.

Love forever,  
Draco  
P.S. I decided that since I need to more or less segregate myself from the rest of you until I'm no longer contagious, I'm sleeping in the White Room. Should any of our beautiful children happen to have the flu already, they can certainly come in here and recuperate with me. I hope you'll forgive me for hoping that I don't see any of them for at least a week, haha!


	127. Chapter 127

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's not the only one with Dragon Flu.

Tuesday January 26, 2010

My Sick Love,

I wonder how long it will be before your parents regret their previous griping about their loneliness and boredom? They have our entourage to help them, and Lainie when she's not working on her upcoming project, but they are going to be in charge of River, the almost triplets, and the mischief twins for probably the next week. You are quarantined in the white room with Viona and I am in our room with Jaz and Zaire.

I'm not sick, but both Jasmine and Zaire are. I'd been nursing both of them and turned up negative for the flu, so Rowe felt it was alright for me to continue caring for them directly. They're both just about past the contagious stage anyway. I guess we've figured out why Jaz was fussy enough to not want me to leave when you went to your appointment. Poor lamb wasn't feeling well. Feeling safe and snuggled up with me, a pile of toys, and the ability to nurse on demand practically around the clock was the best thing Rowe could think to prescribe.

It makes sense that you and the two youngest were the ones to catch it. Zaire is still building up his health, so he has a bit of a weakened immune system. You have draining magic and are carrying twins, so your body isn't exactly up to fighting off infections. And Jaz being under a year (for the next two weeks anyway!) makes her more susceptible. Luckily she's on the old enough end of her first year that while she may have caught it, she isn't in any danger from it really harming her like it would if she were a newborn.

The only real surprise is that Viona ended up sick as well. Hopefully she will be well enough to conduct your meetings with Pippa. She only has the flu to recover from and not magical drainage as you do. If not, I wonder if you'd be able to conduct your business meetings from your rooms? Maybe the Magi-Skype function on the magimobiles?

Speaking of things that may need to be altered or rescheduled. Are you sure you want me to go on the tour without you? I could see about rescheduling it. I could even cancel the whole thing if that's what you think is best. And hey, haha, silver lining then no one could throw things at me! You can't be laughed off the stage if you never get onto the stage to begin with right?

I assume you're sleeping right now, but whenever you're awake and aware enough to read this, just let me know what you want me to do ok? We have a little bit of time anyway before I have to leave if I do leave. Jaz's birthday is two weeks from today, Ninth February, and I am not scheduled to leave until the following Monday the fifteenth. I was so looking forward to taking the whole family on a bit of a whirlwind tour through the states and the continent, but without you I agree it's probably best to just bring the oldest six. Or five of them, I'm not sure if Lainie is going to want to come with if she's still in the planning process of her school.

I'm really relieved that Viona didn't exhibit any symptoms until today. With her actual birthday being this past Sunday, only the next day after the party, it would have been so sad for her to have been sick for that. Can you imagine being woken up to breakfast in bed on your birthday consisting of all your favorite foods and not feel well enough to eat them? At least she got to enjoy her birthday presents a bit yesterday before she got quarantined. I thought getting her that skateboard was pretty cool. I really appreciated Greg giving me the idea. That devious man, every once in a while I really wonder how Greg managed to get into Slytherin and then he does something this diabolical. Imagine my surprise when she opens her skateboard only to mention how excited she was to use it on our new backyard skate park that her Greg built without telling us.

We get her a skateboard and he builds her an entire park to use it on. As much as I do not love being shown up when it comes to presents … we really picked the best Godfather for her didn't we? He adores her so much. Not much has changed since she was a teeny tiny princess that led him around.

So much has changed with some of our other children we know and love. I know exactly what you mean about Arietty. It seems I emotionally pick an age that a child will forever be in my head and it never strays. I still can't quite wrap my mind around Teddy being almost twelve, off to Hogwarts already. Teddy is forever the little love that yelled "Uncas Tiss!" at us during our wedding. And you had a hard time reconciling the genderfluid Sammy of now, with the flashy glittery diva she was the last time we got to spend so much time with her.

Oh, better run, Jaz is rubbing her eyes and signing "milk" at me. I've been summoned!

Missing you,  
Harry

P.S. You are not brewing the potion yourself you crazy man! Between your parents and Sebastian they have that well covered.

P.P.S. And we all know your parents aren't really needed at all, Sebastian will go to the lab and Severus will watch over his shoulder from the painting. Your potion will be made by the best hands possible!

 

Friday January 29th  
Beloved,

I wish I had more to write. I've been stuck in bed for days, sleeping for the most part. The best part of my week so far has been having so much one on one time with Viona. When we're both awake and bored, we've been able to snuggle up and chat, or chat while playing a card game, and she's used as much time as she can get away with picking my brains on the next steps for Hazeris.

The *funniest* thing that has happened all week was when I went to the loo and my wee lit the toilet on fire - this Dragon flu can be insane! (You do NOT want to know what happened when I, erm, nevermind.)

The worst part has been missing you like crazy, but the good news is that the cure is working on Viona and she's almost recovered enough to go back to her own room. This hopefully means that the littles are nearly all better too. Viona was burping rainbows for about an hour yesterday, were Zaire and Jaz having any noteworthy symptoms?

In any case, if they are recovered enough and if I'm officially past the contagious stage by Monday, I can come back to our bed. That'll give us a few days to do nothing but snuggle (probably while I'm passed out, haha) before you leave on your tour. And yes, I insist that you go. This is the first thing since you FIRST started Unity House that you expressed a real interest and passion in. I am NOT going to let you miss out or postpone. You're going or I'll be the crankiest dragon you've ever seen the entire time you're still home. And unlike normal, I'll make sure to aim the crankiness AT you.

True blue, baby I love you,  
Draco  
P.S. Perhaps you should cast a spell or something on the potion as it's brewing so that my father and/or Sebastian can't accidentally keep a vial to give themselves a serious power boost when they feel they 'need' a bit of extra magic...


	128. Chapter 128

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is no longer contagious, but still symptomatic.

Monday February 1, 2010

My Love Whom I don't miss anymore,

I don't miss you because you are finally back in our bed where you belong! You were cleared of being contagious this morning, Jaz was cleared Saturday, and Zaire yesterday. Finally, I would get to talk to you and tell you all about my week without you. I could tell you all the silly side effects the littles had. I could hear all about what happened when you erm nevermind'ed. But you climbed into bed with me and promptly fell asleep!

I leave two weeks from today, so I am hoping you'll be awake enough for me to enjoy at least a little bit of that time with you before I leave. Yes, I will leave. I will go on my book tour. I just need you to know that if you needed me to, I would cancel anything. You are my world and if you needed me here I would be here. But I also know that me hovering over you when you're not feeling well ends up stressing you out. So, I will go, I will miss you, and I will have a million things to tell you when I get back. I'm certainly not going to hang around when you're going to specifically aim your cranky moods at me! I've spent years cleaning up the wreckage from Hurricane Draco, I am not dumb enough to place myself directly in its path.

I have the feeling our sweet Jasmine was Patient Zero during this bout of the Dragon Flu. She was extra cranky before anyone else was really showing any symptoms and she was cleared before even Viona was. I'd be frustrated with her, but have you seen her face? How can anyone be upset with those giant obsidian eyes gazing at you with love? And she had, by far, the best symptoms ever. I know that often we end up taking advantage of the fact that Muffy has no issues changing nappies. I consider myself a very hands-on Dad. I get down on the floor and play with them. I bathe them. I cook for them, bake for them. I know each of my children inside and out. But when it comes to nappies, I am willing to let Muffy do the majority of the dirty work. But I changed every single one of Jaz's nappies this week. Every single time she wee'ed it was a different color. Absolutely hilarious.

Zaire on the other hand, was really quite miserable the first day or so. Poor little sweetheart. But eventually he started burping in animal noises. Which he and I found to be hilarious. Jaz obviously didn't hear it, but she would smile along with us every time we laughed. Eventually I got out a storybook with pictures of animals and every time he would burp we'd find the animal, point to the picture and I was looking up the signs for each animal. It ended up being really fun and I think it did a good job of distracting Z from feeling so terribly.

I'm glad the times you were awake you had such a nice mini holiday with the Princess. Isn't it nice to get such a sweet silver lining while feeling so awful? I hated that my babies were sick, but I definitely enjoyed a bit of enforced dedicated playtime. We read books and played games. And one of the best parts was going photo by photo through our extensive picture wall. The wall has always been there, but I don't think any of us has ever pointed out specific pictures to our two newest. For both Jaz and Zaire, their favorite pictures included their siblings when they were smaller. You and I don't look all that different than we did when we got married, but the kids certainly do.

They both seem to have finally realized that I am carrying their little sister. They spent quite a bit of time rubbing my bump, and Zaire talked to her quite a bit. We've already got (most of) her name picked out. My bump is definitely noticeable. And she's been doing little baby gymnastics in there. This is becoming so real!

I'm going to work on some of my prepared remarks and answers for my tour while the three of you are still sleeping. Hopefully you'll be up relatively soon so I can hear about your time!

Love,  
Harry

P.S. I trust that Sebastian would never use that potion for selfish magic boosting purposes!

P.P.S. Lucius … we'll see.

 

Monday February 8th  
Oh Harry,

I think I pulled a boneheaded maneuver. See, I was so worried about being basically a useless lump these past few weeks that I overcompensated. Jaz has her first birthday tomorrow, and I didn't want Zaire to feel like he was a bad boy who didn't deserve presents. So, during one of the times when I felt like I could get out of bed for longer than five minutes and not strain myself, I went out and bought a present for our sweet boy.

Knowing that he loves trains more than just about anything at the moment, but not wanting to get him something he already has, I took the time to talk to the owner of the toy shop (a muggle one since he doesn't strictly need a magic train yet, wait until he's five or so), and he helped me find a sort of boxcar modeled after Dumbo. The outside of the wooden car is painted with a picture of Dumbo flying over the circus with his friend Timothy on his head. Inside the train is a replica of the scene where Dumbo's mother, Mrs. Jumbo, is laying all cozily and rocking her new baby to sleep.

Best of all, even though it's a muggle toy, it can play some music. The song Baby Mine, matter of fact. The little wooden elephants - baby Dumbo and his mother - can be taken out and played with separately if he wants. It's my hope that if I give him this toy tonight as I rock and hold him, explaining that he's definitely a good boy and that we love him so so SO much, that he'll have something to play with and focus on to remind him that he's not a bad boy who doesn't deserve presents while Jaz opens hers.

But like I said, I think I'm overcompensating and setting a bad precedent. I'd say that you could talk me out of it if it's a terrible idea, but I'm quite sure I'm going to do it anyway. Sorry! Hopefully, you can make up for my deplorable parenting choices by being stern and explaining why Jaz gets presents tomorrow and not Zaire. Or maybe you can just stuff him full of biscuits and tell him they're presents he can eat.

In any case - oh! Looks like I need to make an emergency trip to the loo! My dragon flu is not quite past the symptomatic stage yet and... I don't even want to write what just happened...

Love you!  
Draco


	129. Chapter 129

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viper's back from his world.

Tuesday February 9th  
My Bonehead,

Yeah, you had some terrible parenting there. How dare you try and make sure our formerly abused child knows he's loved and cared about when you know he could potentially have a triggering issue on his sister's birthday? I understand why you were worried about setting a terrible precedent but I think with the heads up I was able to neutralize any "spoiling" you may have done with your gift.

I wasn't particularly concerned about his reaction to Jaz's birthday until you mentioned something. He seemed fine during the big January party, and didn't seem to even notice it was just Viona's birthday. But I suppose the big party he was so distracted with cousins and cake that he may not have noticed gifts at all. And with Viona's, she's so much older than he is that I don't think he even registered she was receiving a gift. But I didn't even think about it being different when the birthday girl is close to his age and someone he watches like a hawk. As I read your email I was panicking a bit, not that you had messed up but that I hadn't really thought ahead to his reaction. This whole Dragon Flu thing and trying to prep for my tour has really thrown me off of my game.

I suppose I kind of did the same thing you did, I tried to make him feel extra special even though it was Jaz's day, but I went about it a bit differently. The first thing he did when he woke up this morning was tell me all about his new train from you. It really is super cute. I didn't get a chance to peek at it before you gave it to him, I really love it. Then again Dumbo is one of my favorite movies, and we all know how I feel about elephants! So he and I sat and chatted for a bit about trains and elephants.

I then brought him to my little home office and showed him my enchanted calendar. I have each of the children's birthdays noted on it. I had it opened so it displayed the whole year. I showed him how each of the squares was one day and that the day we were on was Jaz's day. I pointed ahead to where River's birthday will be next month. And then Eri and Ori the following month. Finally landing on his birthday, trying to show him that while today wasn't his day, his day was coming. I then asked if he was willing to be my extra special birthday helper.

I then spent about five minutes explaining to him what I meant. Basically, instead of trying to give him something so he didn't feel left out, I had him focused on doing everything we could to make the day special for Jaz. He helped me make her birthday breakfast. He was so adorable, helping stir the batter, picking out the best pieces of fruit to add to the plate. You should have seen him, he was concentrating so hard and had his little tongue sticking out while he focused on his jobs.

And for the rest of the day, every time he saw someone in the family for the first time he told them, "It's my Jazzy's day, you have to tell her Happy Birthday and give her extra hugs and kisses!" And then he would stare them down until they did as commanded. He's a very fierce little general when it comes to making sure his little sister is treated well.

And our sweet baby girl! Wasn't she just precious today? I mean, it's not like she's not precious every day, but birthdays are always something extra. She seemed thrilled with breakfast in bed … her very first of many! And you didn't seem super thrilled about it, but dealt with her trying to "share" with you while you tried to sleep without any complaining. Who doesn't want to be woken up by a soggy baby hand trying to smash syrupy pancake into their mouth?

My favorite part of the day, by far, was watching our entire family "sing" sign Happy Birthday to our Jaz. I know our kids have been learning sign and most of them are pretty much fluent at this point, but that everyone else took the time to learn the song? So heartwarming. Lucius is so different from the man I used to know, watching him sign the song with proud eyes at his granddaughter was lovely. Being Grampy Lulu has certainly softened him hasn't it?

I'm pretty exhausted, I think I am going to climb in with you three loves pretty soon. I just want to tell you how much I love you. You continue to amaze me every day. Even being exhausted and recovering from the Dragon flu, your priority yesterday was to make sure our son knew he was loved and wanted and special. You always put us first. I need you to know that I see your enormous heart, your generous soul, your massive amount of love. And not a day goes by that I'm not grateful you fell in love with me and I get to see all of those wonderful parts of you.

Gratefully Yours,  
Harry

P.S. I was a bit panicked when I read you saying you made a bonehead mistake and overcompensated. I was worried you had strained your magic. I'm really glad it was just you spoiling our children and not hurting yourself!

 

Wednesday February 10th  
My life,

When the Viper first returned - on the 6th, which was a day late and just long enough for all his kids to panic and start mourning the fact that their dad was probably gone forever - he was just so focused on reuniting with his kids that when they all demanded to know how it went, he deflected them by telling them that he'd tell them later.

Then he basically got lost in the shuffle as you were planning the special day for Jaz and I was mostly stuck in bed. I'm really not sure if he found any time to chat with you, but today, he came in to talk with me. I am EXTREMELY relieved that I have finally stopped having symptoms, because I would have snarled and kicked him out if he'd witnessed fireworks going off every time I - erm… fluffed...

ANYWAY, here's what he told me:

He had a bit of success, but also more or less shot himself in the foot. He wanted to explain showing up out of the blue by claiming everything that happened *here* was part of a dream. Only when he mentioned that River was conceived in the Hogwarts Library, Other Draco freaked out and immediately questioned if Viper's dream about something that had actually happened meant that it was true and that he had a son out there he never knew about.

Apparently he did, er, does, er, whichever is the correct term. My brain is just a tiny bit too foggy to make sense of either at the moment. The good news is in that world, Rosalie didn't die during that camping trip, and so, she's still alive and taking good care of River.

The Viper went on to say that even though it was tense and a little more difficult than he'd hoped for, he DID manage to 'woo' Other Draco. (Yes, he used to word woo, which I found rather adorable, all considering.) Things seemed to be going very well for a while, but then the Viper started talking about when he had to return to his kids. He was hoping that Other Draco would at least want to come back for a quick visit, just to confirm that this world wasn't just some elaborate hoax. Only, Other me refused to even consider it. He was too busy still trying to figure out how to share and co-parent a teenager he'd only just met, and as we well understand, kids come first.

Which is why the Viper feels a bit like he shot himself in the foot. He can't say for sure that things would have gone any better had he just 'forgotten' to mention River (as he actually had forgotten to mention at first, and it wasn't until Draco asked if Zaire meant River that he remembered), but he doesn't think he would feel right if he'd purposely omitted the information.

Side note, apparently Other River is in Hufflepuff. Weird...

In any case, the Viper and his Draco came to the agreement that they will try having a relationship. A LONG distance one in which Harry visits him every other weekend. They'll have a bit of a date and spend some time together, and then Harry will come back to his kids.

My favorite tidbit was actually when the Viper said: "No offense, but as wonderful as shagging you was, shagging MY Draco was about a thousand times better. It blew me away really..."

I laughed softly. "No offense taken as I'm certain that you were made for him, and thus, I could never compare."

The Viper decided to lay down and sprawl out on the bed next to me - it's a big bed after all. I was sitting up and sipping on a cup of tea, so he was laying at a bit of an angle so that we could look at each other while we talked.

"My Draco is harder than you, sort of the same as you both think I'm harder than your Harry."

"Well you are," I pointed out.

He nodded. "True, but *I* feel like I'm just normal and YOUR Harry is a soft and fluffy ball of fur that cries WAY too much!"

We both laughed at that.

"That must mean that you think your Draco is also normal and I'm certifiably insane!"

The Viper chuckled, but then shook his head. "Actually, no, maybe it's because you've had therapy, but I feel like you're more balanced. MY Draco seems like he's on a bit of a crusade to fix the world. He puts almost all of his focus and attention into his job, and had to actually have HIS Pippa clear out and make room in his schedule for him to have a bit of a break on the weekends so that he could spend some time with River."

"And you, I'm sure," I murmured with a knowing smile.

"And me," he agreed with a nod. "But even then, it's taking a LOT of work breaking through his shell!"

"Well, good luck with that!" I wished. "When a Malfoy wants to protect himself, he can create a shell that's impossible to penetrate!"

"No kidding!" The Viper exclaimed with a laugh. "It took me trying my hardest - using all my charm and gentle erotic persuasion - for an entire WEEK before he'd let me so much as get him topless!"

"Ah... He didn't want to remove even a bit of his armor until he was more or less certain that you weren't just messing with him," I stated in understanding, grinning and laughing as I tried my best to picture a me that didn't just immediately strip off when you were in the room (provided there weren't other circumstances preventing said stripping off).

He was still laughing too. "But I felt like the luckiest man in the world when I finally talked him into bringing me to bed with him!"

"Well of course you were! There's no better prize in any world than me!" I purred with a flirty smirk.

He laughed, I laughed, YOU entered the room and glared at us.

"What's going on in here?" You demanded suspiciously. I'm sure you were thinking that even if things were going well with his Draco, I was still the closest thing to him in this world. Literally.

We both grinned at you. "Oh... *nothing* …" We drawled so innocently that even Greg would have parsed that we meant the exact opposite, hahaha!

With narrow eyes, you harrumphed and crawled into bed so that you were on my other side. You gave me a kiss and sat next to me in a way that you could lay your head on my shoulder. You were probably also glaring at Viper. Or at least warning him away with your eyes. I know that even though you let him have me, it doesn't mean that you are suddenly comfortable with the thought of him being alone in bed with me. Try to keep in mind that I'm still sick and barely have the energy to shag you. There's no way I could manage to shag the BOTH of you!

Plus, it's like he said, the experience was wonderful enough, but it doesn't even hold a candle to me and you because we were MADE for each other! I love you so much!

But now that I've recapped my day so far, and despite the fact that it's only about 3 in the afternoon, I'm feeling tired again, so I'm going to take a nap. Hopefully you'll come in and wake me oh so nicely when it's time for dinner.

Love always,  
Draco  
P.S. It sounds like my potion will be ready tomorrow, so maybe I'll be able to actually get out of bed for more than 10 minutes at a time when you leave. Also, even though the MANY potions Rowe has me taking to boost my magic (that I will still continue to take even after the potion made from your blood is ready) are doing their job and keeping me at a steady level of magic sufficient to sustain my pregnancy, I STILL feel like I need to drink your blood. It's probably a good thing that I was too weak to Apparate to you while I was recuperating in the White Room, and also that you've been out of bed keeping our family alive and happy while I've been confined to our bed, because I think that having you near me at this exact moment would result in another vampire attack on you...


	130. Chapter 130

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what happened while the Viper was in his original world with his Draco.
> 
> NOTE: This is not in email format and is technically an extra/side story. That said, unlike the previous extra I posted, this is actually canon to *this* story and not just a funny what if, lol ^_^

The weather was even more gray and miserable in London than it had been in Wiltshire. Harry Potter looked around just enough to know that he had popped into his original world right outside the expensive high rise building containing Draco Malfoy's flat. He also knew that the last time he'd been here, this flat was being watched by people who suspected that Draco might agree to harbor Harry and his kids.

With a heavy sigh, Harry pulled his hood closer to his neck, praying that it would prevent anyone from recognizing him immediately. Then he squared his shoulders and marched into the building. He had stayed here once before after all, so he knew exactly where he was going.

The lift took him all the way to the top floor. As he stepped off the lift, he could feel the magic of the wards searching him. They recognized him and he was allowed to pass through them to walk the few steps to the door. It opened before he could even raise his hand to knock.

“Potter?” Draco asked in disbelief. ”What are you doing here? Where are your kids?”

“They're safe,” Harry assured him. He even managed a tiny smile. “I found a place so safe that I'm confident no one that wishes them harm could ever find them.”

Draco studied Harry carefully for a moment, but finding no reason to believe that this was some sort of trap, stepped back and swept his arm out to invite Harry in. Once the door was shut behind them, Draco beckoned Harry to follow him into the kitchen, where his personal house elf – Muffy – was already busy making them tea. They were both silent until the tea was served and Muffy disappeared to clean something.

Harry took a bracing sip of tea, and then inhaled a deep breath. “So... Malfoy... Will you answer something honestly?”

Intrigued but wary, Draco tilted his head and raised a brow. “That depends on the question.”

Harry chuckled softly. “I suppose it does. Alright fine... Back in Hogwarts, did you ever feel anything akin to lust for me?”

Draco smoothed out his expression, and Harry could almost see a veil pulled across the inside of his eyes. “Perhaps. Why do you ask?”

Harry shook his head. “You wouldn't believe me even if I told you.”

“Try me,” Draco insisted flatly.

Harry took another deep breath. “Alright... let's say that I had a very realistic dream, and in this dream, everything was the same as happened for real up to the Final Battle, but instead of Voldemort thinking he'd killed me and having my body taken away – only to discover later that I was still alive and torture me for two years – in the dream, I won the Final Battle and killed him. Shortly after that, you got bored one day and sent me an email – which is like a muggle version of an owl – and that sparked us emailing each other so much that we trusted each other enough to confess things such as I happened to think you were very easy on the eyes, and you'd confessed that you used to feel a little bit of lust toward me.”

Draco smirked. The expression gave away nothing but amusement, so Harry couldn't quite tell if it was a confirmation. However, the sheer fact that Draco hadn't insulted nor insisted he leave was encouraging.

“Interesting dream there, Potter.”

Harry harrumphed a laugh. “That's not even the weirdest part of the dream! The dream went on to us getting married and having an insane amount of kids!”

Draco looked rather confused at that. “So... you left your kids on their own just so that you could come here and tell me about a strange dream you had?”

Harry shrugged. “They're not on their own, and I'm certain they're safe.”

Draco unconsciously brushed the back of his fingers along his jaw in thought. “HOW MANY kids?”

Harry had no problem smiling at this. He looked up a bit and let his gaze go unfocused. “The exact number is complicated. It's easiest to go oldest to youngest rather than in order of arrival.”

“Wouldn't that be the same thing?” Draco asked in confusion.

“You'd think, but no,” Harry replied with a soft laugh. This actually made Draco smile very softly because he couldn't recall Harry smiling in a way that actually reached his eyes (nor laughing for that matter) in so long that it may have actually been back in Hogwarts.

Still a bit unfocused, Harry continued. “Miles is the oldest, and he's not an official but rather an extra. He's only actually three years younger than us, but considers us – remember in the dream, we're married – his dads because we were the first people to encourage him and love him no matter what. He has a, erm, girl, I think, named Sammy and she calls us Grandpa Harry and Grandpa Draco. Then there's Elena. She is currently 18. We adopted her when she was 9 and we were only 19. As I understand it, YOU were certain that it wouldn't be legal to adopt a child that old, but it was allowed.

“Viona is 10. She was born to Vincent Crabbe's sister Olivia, and she gave Viona up for adoption because she couldn't bear to raise a child fathered by her brother. It seemed to be love at first sight when you met her...” Harry faltered because Draco looked rather spooked.

Draco hastily smoothed out his expression and gestured for Harry to continue. “Go on.”

This brought a small smile to Harry's lips. “While Viona was still a baby, we apparently decided to get pregnant. BOTH of us. You carried Eris and I carried Orion. Eris is petite with black hair like me while Orion is tall and blond and gorgeous like you. They're 9 – as is Hazel. Her back story is complicated. She was created during an accident when a pair of criminals used some altered Polyjuice and a hair they stole from me. Haz was taken from them when they were captured and sent to Azkaban – and the funniest thing was that they didn't realize that Haz had some of my DNA, they simply thought it was coincidence that he looked like me, so they called him Harrison – Harry's son.”

“Apparently they weren't any more imaginative than the Dark Lord,” Draco remarked wryly, but then frowned. “But I thought you said she was a girl named Hazel?”

“She is... NOW. She simply began life as a boy...”

“Oh...” Draco murmured, honestly at a loss for words. “This, erm... DREAM certainly seems complicated.

“Right?!” Harry asked and exclaimed in a tone of validation. Then he grinned. “And I'm not even done yet! After Hazel, a few years later, we decided to get pregnant again and had Sirius James, now 5 – which I gave birth to a year before you had Draco Lucius Malfoy the Second. Somehow he obtained the nickname of Zwei.”

Draco gave a genuine smile at that. “I rather like it. It has a certain unique flavor to it that is still befitting a Malfoy – despite literally meaning two.”

Harry nodded in agreement. “Very recently, we adopted a 3 year old little boy from Africa named Zaire.”

“Za-ear... Doesn't that mean River?” Draco wondered curiously.

“RIVER!!!” Harry blurted out and thunked his palm against his forehead. “I forgot! YOU had a son named River with a Ravenclaw named Rosalie Lewis. Apparently, you conceived him at the end of Fifth Year during a rather naughty session in the Hogwarts' Library.”

This tidbit flustered Draco so much that he leapt to his feet, knocking over the chair he'd been sitting on in the process. He scrambled a bit away from Harry. He also did something Harry couldn't recall EVER seeing him do; he ran his hands through his hair and messed it up.

“Th- … Th- … This dream of yours! I just thought it was an EXTREMELY remarkable coincidence when you mentioned that Olivia has a daughter named Viona fathered by her brother Vince – but! There's NO WAY that you could have ever known about my, erm... indiscretion in the Library with Rosalie! Wait... is that even her name? I don't remember...” Draco trailed off and bit his lip in thought. He also started pacing the kitchen.

Harry huffed a wry laugh. “If you don't quite remember her, then either she didn't die OR she and River both died and you never knew it.”

“What???” Draco asked in confusion. Then he shook his head. “Besides, what you're saying is impossible. I CAN'T have had a son with Rosalie – or whatever her name is. If I DID, he'd be...”

“13?” Harry supplied helpfully.

“Er... yeah, about...” Draco murmured, deeply concerned.

Harry shrugged. “Then – to finish up – we adopted a little girl while we were in Iran. She's just shy of a year old and is deaf, but a ball of sheer joy nonetheless. Which just leaves the baby I'm not quite 5 months pregnant with, and the twins you're carrying – for a total of 13 kids. 14 counting Miles.”

Draco was now staring at Harry like he'd just lost the plot completely. “And... in your dream, your kids just DON'T exist?”

“Oh they do, they just belong to a Harry from a different world – universe? Dimension? I'm not actually sure what to call it.”

“Huh...” Draco murmured speculatively. He was now stroking his chin in thought. “How DID you know about Viona?”

Harry shrugged. “I didn't. It's just a dream.”

But the way he said that didn't convince Draco at all, and in fact made him more suspicious.

“You mean Viona is REAL?” Harry questioned curiously.

Draco sighed heavily. “Yes.. Olivia contacted me several years ago. The Crabbe fortune was never big to begin with and had run out when the Dark Lord was in power. She prayed that I'd help her support her daughter... by basically paying for her to permanently go to a rather prestigious boarding school. I didn't exactly feel like I owed Vince, but since he WAS one of the few people I could call a friend – mostly – I agreed. Viona's been in boarding school since about the time you found your kids, and Olivia basically disappeared.”

Harry nodded in understanding. “That's rather decent of you – to help care for the girl, even though she's nothing to do with you.”

Draco waved that away with a somewhat impatient hand gesture. Still rattled, he walked over to the nearest fireplace – in the corner of the kitchen – and tossed some floo powder in. A moment later, he stuck his head in the fire so that he could talk to his assistant in the Ministry.

“Pippa? Can you check to see if there's a person by the name of Rosalie Lewis in existence? If so, erm... if she has any family and... where she lives. Her contact details. Things like that.”

Harry could only hear Draco's side of the conversation, but he assumed that Pippa must have said yes because Draco pulled his head out of the fire and resumed pacing the kitchen.

“I'm disconcerted that your dream seems to somehow have some elements of truth to it. Elements that you COULDN'T have known. But then again, you did always seem to have dreams or visions or what have you. Everyone assumed that they were ONLY because of your connection to the Dark Lord – but what if you just genuinely have visions? Or at least vision-like elements in your dreams. Hmm...” Draco was positively chewing his lip in thought now, and Harry had the overwhelming urge to kiss him. 

More like snog the bloody fuck out of him!

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath in as he rested his head against the back of his chair. The thing was that the entire dream he'd just described was the real life situation between ANOTHER Harry and Draco in another world. It was seeing their over-the-top love for each other and their family that made Harry unlock the prison he kept his heart in and...

And admit that maybe a world in which a Harry loved a Draco was not such a hard thing to believe after all. During the course of just two short months, Harry had come to believe that love was not only a real phenomenon after all, but something HE deserved.

Which was why he had come back...

To see if there was any possibility that he and THIS Draco could have a love like THAT Harry and THAT Draco.

Especially since in those two short months, Harry not only let his heart out of prison, but had a good long look at THAT Draco, and nearly fell in love with him outright. Only the fact that OTHER Harry was very possessive of his husband gave this Harry a reason to keep his hands to himself. After all, that couple had taken in him and his kids and was doing their best to show them all that the world didn't have to be such an ugly place.

Harry had already made the decision to come back here and see if there was anything real between him and this Draco, but even if he hadn't, he would have moved heaven and Earth to do so after a going away party thrown for Hermione, Ron, and their long-term lover Blaise. That Harry had watched Harry watching that Draco. Harry was wondering what it would be like to be with someone who looked so very skilled in the sexual arts, and THAT Harry suddenly wondered what it would be like to see his husband submit to two Harrys.

Which meant that Harry – a fully grown man with four children who had only ever known rape at Voldemort's hands, and very recently a few healing shags with strangers (and even more strangely, his back from the dead Godfather) – had gotten to experience the powerful and moving feeling of shagging a Draco.

It was THAT experience more than anything else that convinced him that his body was made for Draco's, and that Draco – in any world – was meant to be his soulmate. But not like a magically binding Veela soulmate. Rather, a relationship chosen by the Gods themselves.

At least, that was his hope.

Suddenly, the fire flared, pulling Harry from his thoughts on shagging Draco, which he may have inadvertently moaned about because Draco was giving him a curious look before turning to face his assistant.

“Good news boss! There IS a person named Rosalie Lewis. She was in Ravenclaw two years above you and currently runs a daycare. She's not married and has a son named River. Her parents moved to Australia..... Boss?” Pippa trailed off with a concerned frown as she realized that Draco was clutching his chest and staggering backwards.

“I... I... I...” Draco couldn't speak!

Harry chuckled and sent a grin at Pippa. “I think Draco would appreciate it if you contacted her and set up an appointment for him to meet with her to discuss something important.”

“Important?” Pippa questioned, clearly fishing for more information.

“Erm... yes,” Draco confirmed, looking ready to faint. “Very important.”

“Will do boss!” Pippa stated cheerfully. Ever an efficient assistant, she ended the call right away to do as told.

Draco now had his hand pressed to his stomach and had a look on his face like he thought he might be sick. This was nearly the exact opposite of what Harry wanted Draco to be feeling at the moment. That said, he had no idea what to do about it. It didn't seem like a good idea to just up and kiss him. That probably wouldn't go over very well.

But then again, it might be worth a try...

He stood up and caught Draco as he paced within arms' reach. Draco looked highly surprised for the moment it took Harry to position them so that Draco was not only in his arms, but bent slightly backwards – and then kissed him. It was a tender kiss at first that turned rather hot as Harry grew more and more confident by the fact that Draco wasn't pushing him away. This went on for long enough that Harry felt a sort of haze utterly fill his mind and heart. He felt... Happy? Yeah... it might definitely be happiness. He couldn't quite remember what the feeling felt like.

“Erm, Boss? So sorry to interrupt, but I managed to get an appointment with Rosalie in about half an hour,” Pippa informed them.

Draco pulled back and Harry could see that it took a moment for his brain to process the words and make sense of them. “Erm... Erm... right...” He cleared his throat. “Yes. Perfect.”

Pippa smirked at him knowingly. “Are you certain? Because I can reschedule for about an hour later if you'd prefer to, ahem...” she trailed off with a light chuckle.

Draco held up his hands and shook his head. “No. One minor emergency at a time, ta ever so.”

“As you wish!” Pippa exclaimed in glee before pulling her head out of the fire.

This left silence in the room as Draco stared warily at Harry and Harry felt that sense of possible happiness inside him grow. Draco hadn't pushed him away. Nor had he simply waited out the kiss so that he could hex Harry. All in all, it looked like Draco *might* be interested in Harry too.

“Look, Potter... I'm not used to feeling so off balanced. Not only is there the possibility that I have a son out there I never knew about, but YOU'VE also been having dreams about me in which we get married and have far more kids than possible. I don't know what to think! I need... I need you to stay right there and... Just stay!” Draco ordered before practically fleeing from the room. 

He went directly to his en suite bathroom where he splashed cold water on his face as long as it took to completely compose himself. Then – despite the fact that he had been wearing rather posh clothes considering that he'd simply been lounging around his home – he changed into one of his sharpest business suits. If nothing else, this meeting with Rosalie needed him to be in his best armor – mentally if not physically.

By the time he returned to the kitchen (and noticed Harry reading through all the newspapers Draco had lying around so that he could keep abreast of current events in case they would effect his cases), he barely had time to order Muffy to make another pot of tea before he felt someone pass through his wards. It was someone who he didn't recognize at first, but who had a temporary pass to be let through the wards, and so, was probably Rosalie.

The same as when Harry arrived, Draco was already opening the door when she raised her hand to knock. He looked her up and down, and then couldn't help but smile. Now that he was looking at her, he could remember not only her face and name, but more details of their time together than simply having shagged her in the Library.

“Still as lovely as ever I see,” he greeted as he stepped back to invite her in.

She tucked a strand of her rich brown hair behind her ear, her chocolatey brown eyes shining with nervousness. She took a step inside his flat, and then succumbed to the urge to fidget. “Malfoy... You saw him, didn't you? I've been SO careful to never bring him to Diagon Alley at times when you might be there, but please let me explain! I wasn't trying to keep him from you because I didn't think you'd be a good father, I was just...” she sighed in frustration. “I was just so afraid that you'd be irate that I didn't tell you about him right away, that I just never gathered up the courage. I –!”

Draco held up a hand with a weary sigh. “So it's true... I didn't quite expect that. I... Please, come in and have some tea.”

“You're angry with me, aren't you?” Rosalie muttered nervously, fiddling with her hair again. She followed Draco into his kitchen.

Deciding that he needed to deflect attention from himself for a few moments, he swept out a hand to indicate Harry. “Rosalie, you remember Potter? He came here today to tell me about a dream of his, and in it, you'd had my son and named him River.”

“Oh... so you have visions?” Rosalie asked with interest.

Harry shook his head. “No... and be thankful that I didn't, because in my dream, you'd gone camping with River when he was about five, had an accident that proved fatal, and he nearly died too before... I rescued him...”

Rosalie bit her lip and looked a bit pale. “Actually, that bit is true, er, well, almost. I DID bring him camping when he was five, and I DID have an accident that was nearly fatal. It just so happens that there were other campers in hearing range and River started screaming so loudly when I fell, that they heard him and rushed over to help out. I owe my life to them...”

Draco held out a chair for Rosalie and waited for her to sit in it. Then he took a deep breath to quell the urge to start wailing dramatically about so many things. Once under control, he managed a tiny smile.

“I've... * always* wanted a son, I just... I didn't think it would happen once my marriage to Astoria fell through. Turns out that she fell for a muggle man and absconded to America with him. They have no kids because she suffers from a family curse that will kill her if she has children, so... I probably wouldn't have had a son had I married her anyway, come to think of it,” Draco rambled on because he had no idea what else to say.

Rosalie smiled a little. “Would... would you like to meet him? He looks like you in every way except he has my hair and eyes.”

“I would like that very much,” Draco murmured, feeling rather subdued.

Rosalie held up a small handbag. “Remember how Newt Scamander had a briefcase that contained an entire savanna full of magical creatures? Well, I have a portable playground. I run a daycare, and sometimes, it's just easier to pop all the kids in my handbag and let them play a bit while I take them off on field trips and the like.”

“And?” Draco asked curiously, hoping that she was leading up to the fact that she had River in there.

Rosalie smiled as she seemed to read his mind. “Yes, I brought him with me. I've told him about you over the years. I told him that you were rather young when I first had him, young enough that you weren't quite ready to be a father. Then I told him that you were, erm... in service to a bad man and probably didn't have time for such distractions as a child. More recently, I've been telling him that you're working to fix the world, and your work is so important, that there's not quite enough time for you to be a father.”

“I'd have made time,” Draco grumbled, unable to NOT feel at least a little petulant.

“I know you would have. As I said, *I* was the one who was scared. I... well, I've actually had a rather good thing going, just River and me. I suppose I didn't want to risk ruining it by giving him a chance to bond with you and decide that he loves you more...” she confessed with a morose sigh.

“I promise to share him,” Draco stated, knowing that he could probably win sole custody if he really wanted to, but deciding that it would be better for his son all around if he didn't try to break their bond, simply work his way into their hearts as much as possible.

“Good!” Rosalie sighed in relief. Then she opened the handbag and made a beckoning gesture into it. After a moment of silence, a young teenager popped out. He looked around rather awkwardly.

“Hello River. Nice to meet you,” Draco greeted, holding his hand out as if meeting with a new client.

River shook his father's hand timidly. Then he looked interested. And a bit sly like a Slytherin.

“Growing up, my mother used to tell me fairy tales about my father. I thought that's all they were – stories to pacify me and make me forget to ask questions – about how you have white blond hair and soft gray eyes... but it seems that you are real after all. So, is everything my mother said true? Are you really a sort of Prince who needed to grow up and be a King before you'd be ready to have a child?”

Draco snorted a laugh. Then he grinned at River. “Well, perhaps so. I used to be referred to as the Slytherin Prince, but it's been a very long time since then.”

“You were in Slytherin?!” River asked in astonishment. “The sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I told it I refused to go into any house where I'd be expected to work hard, so – perhaps ironically – it put me in Hufflepuff.”

“I have a son and he's a Hufflepuff...” Draco muttered, feeling like he MUST be the one who was dreaming after all. 

Harry couldn't help but laugh, although he tried to be quiet about it.

Draco turned and raised a brow at him. “Something amuses you, Potter?”

Still laughing softly, Harry grinned. “In my dream, River refused to go to Hogwarts altogether because they have to sit and LEARN all day. He much prefers to be homeschooled by Saoirse and Rhys – who we hired to be private tutors for our entire brood.”

Rosalie looked taken aback. “*I* know Saoirse and Rhys! They're a married couple who had and homeschooled 8 children before retiring and deciding to travel for a bit. But they also like to stop in and visit my daycare when they're in England to give a few, erm, unit studies on places and things around the world.”

“That does not surprise me at all,” Harry murmured. Then he bit his lip in thought. “I wonder what happened to Jaz in this world...” he asked under his breath, but it was quiet enough that they all heard him anyway.

“Jaz?” Rosalie asked in confusion. “You mean Jasmine? The baby girl they adopted when they were in Iran? She's... well she's fine, I suppose. She's about to turn one and they've just managed to find a woman to help her learn sign language since she's deaf.”

“Leah?” Harry asked with interest.

Rosalie nodded.

“Huh! It seems the whole family is here – aside from those that literally can't exist. I should see if I can find Miles and Elena...” Harry muttered to himself.

“Well...” Rosalie said, feeling a bit awkward now that there didn't seem to be anything to talk about. “I think this is just about perfect for a first meeting. Let me bring River home for now so that he and I can talk about what we want to do next, and also, Malf – er – Draco, erm... it'll give you and I a chance to owl each other a bit... to decide what we should do now...”

“Yes,” Draco agreed even though he wasn't happy about them leaving so soon.

“Have either of you heard of Insta-owls?” Harry wondered.

They shook their heads, giving him looks like he just lost the plot.

“What are those?” Draco asked.

Harry automatically slipped his hand into his pocket and removed a device he hadn't realized he'd brought with him. But since he had, he felt like he'd look like a moron if he didn't at least show them what he was holding before slipping it right back in his pocket.

“Oh... it's just a function of the Magimobile, which is a device that can make calls like muggle mobiles, send Insta-owls – which are just like they sound, messages that can be transmitted almost instantly – access the internet and things like emails (more muggle stuff), AND play stupid little games. They're a bit stupid, actually.”

“Where did you get such a device???” Rosalie asked with deep interest, taking Harry's Magimobile from him and inspecting it as if it held all the mysteries of the universe. “Ooo! And it can take pictures!”

Harry realized that he probably shouldn't let her see pictures of the OTHER River posing with Del, Bel, Tommy, and Haz – not to mention all the other kids that Other Harry and Other Draco had. So he snatched the device back from her and shoved it in his pocket.

“Sorry, erm... I, erm... Sorry...”

Disappointed, Rosalie shrugged and held out her hand for River. “Come love, let's go home for now.”

“Yes mum,” he murmured, looking reluctant. He really looked like he wished he could stay much longer and snoop through everything Draco owned.

It didn't take long for mother and son to leave, which left Harry and Draco alone again. Draco scrutinized Harry suspiciously. Harry wasn't sure whether to shy away or close in for another fantastic kiss.

Draco held up his hand as if reading Harry's mind. “Wait. Those weren't dreams, were they? Neither a single long dream nor several smaller ones. They were somehow real, weren't they? Meaning that somehow, SOMEWHERE, there's a place were everything you've described so far has really happened.”

Harry sighed in defeat. “Yes...”

“Show me,” Draco insisted.

“What?” Harry asked in confusion.

“That Magi thing you have. Rosalie said it could take pictures, and it obviously doesn't exist in this world, so show me a picture from THAT world,” Draco insisted.

Harry thought this over carefully for a moment before pulling out his Magimobile and selecting a picture of the entire entourage posing together on a beach in Hawaii – a non nude one – after surfing. It was by necessity a panoramic shot. In the middle stood Other Harry and Other Draco, holding hands and just about to kiss. They were framed by their entire brood of kids. Harry and his four kids (Delphini, Tommy, Bellerophon, and Harrison) were off to the right while Pippa, Saoirse, Rhys, and Leah (who was actually holding Jaz) were standing off to the left. Sirius was standing next to Harry with an arm around his waist.

“Is that my cousin? Your Godfather? Isn't he DEAD???” Draco asked incredulously.

“Erm... yes and no...” Harry murmured since that was complicated.

“HOW can people who are dead be ALIVE?!” Draco demanded.

Harry thought this was a weird question since the fact that there were two Harrys should be more important. But then again, it could be a result of Polyjuice and an elaborate prank. Not sure that anything would truly convince Draco – short of a trip to the other world himself – Harry decided to switch to a different picture. This time, he chose one that he STILL couldn't quite believe he'd posed for. It was once again Other Harry and Other Draco in the middle – holding hands – and next to them was Lucius and Narcissa. Around the four of them was the older of Other Harry and Other Draco's children, Lucius and Narcissa's four, and Harry's four. Harry was standing next to his four, and the younger children were all being held by an adult – Sirius James was being held by Other Harry, Draco Jr by Other Draco, Zaire by Narcissa, and Jaz by Lucius.

Draco looked ready to faint. “My... My... My father...???”

Harry nodded.

“But he... DIED when...” Draco trailed off, looking away before Harry could see the accusation in his eyes. “He died while in service to the Dark Lord...”

Harry flinched a little. He couldn't bring himself to feel bad for murdering all of Voldemort's minions working directly in the Minister's Mansion right after the insane snake man's death. The fact that Lucius just might have been worth sparing had never occurred to him – not until he'd gotten to know Other Lucius just a bit and realized that there was an inner well of good hidden *way* down deep inside.

“I can't take any more of this tonight!” Draco announced in aggravation. “I'm going to bed. Don't go anywhere! Spend the night in the guest room that you've used before. Hopefully I'll feel like talking some more in the morning. Good. Night!” He snarled before storming away.

With a sigh, Harry ran a hand through his hair and gathered up the papers so that he could finish reading them once snuggled up in the guest bed.

 

***

 

To Harry's disappointment, things did not progress with Draco quickly at all. He'd arrived on a Tuesday night around half nine, and the only reason Draco had even been home at that point was because Pippa had thrust a bunch of files into his arms and told him to work on them from home if he couldn't manage to stop working long enough to grab a bite to eat, drink some wine, and maybe take a bath before going to bed. It seems that almost every night, Draco stayed in his office until at least 10PM.

Which meant that by the time he got home from work, he barely had enough brain function left to TALK to Harry while they ate something that Muffy made. Therefore, Harry made it his mission to use every ounce of his charm and flirt with Draco so outrageously that there couldn't be ANY mistake as to his intentions. The first night of this, Draco didn't say much and kept looking at Harry like he couldn't quite believe he was really there and not some figment of his imagination.

The second night, the moment Draco softened a single iota – perhaps letting the wine he was drinking relax him just a little – Harry took the opportunity to pull him close and kiss him again. Like the first time, Draco didn't resist and seemed to get a little lost in the kiss. But eventually – right about the time Harry tried running a hand up inside his shirt actually – Draco pulled back and shook his head.

“No... This... I... No... Goodnight!”

Harry watched Draco flee to his bedroom in amusement. His words may have been saying no, but the fact that he was so flustered and not casting hexes meant that his heart *wanted* to say yes, but... just couldn't take such a big risk yet.

The third night of this – which was Harry's fourth night back in total – was a Friday. Perhaps Pippa could read Draco's stony expression like an open book, or perhaps she knew a touch of Legilimency, but she'd gotten stern with Draco and insisted that he go home at the shockingly early hour of 8PM. Draco was still muttering protests when he emerged home through the floo, upset because he had ALREADY had her rearrange his schedule by canceling all his appointments on Saturday and Sunday so that he'd have time to meet with Rosalie (whom he had owled a few times throughout the week) to hammer out their visitation agreement. Also, she promised to bring River so that father and son could chat for a bit and get to know each other.

But that still meant that Draco was home early, not QUITE as exhausted, and willing to drink wine and chat with Harry. He actively asked questions, wanting to know more about the other world Harry had managed to bring his kids to.

“Other Harry and Other Draco are almost nauseatingly in love!” Harry exclaimed with a laugh. “I really thought I was dreaming when Other Draco brought us to the Manor and I saw Other Harry, BUT the hardest part for me to digest at first was them holding each other, kissing, being so very concerned for each other, and just basically *not* caring who saw them go from zero to practically shagging at the drop of a hat!”

Draco sat forward just a little,  _ peering _ into Harry's eyes. “You're... actually smiling! The emotions reach your eyes... The last time you stayed here, you were merely acting every time you were supposed to smile or laugh. Which was ironic really, since even your kids could tell that you weren't laughing and smiling for real – and I suspect that you were only doing it to reassure them everything was fine.”

Harry sat back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest, and sighed a bit petulantly. “I hate to admit it, but part of it is because they more or less dragged me to therapy. I mean they didn't literally drag me, they simply kept on suggesting it as a good idea until I felt obligated to go through with it – since they're basically supporting me and my kids for free.”

“Five extra mouths to feed is not exactly cheap,” Draco murmured in understanding.

Harry snorted a laugh. “No! Although, apparently Other Draco is the genius behind a magic muggle hybrid tech business. He is the one who developed the Magimobile over the years. Plus he owns or invests in so many OTHER businesses around the world, that he literally offered to just GIVE me one so I could support myself and my kids if I wanted. When we were all in Hawaii recently, he came across a Macadamia farm he wanted to invest in, and then agreed to let Orion market and sell them under the brand name of Orion's Belt. Meanwhile, Viona – who is basically Other Draco's right hand when it comes to running and keeping tabs on all his businesses (in addition to Pippa) – Eris and Hazel got a bit irate because they felt he was being sexist and discriminating against them. So he gave them the thumbs up to start up their own business too. A fashion label.”

This made Draco frown in confusion. “Wait... If... If Other Draco has River and... Elena, did you say? Then WHY is VIONA his little business partner?”

Harry shrugged. “Dunno. All I know is that when he has his quarterly meetings, Viona goes with him. She probably knows more about running a business by this point than I would ever learn if my life literally depended on learning everything I could.”

Draco stroked his chin in thought, looking deeply concerned. “Hmm... maybe I've had a daughter all these years too and just didn't realize it...”

This made Harry grin radiantly. “I *knew* you'd care about and love kids more than you let on – if just given half a chance.” He felt this quality deserved a nice reward, and so pulled (yanked really) Draco out of his chair and onto Harry's lap so that there could be some extremely heavy snogging between them.

Once again, they both got so lost in the passion running like an electric current between them, that it felt a bit like their minds were fogged over. Harry was impatient to get his hands on Draco's bare skin; to touch him. FEEL him. Find all the little differences that made this Draco a unique person made just for him. So, he tried to run his hands up inside Draco's shirt – which wasn't an easy feat considering that Draco was wearing a crisp white button up shirt with a form fitting waistcoat over it.

Even so, this made Draco stiffen and sort of crash back to reality. “No,” he insisted, pushing Harry's hands away.

“Why not?” Harry asked softly. Genuinely wanting to know the reasons Draco felt uncomfortable, rather than trying to pressure him before he was ready.

Draco tried to look away, but since he was straddling Harry's lap, there was no direction he could hide his expression in without physically turning around and/or walking away. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. Then he tried to act nonchalant by shrugging.

“By every indication, this thing between us – the direction you're trying to steer it in – it's NOT going to be some simple stress relief, or even a contract where we both outline our needs for the night and agree to fulfill each others kinks before going our separate ways in the morning –”

“You've done that?” Harry asked with interest.

Draco merely shrugged and didn't answer. “Instead, you seem to want to... to... have a RELATIONSHIP... Even possibly...” He bit his lip and refused to say any more.

Harry couldn't help but kiss that lip that Draco was unconsciously abusing with his teeth. “I DO want a relationship with you.”

“No you don't,” Draco denied harshly.

“I do... I really do...” Harry assured him, giving him another kiss.

Draco shook his head and pushed against Harry's chest as a physical signal for Harry to stop AND a way to force himself to get to his feet and walk away.

“No... you don't want me... You want THEM. You want what they have, and you don't care about me or what I want in the slightest.”

Harry felt the tenderest and most sympathetic expression cross his face. “That's not true. I mean, yes, SEEING them have such an epic love for each other inspired me to let my heart out of prison and examine it to see if I held any love in it after all, but it's not THEM that I want to be like. I already told you they're DISGUSTING! I want to see what would be possible with YOU...”

Draco shook his head, unable to believe such a thing. Rather than stay and argue, he simply went to bed.

The next day, Harry made himself scarce so that Draco could spend the entire day bonding with his son. He'd rather jump in front of an AK than get between a father and his son. Especially when his Draco was part of that equation. (And yes, he couldn't stop secretly thinking of Draco as his – no matter how much the man kept pushing him away and denying that.)

That night, when Harry returned to Draco's flat, Draco looked strangely relieved – as if he'd convinced himself that Harry had left for good. Other than that, Draco was in an excellent mood. His time with River and Rosalie had gone well, and he was once again having a glass of wine to relax with.

He offered a glass to Harry, who downed it and tossed the glass aside before grabbing Draco and snogging him thoroughly. Harry was determined to avoid the mistake he'd made twice already – attempting to get his hands on Draco's skin. Instead, he used every skill and technique he could think of to sort of make love to Draco OVER his clothes.

To his surprise, this worked! Draco got so into what Harry was doing that he was frustrated by the amount of clothing between them. So, he let Harry take his waistcoat and shirt off. Elated, Harry wasted no time making love to every centimeter of newly bare skin. Despite Draco clearly insisting that no more clothes come off, they frotted against each other – which eventually resulted in a mutual orgasm that made them both sigh and purr happily.

But then the next day was Monday and Harry had to bite back his frustration over the fact that Draco worked. He paced the flat for a few hours before getting fed up enough to go jogging around the neighborhood. He did his best to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his head that not so helpfully reminded him that Other Harry was pregnant and could still run circles around his arse.

There was precious little progress the entire week. Draco would come home from work around half 10 (working slightly more than normal to make up for taking the entire weekend off, not to mention, all the weekends from now on), then he was obviously so tired that Harry didn't have the heart to push him further than a bit of glorious snogging.

THEN it was Saturday again, and Draco had plans to go out and do things with River and his mum. Harry wanted to yank all his hair out in frustration, but he completely understood putting one's children first. Even so, he was a bit depressed when Draco finally returned home – so late that Harry really had to wonder if he'd gone back to Rosalie's place for the night (or at least shagged her). But no. Draco returned looking like a teenager who had FINALLY gotten a reward he'd worked damn hard for.

Harry decided to rein in his enthusiasm and give Draco some time to simply enjoy the lingering happiness from his day. He even did the gentlemanly thing and said goodnight to Draco so that he could go to bed and use his hand to try to solve a minor emergency in his lap. But this actually angered Draco.

“Are you giving up already? Was I right after all?”

Harry frowned. “No... I just thought... you needed space...”

Draco glared at him lightly. “Well I don't.”

Encouraged, Harry bit his lip to stop his grin from getting too big. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Draco confirmed as he pointed at the sofa. “So sit your firm arse down and snog me for a bit before I decide it's time to go to bed!”

Harry must have looked so hopeful all of a sudden that his misunderstanding was blatantly obvious. Draco harrumphed in wry amusement.

“I don't mean like that! But...” He trailed off and looked away.

Harry hummed in understanding. Draco didn't want to give in so easily – he wanted Harry to have to prove himself somehow. Even so, he wanted to do things that probably'd be easier in a bed. Just not IN bed.

So, much like teenagers would – Harry supposed, never having been in the position himself – they lay on the sofa and slowly worked their way towards being topless. Their kisses were hot and made Harry's head spin, but strangely, the little teasing licks to Draco's neck, chest, and nipples were even hotter. Harry attempted to get a hand inside Draco's trousers, but was denied. This meant that Draco still wasn't ready to take a BIG risk – only the smaller ones they were already taking.

Honestly, if Draco wanted to go slowly and act more like teenagers than the fully grown adults they were, Harry had no problems with it. After all, his first sexual experience was a rather disturbing rape by Voldemort, and so, HARRY sort of needed to go through this uncertain exploratory phase too. Thus when they eventually frotted themselves to orgasm again, Harry simply rewarded Draco with a kiss and held him like he was the most precious treasure in the world.

Draco eventually pulled free from Harry's arms and went to bed, but the next day held a marvelous new experience for them:

Draco brought Harry out on a date. That said, they had to use glamour spells so that Harry wouldn't be recognized by those who were still looking for him and his kids. The date was the first time they let themselves reminisce about Hogwarts, which led to a lot of fun and surprisingly playful banter.

Eventually, Harry was dying of curiosity about something. He pushed his empty plate away and picked up his half full wine glass so that he could pretend to focus on it instead of Draco.

“So, if you shagged Rosalie in the Library, was that the most shocking place you've ever done it – in Hogwarts or not –?”

Draco smirked merrily as he thought the question over. “Erm... Well, I suppose that the most shocking place I've ever done it was... in a lift. It was in a VERY tall hotel and there quickly becomes a point in which the likelihood of someone needing to go UP to another floor is so small that there's time to have a few quick thrusts up against the wall.”

“Ah, that sounds fun, and like something we should try to replicate at some point,” Harry suggested with a smoldering grin.

Draco rolled his eyes but had a look on his face like he didn't object to the idea at all. Then he raised his chin just a bit. “What about your shocking exploits? Did you lose your virginity in the Chamber of Secrets?”

Harry was actually self-controlled enough that he didn't flinch at that, nor did he react much at all beyond a small shake of his head. “No, I – erm... I lost my virginity when I was impregnated with Tommy, so...”

“Ouch!” Draco exclaimed softly in sympathy. “I'm sorry. If I'd known, I wouldn't have brought it up.”

Harry shrugged. “You weren't to know. Besides, after a while, that was one of the gentler and almost tender sessions, and so I... I suppose I became so used to being Voldemort's sex toy that I just... stopped being traumatized by it. At the time, that is. By the time you rescued me, it was just how things were and I couldn't care, and actually, the non-consensual shagging was nowhere near as bad as the other things that happened to me. After all, Voldemort seriously tried everything he could to kill me, and yet I lived through it all. Which is really worse when you think about it? Being raped, or surviving having my heart cut from my chest while I watched?”

“Fuck!” Draco exhaled in horror. He waved his hands back and forth. “We don't have to talk about this! I can respect your need to keep that sort of thing private.”

Harry let out a mirthless chuckle. “Actually, as G – my Mind Healer – says, talking about it helps. It helps me examine my past from the safety of my present and allows me to give myself permission to feel the things I wasn't able to back then. That – in turn – will help me to heal and truly believe that I am worthy of love, despite what happened to me.”

Draco stuck out his tongue for half a second. “Bleh! I can't IMAGINE talking to a Mind Healer! I had to do things that – er... probably pale in comparison, actually, but I don't really want to think about. But since you're being open and honest with me, I can give a little in return.”

Harry watched in fascination as Draco abruptly refilled his wine glass and then downed the whole thing in one swallow. Then he took a deep breath and held it for as long as he could before he literally had to let it out and take another breath. Harry opened his mouth to say that Draco didn't have to spill his secrets, but Draco held up a hand to prevent him.

“Just before Sixth Year, a little after I was given the Dark Mark, the Dark Lord came into my room one night to show me what would happen if I failed – long BEFORE he allowed me to die. He and a pair of minions in the standard Death Eater masks – plus my Aunt standing off to the side, I suppose to make sure that they didn't go TOO far... Well, they broke all the bones in my arms and legs a little bit at a time, and then – when I was no longer able to do much more than whimper from the pain – the Dark Lord ordered my Aunt to vanish all the broken bones and give me some Skelegrow so that I would be right as rain by morning.”

“Fuck!” It was Harry's turn to exclaim in sympathy and dismay.

Draco nodded and sort of shrugged at the same time. “But that wasn't the only thing... After that, any time I was home, the Death Eaters decided that I was fair game when it came to practicing their torture techniques. After all, I was more or less a failure, not to mention the son of a disgraced minion. So... they... came into my room and... did things...”

“Oh Draco!” Harry cried out, his heart hurting to hear such distressing news. Not caring one whit that they were in a public (muggle) restaurant, Harry pulled Draco onto his lap and held him tight. They were silent for a long moment.

Then Harry cleared his throat and whispered in Draco's ear: “As G says, despite what they did to you and what they made you do to others, YOU are still worthy and deserving of love.”

Draco couldn't quite suppress his small sob of... relief? At hearing that. He wrapped his arms around Harry even tighter and buried his face in Harry's neck.

“Then come home with me – come to BED with me – and prove that you mean every word,” he challenged.

Harry felt his heart stop dead for a moment and would have beat on his chest to get it to start again if his arms weren't full of Draco. But it started beating again all on its own, and when Harry felt like he could breathe enough to speak, he murmured against Draco's head as he pressed a kiss to it: “I'll do whatever it takes to prove to you that I'm serious. That I want you – that I want to have a *relationship* with you. That I think I... love...”

Draco cut him short with a demanding kiss. “No. Not yet.”

This confused the hell out of Harry! Was Draco changing his mind? Draco shook his head as if answering the unasked question.

“Don't say such things until we've had a chance to get to know each other a LOT better and such things are not impulses but genuine truth.”

Harry nodded in understanding. A loud clearing of a throat interrupted them. They both ignored the noise at first.

“GENTLEMEN! Kindly stop such a vulgar display in public! Go enjoy each other in the privacy of your bedroom – or hell! Your dining room table for all I care! Simply NOT in my establishment!”

This made Harry chuckle and whisper in Draco's ear. “Pay the bill already, before I Apparate us away while everyone is still staring at us.”

Clearing his throat in an attempt to regain his composure, Draco pulled a large wad of muggle money out of his pocket and tossed it on the table without even counting it. He'd had it exchanged specifically for this date, so it didn't really matter to him if it was more than necessary. Delighted by this, the owner scooped it up and promised to bring their change, but had a look on his face like he knew they weren't planning to wait that long.

Sure enough, Harry dragged Draco to the privacy of the loo and Apparated him directly back to Draco's flat. This time, having already made the decision to shag, there was no attempt to keep any of their clothes on. Things when flying as they made their way to Draco's bedroom, which took much longer than it should have because they kept throwing each other up against the walls they passed so that they could snog and grope and lightly frot.

But finally, they were naked and in Draco's bed. Harry was so eager that he nearly skipped straight to the end, but a few deep breaths helped him calm down enough to take the scenic route. Draco had said he wanted Harry to prove that he was worthy, so that's was Harry aimed to do.

He licked, kissed, and massaged every part of Draco except one. Which quickly led to Draco snarling at Harry to stop teasing and suck it properly, but Harry ignored that order and focused on another part entirely. Draco gasped when he felt a velvety tongue probing him, gently preparing him.

“Wait! Who ever said that I'D be the bottom?!” He cried out in alarm.

“Oh,” Harry murmured, feeling a little disappointed. “Well alright. Whatever you want.”

Draco could clearly sense how badly Harry wanted this, so he took a deep breath and exhaled a long sigh. “No, I've changed my mind. I... I suppose that I was just, erm... I just haven't trusted anyone but Luna to top me, so... So continue on with what you were doing. I have a feeling I'm going to really like it.”

Harry raised a curious brow. More than just curious, intrigued with a dash of dying to know thrown in for good measure. Draco bristled defensively.

“What??? She... well, I was SUPPOSED to rape her, but I couldn't do it because I knew what that felt like. But then when we were alone and no one was watching, I told her that we'd just wait until enough time had passed. I was exhausted because it was hard to sleep, erm, well, so I fell asleep. She managed to free herself and took a bit of revenge on me by... well in just about any other circumstance, it probably would have been considered rape, but in that particular instance, I was really into it, and so I play with her from time to time.”

“Huh... Even though I actually saw Luna dominate her husband and lovers – they have three of them, that I know of – at a play party, I still just have such a hard time picturing her as a Domme that... yeah... I can't... But actually, erm... I had a chance to play with her too, so I can certainly see the appeal.”

It was now Draco's turn to look extremely intrigued.

Harry chuckled. “Probably not the best time for a FULL sexual history, but I will say that OTHER us and all our friends over there are Kinky as fuck! Hermione got a brilliant job opportunity requiring her, Ron, Blaise, and their kids to move to Russia, and Other us threw them a hardcore play party as a going away gift.”

“MY Blaise?” Draco asked in astonishment. 

“Yep,” Harry confirmed with a smirk.

Draco grinned mischievously. “He's rather hung; I'm surprised Granger can take him!”

“Oh she can, and so can Ron, and so can you apparently. And Other Harry, but I didn't have the courage to try even topping him because how can anyone feel particularly well endowed when shagging a redwood like that?!”

This made Draco laugh. “I've thought much the same. I've actually wanted to try topping him with his own shaft, if possible. I think that would be only fair.”

Harry was surprised to realize that he felt dangerously possessive and jealous. Growling, he bit Draco's shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise, but not break skin nor draw blood. “MINE!”

Draco decided that this was an excellent opportunity to heckle Harry. “Oh? You mean that we AREN'T going to be like the other us and try to shag all our friends until we can't stand because our legs have turned to pudding?”

Harry growled some more, seizing Draco's lips and staking his claim. “MAYBE I *might* consider us attending a play party just to flirt and watch others, in the future – AFTER we're married a dozen years, but not before then!”

They both looked rather shocked when they realized what he said. Draco nearly let the panic overwhelm him. He nearly pushed Harry away and ran from the room, but a few deep breaths had him only slightly rattled in no time.

“I already told you! DON'T *SAY* SUCH THINGS UNTIL THEY'RE DEFINITELY TRUE!”

Rather than argue, Harry kissed Draco, and then kept on kissing him until it was time to shift his mouth to kiss a very different place that needed to be patiently worked open. Draco moaned and sighed, relaxing into the pleasure. He thoroughly enjoyed every second – until he grew impatient and frustrated.

“I'm READY, Potter! Kindly get on with shagging me already!”

Smirking and not needing to be told twice, Harry shifted into position. He took the time to enter Draco at a pace that Draco set. Each time Draco tensed up, Harry would pause and let him relax. But it was only a minute or so before he was buried deep and panting from the effort of NOT going off then and there!

Draco seemed to understand what Harry was feeling because he smirked and said: “If you finish before you even get started, I'm going to make you suck me off and swallow every last drop!”

Harry moaned in longing. “Later. In the morning probably. But right now, I'm going to do my best to last until after YOU orgasm.”

Draco purred because Harry was rocking ever so slightly, but just that was enough to stimulate the bliss growing inside him. “Lucky for you that I have no qualms about finishing quickly. And I'm already *so close!*”

Encouraged, Harry shifted until he found the perfect angle, and then made it his mission to pound Draco into the bed. True to his word, it didn't take Draco long at all to reach his climax. He dug his nails into Harry's back and insisted on kissing Harry to cover what felt like a squeal about to erupt from his mouth. The moment Harry felt those magical little spasms on his shaft and a hot mess between them, Harry lost all control and pumped Draco full. They collapsed into a well-sated pile and passed out within half a minute.

In the morning, Harry woke Draco exactly as he said he would, and then when Draco was purring from the toe curling experience of shooting a load down Harry's throat, the gorgeous Slytherin let himself believe – for at least one second – that there COULD be something real between them. In an excellent mood, he stroked Harry's back and would have given him a kiss if their mouths weren't just a bit too far apart.

“So... what now?” He asked curiously.

“Now?” Harry questioned in mild confusion.

“Yeah... what do you plan to happen now?” Draco wondered.

“Oh, well, I figured I'd give you five minutes or so to recover, and then I'd shag you into exhaustion. If I'm lucky, I'll manage to distract you from getting out of bed for the whole day,” Harry informed him with a devilish grin.

Draco snorted a laugh. “Don't be a moron, Potter! I have to work today and am probably dreadfully late as it is! I MEANT what do you have planned for our relationship now that I'm willing to consider it a possibility?”

“Oh... Well... I was hoping for an exclusive agreement. A Commitment. But to be honest, I already realized that it would have to be a part time thing. I can't stay here forever. I promised my kids I'd return to them in a month, and it's already been three weeks. I was HOPING that I could talk you into coming with me, just for a quick visit – IF it's even possible to bring you – but... I'm dead certain you won't even consider it until you've gotten more established as a part of River's life.”

“Well, you're right about that,” Draco murmured, feeling depressed all of a sudden. “I have far too many things to do here, to be honest, so I don't think I could justify taking a holiday even if I DIDN'T have River to get to know. But with him... yeah. I... can't...”

Harry nodded in understanding. Neither of them said anything. After a few short minutes, Muffy popped into the room, apologized profusely for disturbing them, but insistent that she had to feed Draco his breakfast before he left for work and forgot to eat.

Rather than try to have the all important discussion now, Draco simply pulled free from Harry's arms, slipped out of bed, and performed his habitual rush to get ready each morning. As usual, he wasted no time so that he could down his breakfast and leave for work as soon as possible.

Harry sighed morosely and wished that his Draco had at least one thing in common with OTHER Draco... *That* Draco took at least an hour to get ready each morning – afternoon, whatever – which would have given them some time to talk while pretending they were focused on other things. Instead, it would probably have to wait until Saturday night or Sunday morning.

 

***

 

Harry was right about their talk waiting, but to his surprise and delight, Draco insisted that Harry spend each night in his bed. About half the time they shagged, but the other half of the time, Draco was too worn out for that and they did other things such as hold each other and talk about Draco's day. Kiss. Cuddle. Frot.

It was, without a doubt, the best week of Harry's entire life!

On Tuesday, Harry couldn't put off the talk any longer. He had to return to his kids before they started panicking. So, the moment Draco came home – and Harry had thought ahead and called Pippa so that she could do whatever it took to force Draco home early – he insisted that Draco hammer out a few details, such as:

Were they going to be exclusive? - They were.

When would Harry visit? - Every other weekend.

Would Draco please please PLEASE come back with Harry for even an hour to meet the others and say hi to Harry's kids? - Nope, Draco didn't want to risk being stuck in the other world.

So, Harry stood up and gave Draco a kiss goodbye, but this seemed to trigger the realization that Harry might not actually be able to come back, and Draco DIDN'T want to let Harry go without saying a proper goodbye. So, he dragged him to bed and made love to him so tenderly – so worshipfully – that Harry nearly cried! It lasted *hours* and when they finished, Harry passed out.

The next morning, Harry woke only because Draco started grumbling as he got out of bed. Once again, it was way too early in the morning and Draco was getting ready to go to work. He kissed Harry goodbye – actually said a proper goodbye should Harry not be able to come back – and then told him to go back to sleep.

Harry was still tired enough that he inadvertently obeyed. Thus, by the time he woke up and realized that he was an entire day late, he was tempted to kick his own arse! Sighing and grumbling and wishing that he could give Draco one last hug and kiss, he calmed down and focused so that he could say the word they programmed to trigger the transfer between worlds.

And then, with a last look around Draco's flat, he disappeared.

 


	131. Chapter 131

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is leaving for his book tour and while Draco wants him to go be awesome, he doesn't want him to be gone so long.

Thursday February 11th  
My Vampire,

I did attempt to wake you up oh so nicely. I decided to kiss you toe to head to wake you up. Starting with your elegant feet, working my way up your pale legs, delicious inner thigh, those hip bones I can still see even with the swell of my children above them, that bump where my children live, your still beautifully defined chest, your soft sweet smelling neck. And when I got to your face I saw that you had already woken up and were just patiently waiting for me to get to your gorgeous smirk. One quick kiss and then you were actively kissing back, and eventually started making love to my neck.

And that's when it stopped being sexy and got concerning again. You did the blood drinking thing again. I just let you keep going because who am I to keep my magic from my husband and my children? But you know how I worry. I'm just so glad the potion will be ready today so you shouldn't have to be so drained that you resort to drastic measures. I'm ready for you to be back to normal. Maybe still a bit extra sleepy because you're pregnant, but not practically bedridden.

Although you being forcefully confined to my bed doesn't have to be bad. When you're feeling better and I'm back home from my tour I could totally tie you to the bed and torture you for hours. Not the violet wand kind of torture but the I get to touch you and you don't get to do anything but lie there and take it kind of torture. Mmm the things I would do to you. Ahhh, I have to stop myself. My intense horniness hasn't abated and you're too sleepy to assault as often as I'd like. My right hand and I had a falling out years ago, but perhaps it's time he and I were reacquainted.

I'm leaving Monday and I am going to miss you so badly. It is taking all of my energy to not just throw in the towel and stay home. I think if I weren't taking the bigger kids with me I probably would just quit altogether. But their excitement at the travels are enough to push me over the line from "I don't want to leave my Draco" to "I don't want to take this experience away from the kids." And I'm going to miss our four smallest. What if Siri and Zwei do something naughty to act up over missing me and end up getting hurt? What if Jaz doesn't recognize me when I get back? What if Zaire thinks I've abandoned him?

If you're feeling up to it, can we try to Magi-Skype as often as possible? I'm going to miss all five of you (actually six since Lainie is coming with for a few stops but not for the entire trip) but I'm really panicking about how Zaire is going to take my leaving. Maybe if he can see my face, and hear me talk with him, he'll realize I'm definitely coming back.

Donna dropped off more milk when she came for Jaz's little birthday celebration, and I've actually been able to pump some myself, so the littles should be good while I'm gone. And I'll be pumping while I'm gone and freezing it so I don't dry up before I get back. I could just take the potions again, but what's the point if the milk will be used?

I'm freaking out, I can feel my heart racing. What am I going to do without you? If I weren't already aware that Viper and I are different people, this current situation would clinch it for me. I don't know how he was alright with leaving his children for a month to travel to another world that he wasn't completely sure he could return from. Only to finish falling head over heels for Other Draco who he now has to visit two weekends a month. It sounds like a really terrible custody battle. He's a kid who spends every other weekend with his booty call.

Well, obviously it's more than a booty call. He seems to really adore his Draco. I'm glad, maybe he'll keep his grubby little hands off of mine! I'm so pleased that he is stupid enough to not realize you're the best lay of his life. Dumbass. But I totally get where other Draco was worried he was just being messed with. That's how I felt when we were first talking to each other. Like I had to be so careful because if I let it slip how long I had fancied you, if I let myself fall even harder for you, how terribly it would hurt when I found you were just messing with me.

I have to say, hearing there's a River over that that isn't with us is upsetting to me. I'm glad he still has his mum obviously. And I know the other Draco is a different person from you. I am well aware the Viper is a different person from me. And the whole white Hermione thing is still freaking me out. But knowing there is a River out there that doesn't have you and it feels so wrong. I know he's not ours, he's the other world's, he's Rosalie's, but damnit River is mine and he's always been mine! This whole thing is messing with my head.

I actually have an appointment early Monday morning with Katja before I leave. I need to unload a bit, how I'm feeling about leaving you and the kids, how I'm feeling about the Viper situation. Life is complicated!

You were meant for me, and I was meant for you,  
Harry

 

Sunday February 14th  
Dearest Harry,

You are currently packing up the last little bit you might need before leaving for your book tour tomorrow. That gives me an opportunity to write something without you looking over my shoulder. Something important that I can't ever say to you in person.

I don't want you to go. I mean I want you to go and have fun and fulfill a calling inside you, but I don't want you to be away from me for sooooooooooo long. This will be literally THE LONGEST we've ever been apart since before we got married. I have no idea how I'm going to deal with you being gone!

I'm going to miss you so much!

Oh, you're back from the closet and you have a look in your eye that promises a very thorough goodbye.

-

Apparently I didn't get a chance to send this to you last night, which I never would have anyway. There was no chance in hell I was going to risk ruining one of your dreams coming true. Besides, I was being hormonal and needy last night, and now that you are actually gone, I can think clearly again. Yes I'm going to miss the fuck out of you, but yes I am an adult and can put on my big boy pants and deal with it.

I love you and I want you to have so much fun that you almost forget that you're missing me. Almost, but not quite, because let's face it, I'm unforgettable!

Your idea to chat on the Magitablets via the Magi-Skype application is sheer brilliance! I love how we even went through a sort of dry run by having me hold Zaire and Jaz on my lap while you went into the other room and called us. I love how you explained during said practice chat that you were going to be gone but that you would talk to us every night until you came back. You even signed it to Jaz so that she could understand as much of what you were saying as she could.

You are the best other father for our children ever!

Have I mentioned that I love you and miss you? It's only been about two hours, but I already feel like you've been gone forever. I can't wait until you call us tonight!

The good news is that while I am still recovering from the Dragon Flu and my magical drainage, I'm feeling much better. Rowe made a house call today to give me a bit of a check up - she REALLY wanted to see how well I was doing on those potions made from your blood - and she says that my levels are holding steady enough with all the other potions I'm taking, that if I feel up to it, whenever I take a blood potion and receive it's boost, I should be able to get out of bed and putter around for a bit. She recommends exercising and stretching to keep my body in decent shape - and attempt to avoid gaining TOO much weight, as is common when pregnant people are confined to bedrest and have nothing better to do than eat.

In any case, this means that - slowly, as I feel up to it - I'll be able to help Elena get her school up and running. She's hoping to get it done quickly so that she can join you for the last bit of your tour and show off pictures and progress reports. At this point, it's just overseeing the remodeling of the premises she bought and sorting through applications for various teachers. I think we might even start on interviews next week. Obviously, her school won't literally be in full operation by the time she's 'done,' but she'll have it to the point where all it needs is kids interested in learning what she has to offer. Probably after their normal schooling. So a sort of night school, I suppose.

Maybe down the line, she can actually offer a full curriculum so that truly dedicated kids can attend the one school for all their learning needs, but for the moment, it's simply a performing arts school. Probably going to attract more adults than kids at first, come to think of it. Either way, I'm so bloody proud of her!

Sigh... I'll just have to go get my Harry fix from the Viper. You know, pretend he's you and snuggle with him so that I won't miss you quite so much. No wait, you were so worried that THAT was a possibility that you insisted that he and his kids (and Padfoot) go with you. To be fair, it really wouldn't make much sense for his kids to stay behind when all the others their age are going. Nor would it make sense for his kids to go and him to stay here with me. All by ourselves.

He could have helped me snuggle with Zaire and Jaz each night, but I suppose that we'll just have to insist that Siri and Zwei come in here and keep us company while you're gone. Oh what a rough life I lead! I just have to have extra snuggles from my boys! Going to sign off now and go start on that.

Love you to the moon and back!  
Draco  
P.S. Looks like I'm going to have to get reacquainted with my right hand as well!

P.P.S. Possibly in the bathtub, all soapy and warm...

P.P.P.S. Happy Valentine's Day! We'll do something extra special next year to make up for not doing anything this year.


	132. Chapter 132

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco are surviving their time apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note, if you didn't read the last chapter - 131 - in which Harry left for his book tour, go back and read it. I had a glitch happen yesterday when I posted it, and even though it's there, I'm not sure notices went out to everyone :-)

Tuesday February 16th  
My Heart,

I think it's probably a very good thing you didn't send the first part of your email before I left. I think it would have been the thing that tipped me over the edge to just not going. I swear, seeing those five sad faces waving me off was so hard. I bet I cried away half the plane ride.

Seeing your faces over Magi-Skype last night was really helpful. I know I originally thought of this idea so that Zaire and Jaz didn't feel abandoned or forget me, but now I know it's benefiting everyone! I got to hear all about Siri and Zwei's day, show Zaire that I meant what I said about talking to him every night, see Jaz's face when I sign "I love you baby" to her, and of course get to soak up your beauty like a plant reaching for the sun.

You weren't wrong in the rest of your email. I did give you a very thorough goodbye! I didn't want you to exert yourself, so I made you lie back and let me worship your body. The body I'm going to miss so very much while I'm gone. I kissed every inch of your skin. Ravished your neck, although not quite as much as you do to mine! Scattered kisses and soft bites everywhere I could reach. Hopefully you can see all the marks I left over the next few days and think of me. I took you into my mouth for just a short minute or two and then had you turn over on your hands and knees.

I'm sure you thought I was going to prep and take you then, but I needed the goodbye to be about you and your pleasure. Something in me needed to make sure you knew it wasn't just about getting off with you before I left. I rimmed, sucked, fingered, and tongued your hole. All the while reaching underneath and tugging on your flushed and straining cock. You reached your orgasm, spurting and keening, and then you seemed to melt back under the covers. I just held you as you came down from your petit mort, and laid with you as long as I could.

I had to give you as many snuggles as I could since I knew how much we would both be missing them. You are going to miss them so much you were willing to chance my rage, saying you'd be giving Viper all my snuggles if he had stayed. Not cool! I may have been willing to share you with him that one time during the going away party, but I am not sharing my cuddles. Nuh uh, no way. You can just go ahead and keep to the four kids I left at home.

I left them Draco, I just abandoned my babies. I'm the worst father who's ever existed. I miss them. I miss you. I miss my bed. I miss our house. I miss everything! Ok, I can't let myself go down this spiral. It could end really poorly. I am doing this for them. Being a father doesn't mean I have to give up on my own dreams. This will show our children that you can be a loving parent and not lose yourself. You can be in a loving marriage and it doesn't mean you have to be surgically attached at the hip. Being an adult does not have to mean giving up your identity as an individual.

Yep, for them, do this for them. Breathe.

I just got back to my hotel room from my first stop on the tour, one of those morning talk shows so I was up at ridiculous o'clock. Seriously, it was insane. It was too early for me. You probably would have just thought it was the middle of the night. The kids are going to come with me for a few of the shows and interviews, but between it being the first one and the fact that it was so early, I just went off by myself for this one.

I think it went pretty well. They asked some of the "pre-approved" questions. They seemed really interested in the NSPCC and why I had portions of the proceeds going to them. We talked about that at length. And then they asked if I would read a snippet of the book. I assumed they were going to ask me to read a part of the story itself, but they didn't. Did you see the copy of "Harry Potter Found More than a Stone" I left on your nightstand? Did you have a chance to pick it up or have you been too busy and sleepy?

Well, I was hoping you'd have at least read the dedication, but since they asked me to read the dedication on air, I want the first time you hear it to come from me, directly to you. The dedication of my first book says:

For the boy in the robe shop with the quicksilver eyes  
Without you, I would have been without a childhood nemesis  
Without you, I would have sorted Slytherin  
Without you, I would be living without the other half of my soul

Thank you for everything you've given me; your heart, our children, my life  
Thank you for believing in me even when I don't believe in myself  
This book wouldn't exist without you  
Neither would I

Harry

 

Friday February 19th  
The dearest part of my heart,

I had to take my time reading the first few chapters of your book. I know you were neglected and abused as a child. I've met your Aunt and Uncle and heard details. I have held you on the rare occasion that you have a nightmare about being kept in a cupboard. Even so, reading about it was hard. I had to do it in smaller digestible tidbits.

Also, I know I don't need to mention this, that you trust me enough by this point that the thought didn't even cross your mind, but I SWEAR on the lives of our unborn children that I did NOT - nor did I gently hint to anyone else to - arrange or have anything to do with the car accident that killed them last year. That well and truly was simply their own fault, or the fault of some fate. That said, I'm not going to lie and claim that I wasn't relieved that you won't ever have to worry about running into them at Dudley's for a family function. And while they were arguably good grandparents to Dudley's kids, there's definitely a reason we never made an effort for them to get to know - or even meet - our kids.

They didn't deserve the privilege.

It is also just a bit painful to read about how I acted toward you from your perspective. I will not deny that I was a right arsehole. I couldn't understand back then why I wanted your attention so damn much, but pretty much everything I did back then was be a pain in your arse so that you'd have no choice but to notice me. You'd HAVE to think about me, even if it was to grumble and complain, heh heh.

That said, I realized that I never told you my side of the Dragon incident. As I was reading about your adventure smuggling Norberta out of the castle, you - much like in the Rita Skeeter version - more or less assumed that I was just trying to catch you in the act so that I could get you into trouble.

Honestly Potter, if I was trying to get you into trouble, don't you think I would have stayed out of trouble myself and sent Snape to catch you instead?

(And yes, I know you're not Potter anymore. That was just a touch of nostalgia, haha.)

It was never about you, you just happened to be involved. I'd seen the baby Dragon hatch - never wonder why I was spying through Hagrid's window? Aside from the fact that you were in the hut and had I known that's where you were going to be, I MIGHT have spied on you for general intel purposes (it was First Year after all, I didn't really know anything about you back then). The real reason I was spying is because I'd heard Hagrid had a Dragon egg and I wanted to see if it was true. I was just as surprised as you seemed to be when the egg hatched right in front of my eyes.

I was standing out there trying my best to be silent and not call attention to myself, even so, I couldn't help but say aww! Thus, when I read that you were going to be smuggling said Dragon out of the castle, I realized that it was going to be my only chance to SEE it. I wanted so badly just to see it. I seriously wish I'd had an invisibility cloak for just that day, because if I had one, I'd have been able to sneak up onto the tower and - who knows? - maybe even gotten a really up close look at Norberta. She was in a cage, maybe I could have even risked petting her.

But just my luck, I was caught by McGonagall.

In any case, now that I'm past the hard parts, I'm really enjoying how you focus on the meaning of your title. Skeeter made it sound like the only truly important thing to happen the whole year was finding the stone and surviving the Dark Lord - which I'm infinitely grateful for - but as you point out, the actually important thing was that you found true friends, and a place where you belonged - instead of feeling like a freak. I have a feeling you're working toward another thing you found, but I'm not quite there yet.

Although I know it wasn't love you found. Not back then. That came much later, and to my eternal blessing, we got together rather young and have pretended that we're glued together ever since. But I'm going to sign off now and snuggle with my portion of the kids. They're taking advantage of the fact that I'm still in bed the majority of the time by having me watch the programs they like the most right now. It's right up my alley actually, as we're currently binge watching Cardcaptor Sakura. And like ALL the anime we watch in this family, we're watching it in the original Japanese. With the subtitles so that Siri can practice his reading.

Which reminds me, you really must not pay attention AT ALL when we watch anime, but you've mentioned a couple of times that you don't like it because the words don't quite line up to the movement of the mouth. A - they have seriously improved over the years, but yes, that is an understandable dislike, but B - we never watch them in English, so that isn't really an issue. That said, I can see how you'd tune the whole thing out and just assume, haha. As you also said, you'd rather watch our family.

Lastly, someone else has taken it upon themselves to replace you when it comes to snuggling. Bear. And Amala. They BOTH seem to feel like me being in bed is an excellent opportunity for them, haha. Bear lays on my pillow, and Amala sprawls out on your side of the bed. I think they think I need as much attention as possible at the moment because if I so much as twitch, they give me kisses. I practically have to fight Amala just to get out of bed long enough to go to the loo! If I didn't know better, I'd swear Rowe told her to keep my arse in bed, hahahahaha!

Now if we're talking body, you got a perfect one, so put it on me, swear it won't take you long, if you love me right, we fuck for life, on and on and on,  
Draco

P.S. My right hand isn't seeing much action, sadly. I have too many extra spectators in my bed at the moment for that. Although, the bath is still a great place to be XD

P.P.S. I think Amala understands more about sex than I gave her credit for. The one time I tried to play with myself, she got WAY too interested, and I really thought she was going to try to hop on and ride me! And NO! Not happening!


	133. Chapter 133

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is already homesick, or rather, Dracosick.

Monday February 22, 2010

I can't do this anymore! I'm coming home! Ok, I'm not coming home. But I really want to. It's been a week. An entire week without your arms around me. An entire week waking up alone!

Well, not exactly alone. On our third night here, Orion was having a rough night feeling homesick. It was confusing, I've never known him to get homesick before. But he wasn't really homesick, he was missing you in particular, and definitely missing Siri and Zwei. He does a fairly normal amount of grumbling when his two little brothers "follow him everywhere" but apparently that's just big brother speak for "I really like being the one my little brothers look up to." So that night after everyone went to bed, he couldn't sleep and decided to come talk to me. He came in and I guess I was whimpering in my sleep. My bed was super comfy, but unbearably lonely. He saw I was having just as hard a time as he was and invited himself into bed with me.

The next morning, when we were having a late breakfast together after another early interview, Eri and Haz asked where he had gone to. He explained that he was checking on me, I was sad, so he stayed with me. (Little liar!) Well, that's all those two little love bugs needed to hear and they invited themselves into my bedroom for the following night. That's how night number four started with me having a bedfull of the almost triplets. Yeah, STARTED. Because about an hour after we all went to bed, Viona came in to "Check on" us and ended up climbing in as well.

Cut to the following morning and River was all talk about having their entire suite to himself, it was so great, he slept like a baby, etcetera. But then he brought up the completely logical argument about the waste of funds for him to have an entire suite to himself. Wouldn't it make more sense if he just joined us all? We could expand the bed to fit all of them. And he supposes it might be kind of fun to have a kind of slumber party all together. So by night number five, I had all five of our kids I brought on this trip in bed with me.

When I manage to distract myself from missing all of you back home, we are having a blast. My schedule starts very early, usually fills out most of the morning. Then I grab some breakfast, and I have another stop or two during the late morning and early afternoon. But I'm usually completely done by three or four in the afternoon. I had an evening party Friday and Saturday, but other than that my evenings have been free for the kids and I to do some sightseeing.

I think this trip has been really good for our big kids. Young kids and babies need more attention anyway, and our two littlest both have some special needs that make them even needier than usual. Our older kids have had no resentment issues, they genuinely love their little siblings and are thrilled they are in our family. But they also really seem to be enjoying having me all to themselves. Well, they do have to share me with the book tour, but that's not really been a problem. I've taken to bringing one of them with me when I go to my scheduled events.

I'm not sure if you've had a chance to hear any of my interviews, but one of the morning radio shows we were on they actually pulled River into the conversation and asked him all sorts of questions about growing up in our family. I know he's brilliant, but the hosts seemed genuinely surprised and pleased with how well-spoken he was, his insightful answers, they were surprised he's only thirteen. Fourteen in a few weeks, but still.

And Eri and Haz went with me to a book signing and soaked up the attention like the little divas they are. They refused to be separated so while everyone else went with me one on one, they went as a set. The stops I have been on in the wizarding areas have been easy enough to explain our children's existence. But I had an interview or two that I brought Eri and Haz to that they just assumed we had a surrogate since they are basically my tiny carbon copies. I did not correct their assumptions on that.

A lot of my interviews have had a lot of questions as to my childhood, and then go on to say it's understandable that you and I have created such a large family. I really thought I would get a lot of "what is wrong with you, ten children (plus) is too many children!" but people seem genuinely pleased that the orphan and the spoiled only child have a small army of children. I had one stop where the interviewer pretty much focused the entire time on my abuse and the NSPCC. Come to find out she was also abused as a child. We had a really long and lovely discussion where we both were in tears by the end.

The part she seemed focused on, and I've seen this a lot from other formerly abused children, is the "it wasn't that bad" justification. You know from me, that's the part of Skeeter's books that bothered me the most. Yes, even more than that epilogue. "Other people are actually abused, he just knocks me around a bit" and "I'm so lucky it's just verbal, other kids are beaten" or "If I had been an easier kid, they wouldn't have had to treat me that way" they're all terrible justifications for allowing this. But our abusers get under our skin, they know how to emotionally manipulate situations, and as soon as we start excusing away their actions, they have all the power.

I truly hope there are children listening who will hear me saying it's not okay even if someone else has it worse and will be able to stop blaming themselves for what's happening to them.

My years of therapy have helped. Not to mention the fact that I don't have to see my abusers anymore. I truly feel badly that Dudley lost his parents, and I wouldn't have wished for them to die, but I do feel some relief knowing that I don't have to see them anymore. Again, I am not happy they're gone, I hope their ends were quick and they didn't suffer, but I find it quite ironic that they died in a car crash when that's the story they told me my entire childhood for why my own parents had died.

Anyway, I'd better run, I have to leave in fifteen minutes for another signing. I'm taking Vivi for this one and the Princess does not tolerate lateness as you well know! I miss you, I'll talk to you tonight!

Love,  
Harry

P.S. I don't blame you for wanting to see the dragon! When we get home we should ask Charlie if we can go for a tour of the Dragon Sanctuary!

 

Thursday February 25th  
Oh Harry!

You missed it! It was THE most adorable thing in the world! I had enough energy to get out of bed for a while, and Jaz looked like she wanted to dance, so I brought her to the ballroom. Naturally, the rest of my mini entourage followed me.

I was sticking to a basic swaying box step so that I didn't over exert myself, and Zaire asked: "Me dance, daddy?" Well of course!

So I handed Jaz over to Siri to hold - he and Zwei actually did a sort of three person dance with her - while I scooped Zaire into my arms and danced with him. That all on it's own was super cute and could have melted my heart if it wasn't already a puddle of lava. But THEN...

He insisted that I put him down and teach him the steps! Our tiny little cherub wants to learn how to dance! And even though I did demonstrate and teach him the steps, it was actually Zwei (and Siri to a lesser extent) that helped him practice them. So basically, our four youngest were dancing today and it was so sweet I nearly squealed and purred from happiness.

So, as a reward, I brought them outside for a bit so that they could ride their dirt bikes while I walked around watching them, snuggling with Jaz in my favorite wrap carrier. It was frightfully cold, but after I had Muffy and Dibly cast warming charms on us and the trails the boys were biking on, it was almost comfortable. They plumb wore themselves out!

So now they're all snuggled up in our bed with Amala and Bear, taking a nice nap while I sip on some tea and write this email. I'm also planning to read more of your book.

I've got chills, they're multiplying, and I'm losing control, of the power you're supplying, it's electrifying!  
Draco  
P.S. I'm glad you're able to bond so much with the older kids. I know that when they were babies, we thought there would never come a time when we weren't with them 24 hours a day, but now that they're nearly teenagers, we've learned that's just not very realistic. Thus, times like this are all the more precious ^_^


	134. Chapter 134

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco misses Harry more than he realized. Then he gets an unexpected visit from Hannah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This case is not as nice as some of the previous ones...

Friday February 26, 2010

Aww,

That was definitely adorable! I am so glad the kids were willing to show off their new dance skills for me last night. Siri and Zwei were great of course, they've been dancing since they were a few days old so it only makes sense. And even my sweet little Jaz stood on your lap and shook her little baby booty! But Zaire was surprisingly great. I mean, he's our kid so he's obviously going to be amazing at everything he puts his mind to, but he seems to really have a natural talent for dance. Do you think we should contact Lainie's dance tutor and see about hiring them for Z? Or do you think that would stress him out? Maybe when he gets a little more comfortable with people outside of family.

But I do have just the teensiest, tiniest concern about your activities …

You said you took "them" outside to ride dirt bikes as a reward and that you walked around wearing Jaz in your wrap. Did you put my baby boy on a dirt bike?!? They're not supposed to be on the bikes with training wheels until they're four, Draco, he's still a tiny three year old baby boy.

You know what, it's ok. I understand that he probably wanted to very much and you made sure every safety precaution was taken. You don't need my forgiveness for making a parental decision but in case you think you need it, you would have it one hundred percent. No hard feelings. I trust you and I love you.

You're so right about spending this time with the older kids now that they're not attached to our hips twenty-four hours per day. I've had some really nice long conversations with each of them individually. We sat around one night during dinner talking about our good memories while we were in Iran. And of course we talked about the harder parts as well, but it was nice to remember the parts of it that were great. I took them bungie jumping. We've been to so many shops it's crazy, you guys are going to be so excited when you see all the souvenirs we got for all of you!

Sirius, Viper, and his kids have been having fun as well. They've not really come with for many of the actual book tour events, mostly just enjoying the free vacation and spending most of their time exploring the city we happen to be in that day. Although, Viper is heading back home this evening so he can go over for his first weekend visit with other Draco. The kids are staying here though. Sirius says he has no problem keeping an eye on all of them.

I feel like I've really gotten to know my Sirius over this last week and a half. He seems like this rebellious puppy. Immature and a tad irresponsible. But he's actually been more helpful than anyone else. Yeah, even more so than Saoirse. Do NOT tell her I said that! He somehow manages to keep the kids together and entertained without having to nag at them. I miss you like crazy, but I think it's been good for my relationship with Sirius for him to see that I can still exist as a whole person even if you aren't with me. I really think that once he got over the fact that you're a Malfoy, his concern with "us" was how dependent on you I am.

Yeah, when I have the ability to be around you I am going to choose to be around you! I picked you on purpose, you're my very best friend. But I do have my own interests and goals. My own hobbies and friends. Just because I choose to spend all of my free time with you doesn't mean I'm incapable of being on my own. I think he was worried that I had lost myself to be with you. Now he can see that with your support I've been able to be even more myself than I was without you.

My interview this morning was kind of rough. I guess it's funny to say after I just talked about how I can survive away from you when needed, but I could have used you with me for this one. In the wizarding world, it's easy enough to say, Skeeter said my story was like this but it really happened this way. But with Muggles I can't exactly say that without admitting the wizarding world is real. So I had to come up with a reason that I had to write the stories from "my" point of view since for all they know, there wasn't really a maniac out to murder me. I knew these questions would come so I had a prepared monologue of sorts, and I am really relieved I did.

When they asked why I wrote about this magical world I said, "When I was growing up, locked away in my cupboard, I wished that some day something magical would come and take me away. I built up a world in my head, where I would have all the food I could ever eat, where I would have a real bed, real friends, and room to fly. When I turned eleven, no one came to take me to a world of magic, but I did get to go to my parents' boarding school. Before they died, they had already signed me up and paid my way. But leaving my cupboard didn't magically take away my problems. A new school didn't mean I suddenly knew how to make friends for the first time in my life. It didn't mean there would be no more bullies. It didn't solve all of my problems. "

I managed to get all of that out without crying! Until they asked me about my bullies. I got to talk all about that pointy blonde prat. And then I got to go all gooey about having fallen in love with him. Annnnnnnnnd that's when I cried.

Missing you,  
Harry

 

Friday February 26th  
My love,

I miss you so much that I had a brain fart today. Just as you said, the Viper came back here so he could use the same area or 'portal' when activating the spell to travel to his world. In theory, he should be able to do it all on his own now that the initial leg and spell work has been done. And since he disappeared when he said the word we programmed to activate the spell, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it worked.

But as I was saying, I miss you so much that despite knowing that he was coming back today and you weren't, the moment he Apparated into the Manor dining room - where I was eating dinner with my parents and the littles - I immediately thought he was you. So I leapt to my feet and threw my arms around him to hug him tight.

"Harry!" But then my brain started functioning again and I sighed in disappointment. "Oh wait, it's only you."

Viper laughed. "Good to see you too!"

Morose, I sat back down. Dinner passed normally, then I watched the Viper leave so that I would be on hand to troubleshoot if anything went wrong. It didn't.

Seeing him leave reminded me that you were gone - not that I needed reminding - so I was positively grumpy for the rest of the hour. My parents were more than happy to entertain the kids though, so I didn't have to put on a cheery face for them.

But then I had an unexpected visitor.

"Sorry it's been so long, but after we returned from our honeymoon, I had so many little things to do - and a big case popped up that stole all my spare time - but now that everything is settled down again, I wanted to come over," Hannah explained, sitting down and setting a file on the table.

Muffy brought us tea and biscuits for Hannah. I was still a little full from dinner, so I only ate a bowl or two of Sanguinaccio Dolce while I drank my tea.

When we were ready to begin, Hannah tapped on the file, but didn't open it. "This one is going to break my heart, I already know it. It's a missing baby. The case is already three years old now, but when the baby went missing, she was only 10 months. Police assumed a kidnapping, but no one could ever figure out who, and so, the theory is that a random person took interest in the baby, stalked the family long enough to find a good time to come in and snatch her, and then did so. In essence, vanishing."

"But you don't think that's what happened?" I stated more than asked.

She shook her head. "I have this gut feeling that baby girl is no longer alive. If it was a 'simple' kidnapping, the baby would probably be alive somewhere, possibly happy without any idea that her 'parents' aren't actually her parents. But..." she trailed off with a shrug.

I nodded in understanding, bracing myself for the possibility that I was about to relive the death of a baby. Hannah gave me a pacifier, which presumably was something the baby used often. I held it in my hand and closed my eyes. After a moment, the vision came.

My beloved Harry, I cannot bring myself to tell you what I saw happen to that baby. I'm so horrified that I not only went directly to Yesenia to share the horror with her, but I then gathered up the memory of the vision and put it in a box in the back of my closet so that I don't have to think about it ever again, but I left enough of the memory to know what happened in a general sense.

The good news is that I was able to give a good enough description of the man that ultimately killed the baby that Hannah is certain she can track him down and hopefully find proof to convict him. We'll see.

As for the last vision I had in which the boy tried to assault a girl and got beat to death, Hannah managed to find his body. It had been dumped in a nearby sewer access point and then eaten by rats and the like until only the bones were left, and even some of those were chewed on/fragmented or missing altogether. Still, enough remained to match his DNA to his mother and confirm that it's him. Thus, closure.

Tell me some happy things from your tour to help me shake off this malaise.

Can't wait to see you again!

Every little thing he does is magic, everything he do just turns me on, even though my life before was tragic, now I know my love for him goes on,  
Draco

P.S. I actually brought Hannah with me to see Yesenia, thus, she was able to purge her horror over the baby's fate too.

P.P.S. Love you!


	135. Chapter 135

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry cheers Draco up and Draco is feeling much better.

Saturday February 27th  
Love,

I'm sorry you had such a terrible experience. I wish you didn't have to go through that. But I know how important helping out on these cases is to you. And the closure the family will get will hopefully bring some relief. The best part will be if they can find the monster and connect him to the crimes. One less disgusting thing out on the streets. And if for some reason there's not enough evidence to convict him … well, it's been a while since we've visited Grandmama hasn't it?

Anyway, fun things to get your mind off!

I think I'm actually going to get a copy of today's show for you to watch. It was hilarious. I've been trying to bring one of the kids with me to each stop that isn't insanely early, but prior to this morning's taping the producers contacted me. Apparently word has spread that I have been bringing the kids and they had an idea for a fun segment, but they wanted all the kids to appear in it. Well, all of them that I'd brought with. So I woke them all up at the crack of dawn, I had doughnuts and pepper-up potions to help, and we headed out.

Oh Draco, the segment they did was, "Harry Potter's Children answer the fan's questions." The producers assured me that they would filter out the questions to make them child appropriate, taking out anything "mature" or dealing with your past as a death eater etcetera. But I let them know that, especially seeing as we didn't bring the teeniest, we treat them as if they're just short adults and they should only filter out those questions they wouldn't want to hear answered honestly. Like I said, I am going to force you to watch this later on, but it sounds like you need the mood lightener so I will tell you some of my very favorites.

Question: Is it hard being related to a cold, strict, aristocrat like Lucius Malfoy?  
Answer: This one took a bit to actually answer since they couldn't stop laughing. Finally Haz was able to compose herself enough, "Even if we didn't have our Grampy Lulu wrapped around our fingers, Grandma Cissy just has to give him a look and he obeys. He's neither cold, nor strict."

Question: If Hogwarts existed, which house would you have been sorted into?  
Answers:  
-Viona: "Our oldest sister Elena would have been sorted Ravenclaw, no contest. I, on the other hand, am one hundred percent Slytherin."  
-River: "I believe I would either have been Slytherin or Ravenclaw." Which was met with laughter and Viona saying, "Oh River, you've got the biggest heart out of any of us, there's no way you'd be anything other than a Hufflepuff and we love you for it!"  
-Orion: "Sorry Riv, but she's not wrong. I would sort Ravenclaw without a doubt."  
-Eris: "I'm not completely certain, I think probably Slytherin? Maybe Hufflepuff? I think I have traits from each house."  
-Haz: "No, Eris would be in Slytherin. She and I are a team, I will most definitely be Slytherin, she'll go there too."

The interviewer interrupted at that point, "You're saying none of Harry Potter's children would end up in Gryffindor? I find that hard to believe."

Ever the professor, Orion tossed back, "Oh no, our two little brothers, Siri and Zwei, are most definitely little lions. We span the houses pretty evenly, the jury is still out on where the two current youngest would end up."

"There are five of you here, with five more at home, how do you each feel about being in such a large family?" Again from the interviewer, Patrick I think his name was.

Viona took charge to answer first again, "I know I speak for all of us when I say we wouldn't change our large family for the world. There are ten of us with three more on the way," (Oh shite, we hadn't announced that yet!) "and I am the first to tease my dads for bringing more babies into our crazy family, but they really have so much love to give that it's best for everyone that they have so many children to spread it out over." Aw, my sweet Princess making me cry again! Her brothers and sisters just nodded along in complete agreement.

You'd think that would have been my favorite answer, but that actually came from River;  
Question: "Growing up with Harry Potter as a father, do any of you believe there might really be such a thing as magic?"  
Answer: "Of course magic is real!" I grew a bit nervous when River let that out, don't forget the statute! We're on live muggle telly! But my fears were unfounded. "Magic doesn't have to be wand waving, potions, or fighting madmen. We've spent our lives building orphanages with our Dads, the first time you see a scared child let go of their fears and give their first laugh, that's magic. When I see two former enemies like my Grandfathers Lucius and Arthur argue over which one of them gets to rock my baby sister to sleep, that's magic. Knowing someone is out there who may some day look at me the way my Dads look at each other? That is real magic. Every child out there knows magic exists until some adult bullies them into forgetting with reason and logic. My siblings and I are lucky enough to grow up with Dads who nourish our faith in something like magic."

Hopefully hearing how brilliant our son is will help your melancholy mood.

I miss you my Dragon.

Yours,  
Harry

 

Sunday February 28th  
My love,

I'm in an excellent mood right now! The farmer down the road delivered our fresh milk, meat, and vegetables today, which is good because I still drink quite a lot of milk each day (I honestly don't know where everything goes, but I DO know why I'm going to the loo every five minutes!). But best of all, he ALSO delivered about a 4 litres of pig's blood. Muffy is already making most of it into my favorite pudding.

That said, I had her gently heat some of it up and have been sipping on it throughout the day. (It's charmed to stay the perfect temperature and not clot or thicken.) Rowe popped in today and caught me drinking some, and since she was already scanning me to see if my magic levels were holding steady, she scanned the pig's blood to see if there was anything special about it. Nope! Just blood, no magic aside from the residual magic inherent to all living things.

So, she came to the conclusion that the fact that I am still craving blood despite the fact that the potion made from your blood is doing its job and all the OTHER potions are doing their jobs and I'm doing well enough to be allowed out of bed when I feel up to it - well, I DO have PICA. I'm simply craving an unusual substance. And she thinks that maybe this particular craving might be an unconscious fear that my babies won't get all the nutrients they need, even though I logically know that they are.

Which is good news if I've ever heard any. The babies are healthy. I'm more or less healthy, simply easily tired. And your tour is soon coming to an end. Unless you're invited on a few more stops.

Our littles are coping with your absence surprisingly well. Even Zaire has come to accept that you are coming back and didn't abandon him. He LOVES talking to you every night over Magi-Skype. It's the highlight of his day, haha. But when he's not chatting with you, he and Jaz play rather energetically, chasing each other around the room and giggling like mad whenever one of them catches the other.

Siri and Zwei have been perfect older brothers, playing with them and helping them out whenever needed. Not to mention they've been extremely helpful to me - much to Muffy's dismay. If I so much as need a tissue just beyond my reach, rather than have to lean over to grab it, one of them hands it to me. I swear they'd wipe my nose for me if I'd let them!

But I have to sign off now; Amala is insisting that I pet her. I really think she's decided that I'm her mate or something, because I've been having Aya come over every couple of days to massage me (twins really make a body ache!), and Amala growls at and threatens to bite her as she massages me. Seems that Amala is the jealous type, haha.

Or maybe she thinks that Aya is trying to steal me from YOU, hahaha!

In any case, my cheetah needs me. Love you!

You mean the world to me, you are my everything, I swear the only thing that matters, matters to me,  
Draco


	136. Chapter 136

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry needs a massage - even his hand hurts too much to wank with!

Tuesday March 2, 2010

My Vampire,

I knew it couldn't have been just the magic you were trying to drain from me! If that had been the case there are other things you could have consumed that would have given you the same magic without drinking my blood! For example, there's that one fluid you've had on more than one occasion. Ugh, it's been too long my love! I've not seen you in over two weeks and I won't see you again until next week. We'll be arriving home early Wednesday morning, so you may want to get to bed early Tuesday night. I plan on thoroughly waking you when I get home.

It doesn't help that I am ridiculously frustrated. I have all the kids in bed with me still, but that's not exactly something I'm not already used to. No worries, I will just let out the frustration in the shower. Except my poor hand and wrist is so exhausted from signing books every day that it actually hurts to wank! My wrist hurts and my dick hurts and I miss my husband!

Alright, enough with the woe is me. Oh no, I have to go a handful of weeks without sex but when I get home I will get all the hot passionate sex I want with the love of my life. First world problems, am I right?

Lainie and the Viper got here last night. I had so much fun hearing all about how her school is coming along. It sounds like everything's on schedule. Nothing surprising there, our little dictator is running the thing. I'm just thrilled she's using her powers for good and I don't have to worry about being the father of the woman who takes over the world. I mean, she's going to take over the world, but with good deeds and not becoming an evil mastermind. She has the sweetest, purest, heart. I'm so proud of everything she's doing.

Just like I couldn't be more proud of Siri and Zwei for being so helpful taking care of their tired Daddy and their little brother and sister. I got them a really fun surprise while wandering around some shops the other day, I'm really glad I did, it sounds like they deserve something special for all their help. I'm just proud of you for allowing them to do it and not getting all feisty like you do when I hover. They are two of the cutest humans on the planet, so I definitely don't blame you!

I can't believe Jaz is actually running! She was still in the toddling stage when I left only two weeks ago! Now she can run around the room with her big brother? When we Magi-Skype tonight can you have her show off her running skills for me? I miss her so much. I'm just so glad that the kids are handling the separation alright. I can tell Zaire likes our sessions, his big gorgeous smile and the talking a mile a minute makes things pretty obvious! I can't wait until I can hear all about everything he got up to while he sits in my lap.

Did you enjoy your massage from Aya? I could use a massage myself. Most of the hotels we've stayed at have had spas and masseuses but I haven't had much free time to utilize them. What free time I've had I've used to spend time with the kids and sightsee. But now that I am thinking about it, I bet going to the spa together would be a nice bonding activity. I won't actually be able to get a massage since I can't exactly use the pregnancy massage table in front of muggles and while I COULD lie on my stomach with the specially tailored pants, it's not particularly comfortable.

I think I just really want to be home. My agent did mention that he had received some additional requests for stops on my tour but I told him I just didn't have it in me to extend this trip any further. I'm fine don't worry, but I am definitely feeling the exhaustion of trying to do this while 24-25 weeks pregnant. The sales of this first novel have been high enough that there will definitely be another tour when the second one comes out. And that will be in the fall, so we'll both have had our babies by then and we can all go together. So I told him to tell the stop requests that they will be our first stops on the next tour.

A few of those requests were in England though, so I will probably do them sometime in the weeks after I get home. I don't mind spending a day away if I can still come home to you at the end of the day. And maybe if you're still doing alright and you promise not to overdo things, you may be able to come along!

Well, this is weird, I have to sign off this email to you because I have a magi-tablet date with you guys! Talk to you in just a moment!

All of my Love,  
Harry

P.S. Tell your weirdo cheetah that you are MY mate!

 

Thursday March 4th  
My heart,

Your not so daft after all cat has decided that you are never coming back. Or if she understands that you are coming back, you've been gone long enough that she's decided that I make a decent enough substitute. She took advantage of a time when Amala was outside stalking some chickens and doing her business to come sprawl across my lap and insist that I pet her.

I didn't mind though because Venus is simply gorgeous, and having a chance to actually lavish attention on her (like the regal goddess she is) was soothing for both of us. She's rather Slytherin as well, wanting - demanding - attention when she's in the mood, and then biting me rather viciously when she's had enough or I rubbed her the wrong way or something. I might have accidentally located and then activated her murder button...

Then Jaz woke up from her nap, noticed Venus dozing in my lap - holding me hostage since I wasn't able to shift her off me for love nor money. Not even when I had to go to the loo! I had to vanish the contents of my bladder a couple of times, but that's probably not something you want to hear. Anyway, when Jaz woke up and saw Venus, she grabbed Venus and cuddled her in a way that would have earned me a nasty bite and several scratches at the very least!

Then Venus shockingly allowed Jaz to keep a sort of strangle hold on her for a few more minutes while Jaz ran around being chased by Zaire. But eventually, your cat decided she'd had enough and wriggled free. Then she disappeared - probably to take a nap and recover from Jasmine playing with her, hahaha.

Meanwhile, Bear and Zaire are still best friends. Zaire didn't really want to take a nap when Jaz was, so because I insisted that he play quietly, he spent the entire time petting and playing with Bear - who has learned her lesson that: "Shh!" means be quiet or else she has a silencing charm cast on her, haha.

You'll probably be proud to hear this - unless the boys already told you themselves - but Siri and Zwei don't want the running track to get lonely without you, and so, they both take their dogs out for a run around the track at least once a day. I order Dibly (and their own elves) to keep an eye on them, but otherwise just let them get on with it because I know it's not only good for the boys, but great for the dogs.

In other news, I have a surprise for you. After Aya finished massaging me today, I sent her to the hotel you're staying in with her table and special pregnancy cushions. She's redesigned them so that they should be able to accommodate even my belly as the twins get bigger, and so, it should be perfect for your belly too. But considering that the majority of the people who live here that want regular massages are with you, she's more than likely going to be kept busy for a few hours, hahaha.

One last thing to write before signing off, and that's just a little reassurance I want you to pass along to Elena. It seems that the dance teacher she *really* wanted - a world famous Russian Ballerina - finally responded to the offer to come in and teach. Ekaterina was planning to politely decline, simply because she's famous and doesn't feel a school being started by an unknown girl is a good fit for her, BUT the fact that I was able to talk to her in Russian and explain to her all about Elena's goals for the school managed to convince Kat that she should give Elena a chance after all.

And that was BEFORE Kat found out that my best friend is married to Ivan St. Peter. He happens to be one of Kat's biggest patrons, and she's met Pansy and they've had an epic drinking Vodka session. Apparently they are not exactly friends, but rather sort of frenemies, so... Actually that would have worked in Elena's favor had Kat not ALREADY been ready to give her a chance.

Love you but needing to take a few potions and then a nap before my brain works enough for fancy again,  
Draco


	137. Chapter 137

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today (December 12th) is my younger son's golden birthday. ^_^

Friday March 5th  
To the most amazing husband who has ever existed in all of time and space,

I know that you pay Aya well, she's been making house calls to us for years, but this went above and beyond the call of duty. She portkeyed out this far to give me a massage, then of course just went down the line and massaged everyone else that wanted one. I made sure she took breaks as needed, and had plenty for her to eat and drink while she worked. But then when she'd taken care of everyone who asked, she did something so sweet that I ended up breaking down a crying.

Side note; I have been even more emotional than usual, between the pregnancy hormones and missing half of my family like I'd miss a limb if it were gone, I have been a blubbery mess.

When Aya was done, and you could tell she was just exhausted the poor thing, she took one look at me and said, "Aw Luv, you're just wrecked aren't you? Hop up, you need another go." I tried to argue the point, I told her she was obviously tired and should rest. And now we can add her to the list of women I can't win a fight with. So my spoiled arse received a second massage! I felt like a gloriously sated puddle of goo. Minus the erection that just will not go away. I've actually taken to wearing my pants with the extension charm built in so no one can see me walking around with a third leg.

I miss you!

One of my interviews today asked about Ron and 'Mione. Mostly asking if the three of us were truly as close as we were in the books, but also asking about how they took to the news that we were together. You and I live our lives every day, and some of our past seems so far away that it seems like the time before we were together was another lifetime. I had to explain that they took to it surprisingly well. We had a handful of months where you and Ron referred to each other as "The Weasel" and "The Ferret" but everything seemed to change when Ron asked you to be Rod and Bee's Godfather. 

Although you, Ron, and Hermione getting along seems to be less surprising to people than the fact that Lucius and Arthur can get along very well when it comes to their shared grandchildren. And even almost eleven years later, hearing that Greg spent our school years just assuming we were together and therefor being the first to "know" anything had happened is hilarious to everyone who hears it.

Oh! Speaking of Aya being worth her weight in gold, I think we should buy her something extra shiny and pretty because Lainie almost gave her a black eye! It's my fault of course. I actually didn't read your email until I had already had my massage. I was just happily surprised when Aya showed up with her magic table. I happened to be reading it while Lainie was getting her massage. I made the mistake of telling her that Ekaterina had agreed to teach at her school and she screamed and jumped up. Almost hitting Aya in the face with her head! That Aya has reflexes like a ninja!

Or a cat! Oh, I miss my baby kitty. I sure hope she isn't furious with me when I come home. I've heard horror stories of cats being so angry at their owners that they hide "surprises" for them in their things. I really don't need a shoe full of cat waste! The poor thing misses me and then is such a sweetheart that she allows Jaz to drag her all over the place? She might deserve something shiny and pretty as well! Ooooh, wouldn't she look gloriously regal in a sparkly collar? Maybe some colorful stones?

Only a couple of more days and I can snuggle up all my loves!

I'm glad Siri and Zwei are making use of my running paths. There's nothing that makes for a better night's sleep, for little boys or their puppies, than a day of running through the woods getting all the fresh air they can handle. I am so thankful we decided to raise our family at the Manor. Our kids have acres of beautiful outdoors to explore to their hearts' content. I would have done anything for unlimited space to run and play in. I can't wait to go for a run with my boys, although I feel like I've gained at least a stone since I've been home and I doubt I'll be able to keep up with them for long. Seriously, I thought I had been carrying a small pregnancy bump for once and it seems as if out of nowhere, my sweet Persephone must have had her first massive growth spurt. I bet you barely even recognize me when I get home!

It's a good thing we've been talking every day or I might not even recognize the kids by the time I got home. It's only been a few weeks and Zaire's vocabulary seems like it's grown by a hundred words or so! You've been working with him on that a lot haven't you?

Practicing your bladder emptying charm was probably the right call, because the second I get home I am going to trap you next to me so tightly you'll think my Venus was a pushover. I don't plan on letting you out of my sight for something as unnecessary as bathroom breaks!

For now I am going to take advantage of still allowing myself bathroom breaks, I have another book signing in about an hour and I should probably be getting ready.

I love you, I miss you, give all of my babies giant hugs and goopy kisses from me. Tell them I'll be home soon!

Yours,  
Harry

 

Saturday March 6th  
My dearest love,

With your tour coming to an end, and River's 14th birthday coming up, I should probably be doing something. Shopping maybe. Planning probably. After all, I do have clearance from Rowe to get out of bed when I have the energy. That said...

I've just spent the entire day in bed watching romantic comedies with completely dry eyes and absolutely no wateriness whatsoever. The strangest thing happened, every time the main couples of the movies would kiss, I'd have this overwhelming urge to kiss you, and so I'd reach for you on your side of the bed, remember that you aren't home, and erm, continue to have completely and utterly dry eyes.

Bloody hormones!

That said, Amala was exceedingly affectionate, more than happy to give me kisses whenever I reached over to your side of the bed and inadvertently petted her. I'm quite sure she's permanently claimed that side of the bed and you are probably not getting it back.

I took a break from watching movies to join everyone for dinner. My parents more or less kidnapped the kids today and took them out for something fun, I'm sure we'll both hear all about it during our video chat in just a few minutes, but all I know so far is that our boys now think that their Grampy Lulu hung the moon and stars just for them, haha.

At dinner, I must have gotten something in my eyes to make them a tad red, because my father questioned whether I'd let *this* pregnancy finally turn me into that daughter he's always wanted (he lies, he wanted sons to carry on the name), and if pining for my husband was because of the hormones, or because women were naturally more needy than men.

Surprisingly, I didn't have it in me to glare at him. I was actually going to let the entire conversation slide and return to our room so that I could remain dry eyed whether I watched more movies or not - and type this email. However, my mother took deep offense and as far as I know, my father is being severely punished at the moment, and not in any sort of fun way. Not to mention in any way that I want to imagine in the slightest, blech!

I know that you are literally just about to call me, and that you'll probably respond to this email after we're done telling each other everything, but how has your day been?

Love you, miss you, gotta go 'cuz you just called!  
Draco


	138. Chapter 138

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's home!

Sunday March 7, 2010

My Dragon,

My dragon who I don't even know if he exists anymore because it's been so long since I've been able to hold him in my arms. But I will be climbing into bed with you in less than three days! I leave here Tuesday, but with the length of the flight and the time change it will be Wednesday when I actually get home.

I'm honestly glad I did this, but never again. For the following books, if they want me to do a tour, you are coming with me. You and the four littlest. If for some reason you can't all come, then I won't do it! I've cried myself to sleep the last four nights. I'm ready to be home, I'm ready to hold you, I'm ready to see my children. The crying was so bad that the older kids, except for Viona, went back to sleeping in their own beds. Yes, we've slept on an enlarged bed the entire time we've been traveling. When they all decided to leave, the Princess just huffed and said "that's what silencing charms are for, you prats!" and continued to keep me company.

Last night was my big "book tour finale" party. It was fun, there were a lot of interesting people there. I got to meet Alan Rickman! Can you believe it? I probably sounded like a fool, but I went on and on and on about how he's my very favorite actor and he's in my very favorite movie. He laughed a bit and said, "I get that quite a lot, Die Hard I assume?"

Oh, yeah, he's in that movie too. "No Sir," yeah I called him Sir, I couldn't stop myself, "Dogma has been my favorite movie for years! My husband would probably say his favorite movie of yours is Sweeney Todd, but he'd be an enormous fibber. He loved you in Love Actually, he's a closet rom-com aficionado. Either that or Robin Hood."

He chuckled again, "Dogma I don't get nearly as often, you have good taste Harry." Alan Rickman thinks I have good taste!

I would have probably had a bit more fun if I'd been drinking. Oh who am I kidding, everyone else would have had a blast laughing at me if I'd been drinking. It was a bit hard hiding the not drinking. Everyone wanted to make a toast, champagne flowed like water, and I was the man of the hour. Merlin, I wish you'd been able to be there, you would have had the room eating out of the palm of your hand. I am now a professional at casting wandless alcohol-neutralizer charms. On the bright side, I'd be feeling like absolute garbage right now if I'd had as much to drink as I appeared to last night.

It sounds as though the kids had an amazing day with Grampy Lulu and Grandma Cissy when you were most definitely not bawling your eyes out at sappy romance movies. You didn't watch When Harry Met Sally without me did you? Oh well, if you did, you have to watch it again with me when I get home. I swear I love the movie itself, but I could watch hours worth of those "couple" interviews that are spaced throughout the movie. I can hear myself doing one now, "When I was eleven years old I met the snobbiest little boy I'd ever met while shopping for school clothes. We spent the following seven years at each others throats being each others' arch nemeses. Fighting with him got a bit boring after a while, so I decided to marry him instead."

Oh, the kids were so busy chatting my ear off the last time we spoke that I forgot to tell you, River is quite put out with us for not telling him immediately when Ananda had her baby. Not sure what he planned on doing because I wouldn't have sent him home for it. It was her idea to not tell him anyway, she apparently knows our boy well enough that she knew he would have ruined his own trip fretting about her and the baby. So, first he was pissy we didn't tell him, and then he got all mopey about the fact that the baby couldn't have waited just a bit longer so he could have been there - as well as chancing it being born on his birthday.

As someone who has gone late with both of my previous pregnancies, I told him only a monster would wish a longer pregnancy on someone who had made it past the point where it would be unhealthy for the baby to be born that early. Hey, maybe third time's the charm or finally having the girl's the charm and I won't go so long with my Persephone! Although I feel like these pregnancies have gone so much quicker than our previous ones. You'll be twenty-six weeks tomorrow and I'll hit the same mark on Wednesday.

Thank you for humoring me and standing up so I could see all of you on chat last night. Lily and Caelum have gone through a rather large growth spurt since I've been gone haven't they? You looked so beautiful. I can't wait to kiss every inch of that lovely bump that's holding my children. I hope you're ready to be smothered in my affection. I plan to hover, kiss you constantly, and wait on you hand and foot until you freak out and order me to go away before you murder me.

When you eventually kick me out, I know exactly what I'll be doing. Harassing Amala and Lucius about their behavior while I was gone. Amala is not taking over my side of the bed. Remember months ago when you asked about keeping her and I said no. Then you said she needed you, and I said "fine, we'll keep her until she's healed and then off to a sanctuary she goes." And then she never left? Yeah, I am absolutely drawing the line at her sleeping in bed with us! She's a cheetah Draco! A cheetah!

And Lucius Malfoy, every time I think he's turned into a completely new man he says something that makes me want to watch Narcissa torture him. The daughter he always wanted? First of all, he has a daughter, two of them in fact. Two strong young women who could kick his arse if they wanted to. Secondly, crying is inherently female? Fuck that, that notion makes me so mad. So mad I could cry. Cry and not feel a bit of shame about crying because remarkably my penis does not make me incapable of showing normal human emotions!

Whew. Ok I feel a bit better after that rant.

Oh, I had a weird dream last night. I blame meeting some of my celebrity heroes and pregnancy hormones. I really do have to run, another signing of course, but I want to tell you all about my dream first.

It seemed like such a normal dream, but it was horrifying. I was basically living Skeeter's epilogue version of my life. Clean-cut hair, not a tattoo in sight, boring Auror uniform. Going home from a day at work to my (beautiful) wife, my three little carbon copy children, going to bed having horribly boring, missionary, het sex. Waking up the following morning just to do it all over again.

No thanks, love my crazy hectic life ta ever so!

I will see you soon my love!

Your arms are my home and I've never felt such homesickness,  
Harry

 

Wednesday March 10th  
My heart,

My husband who I no longer have to miss! You're home! You're here! In (one of) our bed(s), sleeping as I watch you and wait until you've had enough rest to be woken up again. You said you were probably going to smother me, and you probably will, but before you get a chance, I'm going to stare at you all day and watch you sleep all night.

I missed you so much!

You said you'd be home Wednesday, but even with a precise flight plan filed by Mr. Lott, you weren't quite sure when you be *home.* It never really is more precise than: We're landing at noon, so provided were on schedule and can manage to wrangle everyone/thing efficiently, we should be home within an hour of landing.

So I ordered Muffy to make sure I was awake and already fed by the time the plane landed. In fact, I was in the small dining room with my parents and our four littles, that way, when you got home, I would be able to hug all the older kids that had been with you while you sobbed all over the littles.

Yeah, that was the plan.

Perhaps I am the only one in this massive family of ours who actually thought things would go according to plan, but they didn't. Naturally, at some point after I'd eaten and drank my fill, I had to make a trip to the loo, and for reasons, I was in there a bit longer than anticipated. Apparently I was in there long enough for you, our kids, and our support staff/extended family to arrive. You probably assumed that we'd be exactly where we were, so you all had plenty of time to hug each other. The kids were shouting news a mile a minute at their grandparents, and you were trying to hold Zaire and Jaz as tightly as possible (while sobbing over them) without hurting them. Siri and Zwei were trying to strangle you (with affection) in return.

All in all, it was a heartfelt reunion.

I was lost in thought, wondering how long you would take to get home, as I returned from the loo. So much so that I missed the elevated level of noise. Or perhaps I'm so used to it being noisy in general that it simply registered as normal in my mind as I thought. In any case, I was shockingly blindsided by the fact that you were home!

Plus, you were down on the floor with the littles and surrounded by the bigs, and so, not easy to see at first. I walked into the room and stopped short, almost not able to believe that you were all back. Viona spotted me and cried out: "Dad!" before I was swamped in a group hug. I did my best to return all the hugs at the same time, but because they were now swarming me, they weren't swarming you, and so, I could clearly see you squatting on the floor holding our youngest.

"Harry!" I exclaimed joyously, and I feel bad for our kids because they could have literally ceased to exist in that moment for as much attention as I paid to them. The second I saw you, the rest of the world disappeared.

"Draco!" You cried out in return, thrusting the kids in other hands (the Viper's? My parents'? I'm not even sure who as I had eyes for only you). Then you ran to me, still quite the runner despite your pregnancy, and I think I may have actually pushed my mob of kids away as I did my best to get to you. We met up somewhere between the two groups, our arms wrapping around each other, our lips fusing together, and... I am dead certain one of us (or maybe both of us) unconsciously Apparated us directly to our playroom, because we were instantly throwing our clothes off.

We may have actually vanished them completely!

The important part was that no one was groaning or trying to get us to wait until they left the room. Which indicates that we were already alone. Absolutely nothing penetrated the fog of: "I finally have you back, I must have you now," surrounding my brain. We could have been on the moon for all I noticed. We could have been shagging on the ceiling for all I cared. The only thing that mattered was you and how to kiss you and shag you at the same time.

The first time was so quick that I'm not sure we even made it onto the bed before succumbing to a hair trigger, but that just gave me an incentive to switch tactics and use my mouth to welcome you home quite thoroughly.

Your homecoming lasted well into the night and resumed in the morning, actual morning - I'm fairly sure. We didn't see anyone the entire day as we got reacquainted over and over. Probably a good thing that we literally pay people to take care of our kids for us when we're busy, hahaha! Also, I'm reasonably certain that Pippa scheduled us for at least two days of shagging because she didn't even try to come give me my daily update/schedule, haha!

But now it's night again and I'm not sure we could shag one more time in the next 12-24 hours if our lives depended on it! Not that that is going to stop me from trying the moment you open your eyes, or twitch, or make an indication of semi-consciousness. So, because I am far too exhausted to sleep, I'm typing this and staring at you - which is making the typing take even longer than usual. I think that my subconscious is just a tiny bit afraid that you won't actually be here when I wake, and so, my body refuses to go to sleep, even as the twins inside me are starting to make me feel so tired that my head hurts, my bones ache, and my eyes feel like the Sahara.

It doesn't matter though, I'll take potions to deal with the symptoms if I have to, so long as I can -

*Draco abruptly passes out mid sentence and Harry has to take the laptop and hit send in the morning so he can read what was written*


	139. Chapter 139

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It a mass birthday party, and River's drama steals the show.

Friday March 12, 2010

My Soul,

You are quite possibly the silliest man alive. Yes, when I came home and finally saw you, I immediately apparated us to privacy because I needed you like I needed air to breath. Yes, over the first two days I was home, you and I shagged just about every moment you were awake because, just like someone who had run out of air, once I had the air I needed, I gasped in as much as I possibly could. But I also hadn't seen my four smallest children in almost a month. There's no way I was going to go two full days sating my lust and our connection no matter how much my body craved it, at the expense of four small children who missed their daddy.

So, every time we finished and you would subsequently pass out, I would cast a freshening charm on myself, set a monitoring charm on you so I'd know when you were starting to wake, pop a pepper-up, and go spend time with the kids. It's why last night you were able to see me sleep while you were moderately awake at bedtime. I had reached the limit of safe pepper-up use and had passed out. I'm pretty sure I slept a solid twelve hours last night. And you've probably slept close to the same amount - as I woke up, saw you had fallen asleep on your computer again, so I hit send. And you're still sleeping.

I've had an absolutely beautiful morning with our babies. Siri, Zwei, the pups, and I went for a run. And yeah, I was right, with me having not had the chance to do much running while on my tour, and a twenty-six week baby bump weighing me down, I was at the same level as a five and six year old! I mean sure, they've were practically born running, but it was definitely a blow to the old ego.

After my run and my shower, I've just been sitting in the Kids' play/toy room so I can be around the four littles while they play, but Narcissa and Molly are going to be here any moment so we can talk about the plans they made for tomorrow's March Birthdays Party. It's a fairly big one, seven birthdays this month! Our River obviously, as well as Lucy, Del, Della, Veronica, Bianca, and Roderick. This is our busiest birthday month of the year! It always has been, but adding Del made it even crazier.

I'm quite eager to see our Russian portion of the circle. I can't wait to hear all about how well they're settling in. I'm excited to see how far all of their relationships have progressed since they moved. But I'm honestly most excited for the uproar when Kisa shows up with an obvious baby bump! She was able to hide it until they left, but with as far along as she is, the only way she's hiding it is if she wears the undetectable extension pants like we do when we have to go into the muggle world. I've talked with Hermione and she knows Kisa is pregnant, so I have a feeling tomorrow might be the big reveal! I'll bring the popcorn because I think it's going to be a show!

Shite! There are my moms, gotta go!

Loving you always,  
Harry

 

Saturday March 13th  
Imzadi,

Well... That was certainly a day.

I really do feel bad for River. Sort of elated and relieved as a father, but also sympathetic to the fact that our son is now miserable.

Considering that our son sobbed the entire story on my shoulder, I know the whole thing, rather than just the part we witnessed. So, I'll tell it to you.

We witnessed the beginning. River had invited Ananda over for a while so that he could see her and her baby and get a chance to hold and coo over little Stella. He wasn't the only one as we all took turns holding Stella and making silly noises at her while we kissed her adorable little pudgy cheeks. After a while, Stella fell asleep and River told Ananda that she could lay the baby on his bed to sleep while they talked.

Talking was apparently code for making out. It seems that River thinks things were going rather well. They had set Stella in the center of the bed so that she couldn't fall off, and then sat on the side of the bed just kissing for about a half an hour. River says he could sense that Ananda was upset about something, so he didn't even suggest taking shirts off.

Yes he knows he promised he wouldn't do that again, but then confessed that the bare skin to skin feel is amazing even though he doesn't plan to try anything else, and so, they *have* snogged with their shirts off more than just the first time when I caught them.

Anyway, after a while, Ananda started crying and wouldn't tell River why. This naturally ended their snogging, and - to avoid waking Stella - he ordered his elf Daffodil to keep an eye on her while they went for a walk around the Manor. River says the talk was really awkward at first, and Ananda kept avoiding anything more important than the weather.

They started bickering about the fact that she wouldn't talk about anything, and that escalated until they walked into the entertainment room - where the rest of us were quietly watching Once Upon a Forest (how have we not watched this movie sooner???). By that point, they were shouting at each other, so we all heard how River wants to help Ananda in any way he can, and Ananda has come to the realization that her therapist (and most of the adults in general) were right in that River is too young to have to go through being a parent to a child that isn't even his. How SHE is too young to be a mum, but since she doesn't have a choice in the matter because she refuses to put her baby up for adoption and wants to keep it, she's NOT going to drag River down.

Well, you heard the rest, so there's no need to go over every detail. The bottom line is that Ananda has broken up with River and is adamant that they can only be friends. She will let River be the fun uncle who everyone knows is just a good friend, but that's it. She even shouted that River had to accept her decision or they couldn't even be friends.

Ouch...

Oh, so apparently I never told you what happened with Kisa. Understandable seeing as how they moved to Russia in January and she firecalled me the drama just prior to your tour, when I was half asleep, and then I think I completely forgot until you just mentioned it. I'm a bit surprised that Elena didn't say something though, as she almost certainly got the whole story before even me, but anyway.

So, yeah, last you heard, Kisa was still keeping her news a secret despite being about 6 months pregnant - just prior to their move. (She's like 8 months or so now.) In her favor was the fact that she was carrying it so well that she didn't really even have a bump. Like her lovers were totally able to touch her naked body and not even notice it was there. I wonder what that must be like...

Kisa had decided to wait until they were all settled in before gauging how they might react to the news, and so, if they might not take the news well, she could continue to hide it. And then try to figure something out. This went according to her plan until it didn't. She got so afraid that they would reject her, or get SOOOO mad at her for keeping it a secret that they stopped trusting her - and subsequently dumped her - that she just kept on hiding it and couldn't figure out how to finally come clean.

What she didn't count on was Hermione's keen observational skills. Hermione had basically figured it out ages ago. So, she eventually confronted Kisa about it when they were alone - or so she thought. She didn't realize that Ron and Blaise had decided to join them in the bath and were being quiet in order to surprise them.

So there Hermione and Kisa were, relaxing in a bath, about to be surprised, when Hermione said: "Are you *ever* going to tell us that you're pregnant?" And Kisa replied: "AM NOT!!! How did you know?!?! Fuck! I barely even show!"

Hermione apparently snorted a laugh and started to say something in her know-it-all tone of voice, but didn't get a chance to say more than three words before Blaise was yanking Kisa out of the tub and demanding an explanation. Which did NOT go over well with Kisa, and basically started a huge fight in which Blaise gained a black eye and a bloody nose, and Kisa threatened to kick them all out of her house if they didn't leave her alone.

Any good therapist would tell you that she was trying to push them away before they could abandon and hurt her. Luckily, Hermione recognized this and managed to smooth things over, but not before an epic shouting match because Kisa refused to calm down and talk like a civil person. But then, after they somehow managed to soothe her and assure her that they still loved her - pregnant or not - she, well she didn't really believe them, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Which led to MORE drama as they encouraged her to tell her parents rather than wait for them to find out at the last minute. Grandmama is delighted, and probably suspected the outcome considering all the factors involved. IVAN - on the other hand - actually DID manage to throw Blaise in a dungeon somewhere and start on the lighter and easier to fix torture before Kisa tracked them down and nearly murdered her father. So... Ivan's come around.

I think...

At the very least, he's not willing to risk his daughter's ire, despite the fact that he would quite like to make Blaise disappear and help Kisa find someone more suitable in his eyes. But THAT'S a drama for her to tell you herself when she comes to visit. Er, I mean that she probably told you when she was here today for the party.

The only other thing I wanted to mention before I sign off and send this is that the Viper heckled me atrociously about basically forgetting the world existed the moment I saw you - so much so that I hexed (transfigured) him into a branch and stuck him to the tree outside our bedroom window with a sticking charm. So if you need him and can't find him - or if his kids are looking for him or something - that's where he is.

As for me, I'm going to bed!

See the sunlight, we ain't stoppin', keep on dancin' 'til the world ends, if you feel it, let it happen, keep on dancin' 'til the world ends,  
Draco


	140. Chapter 140

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More drama with River.

Sunday March 14th  
My Partner in all things,

Am I a completely terrible father if the feeling I had the most during River's distress was relief? I feel horribly that my little boy was hurting. I wish I could take away this pain of his. But mostly just really really relieved. He has to live his life and make his own choices, but essentially becoming a father at the age of (almost) fourteen was not in my hopes and dreams for his future.

But I think we all know I am a pushover who can't stand to see one of my babies hurting so I may have accidentally given him false hope? I certainly didn't want to give him a "give it time, she'll come around" or some disgusting misogynistic "just keep trying." Just no, the girl said it's over, respect her decision. I told him that I agreed with Ananda, her therapist, my therapist, and pretty much every single adult who's weighed in on the situation, he's just not ready. I just reminded him that they are not together now, they will not be together while they're both children, but that doesn't mean if they're truly meant to be that there couldn't be some day far into the future where they could try a mature adult relationship.

The example I gave him was Miles and Colm. They were together as children, Miles chose to have our Sammy. But neither was ready for an adult relationship. Colm wasn't ready to be a full time parent to a child he didn't intend to have. But they maintained a wonderful friendship. And when they were adults, they were both in a position to make an attempt at a relationship. They're getting their happily ever after, and as they didn't rush it and force themselves into it as children, it probably has a very good chance of truly being an "ever after."

I definitely enjoyed Ananda's visit. And by Ananda, I of course mean Stella. Goodness gracious do I adore a squishy baby. She smelled so good, like powder and sunshine. I can't wait for our little peanuts to be here so I can smell their sweet baby heads and hold them and see their teeny tiny faces. Can't you just picture Zaire and Jaz holding their little sisters and brother, gently patting their little heads, kissing their soft warm baby cheeks? I can picture Siri and Zwei being fantastic with them and teaching our two current littlests how to hold the newbies. Merlin Draco, I can barely wait, it's going to be so beautiful.

Shut up, YOU'RE crying!

It will be even less time before we'll be able to love on the Quartet's new littles. I may have just gotten home and have no plans to travel away from my family for ALMOST any reason, but I do have some emergency bags packed for getting a middle of the night floo call or insta-owl letting me know one of my girls has gone into labor. Hermione has already mentioned that if I am able, she'd like me in the delivery room again because even though you'd think they would have gotten better after labor numbers two and three, Ron and Blaise are still completely useless in the delivery room.

I will not be going into Kisa's delivery room no matter what she threatens me with. Not that I think she would, but just in case. I love her, I've known her since she was a little girl. She's my biggest little girl's best friend. But I am utterly terrified of her on a normal day, I'm pretty sure Kisa in labor would be like staring into the endless abyss at the end of the universe.

Don't tell her I said that!

And with the whole expecting that Lainie would have told me about the Kisa situation. I think Lainie assumed you would have told me already, having forgotten about your pregnancy forgetfulness, and so didn't feel the need to rehash everything that had happened. I can't believe Ivan tortured our Blaise! I get being overprotective of your children, but it's not like Blaise coerced her in any way. She's an adult and made her choices. But then again, you know how I feel about the whole "Not my innocent baby girl!" patriarchal nonsense.

Once we visit the new babies I am done with any traveling until our second set of almost triplets arrive, but once they are here and we're all settled and healed, I'd really like to do another trip to an old Unity. I want to go back to Egypt. I thought of it when I was comforting River, trying to figure out how to make him feel better, and I remembered that was probably his favorite of all our locations. Remember touring the pyramids while he asked a million questions? I'd want to go visit anyway, it was one of my favorite spots as well, but knowing how down he's probably going to feel for at least a while it might be nice to go on a trip we know he'll love.

You're probably pretty lucky you're pregnant and the Viper won't harm someone carrying. He was fuming mad when I finally figured out which stick was him. I swear I finite'ed half the tree before finding him. I'd have felt bad that he was stuck out there as a stick except he was mean to my love so I don't care. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when he reunites with his Draco, I bet he's not so calm!

Oh!!! Did I tell you what Elena did while she was with me on the tour? She finally mastered her Animagus form! I won't ruin the surprise and tell you what it is, but it will not surprise you! Have her transform for you the next time you talk to her. Our daughter is utterly brilliant!

You are the heart of me,  
Harry

 

Monday March 15th  
My rock,

Do we have to do this parenting thing? Can we just send River to Hogwarts and let them deal with him for the next 3-4 years? Seriously, how do other parents cope with children who act out when hurt?

So, River decided that since trying his best to be a good boy - to be there for Ananda however she needed him - resulted in the exact opposite of what he wanted. Which was a solid relationship. And it seems to him that boys who are jerks seem to get what they want. So he Floo'd over to Unity House and very overtly chatted up one of the girls who is NOT part of the baby making scandal. She's a 'regular' muggleborn orphan.

After chatting her up for a while (and Tabitha says that he kept looking over at Ananda in an obvious attempt to see if he was making an impression on her), Tabitha realized that the room had gotten quiet because the older kids had either gone back to their dorms at Traditions, or simply gone outside to play with the younger kids. Only a few kids were left, such as Ananda - who was fairly absorbed in nursing and playing with Stella.

Tabitha didn't think anything of it at first, assuming that River was probably playing rugby with the other kids. But then she thought to look outside and didn't see him. So she asked the caregivers if they'd seen him, and that was when Ananda quietly spoke up.

"He's upstairs with Kayla."

"You mean Kayla didn't head over to Traditions to do homework with the others?" Tabitha asked in concern because she'd really thought that was what had happened.

Ananda shook her head. "Nope. They were whispering and giggling and purposely left the room separately, sneakily, but BOTH of them went upstairs, and so, it's not hard to deduce that they are up there together."

Tabitha says she sighed heavily and rubbed her temples for a moment as she gathered up the right mental state to go interrupt what could be a very embarrassing situation all around. To her relief, it wasn't too embarrassing, just snogging and a little bit of wandering hands. Shirts were on, and so were the rest of their clothes. She broke them up and Floo'd River to our suite - where I happened to be dancing Jaz to sleep for her nap. You were off playing with Zaire, Siri, and Zwei.

Tabitha explained the entire situation to me, and then left me to deal with River. I... basically sighed and told him to go to his room and think about his actions for a bit. I can't really say he did anything wrong, and thus, can't quite punish him, and yet, his behavior is alarming to me. I also don't think sending him to his therapist right away is going to give him the right message - I mean, how would you feel if someone insisted you go to therapy every time you kissed someone?

That said, I know that he's basically overreacting to the fact that he was just dumped. I don't think there is much we can do. If we try to forbid him from finding a new girlfriend, he might take that as us trying to turn him gay again and respond by going out and snogging a boy instead. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I don't think it's healthy to make River feel like we won't accept him unless he kisses someone we approve of.

And this entire line of thought is making my head hurt!

As I asked to begin with, can we just send him to Hogwarts and let McGonagall deal with this whole mess???

No wait! In Hogwarts, he'd have access to even MORE people to snog! Erm... Maybe we need to just, erm… Confine him to the Manor? Wrap him in a little bubble and not let him meet or talk to anyone outside of the family for the next 3-4 years? Can we do that???

At least my Jaz is still tiny and adorable and not interested in kissing anyone other than her daddies and older siblings! And Grandparents and aunts and uncles, but you know what I mean! I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day working on a potion that will keep Jaz about, hmm... 2? What do you think? Is 2 a good age for our baby to stay until she's 18? Or would you prefer 5? Yeah, 5 might be better - old enough to talk(sign) and maybe even read, but not old enough to be interested in anyone for any reason other than playing with toys and games.

Alright, so I have a few years to develop this potion, but then that's it, all our kids are taking it from now on so that they CAN'T become teenagers! And then when they turn 18, I can give them the antidote and they can grow up over night.

Yes. That's an excellent plan!

Love you like the garden loves the rain,  
Draco  
P.S. Viona has very logically pointed out, and then insisted, that she should get her familiar now, rather than wait until the rush before going to Hogwarts when EVERYONE is looking for one. This way, she'll have her pick of the best animals available. She knows that she could just use her owl like Elena did, but she's hoping for a cat or a kneazle. I can't exactly argue the point, and so, I'm probably going to have to take her shopping soon.

P.P.S Muffy not so subtly glared at me all day today until I got the point that she was upset about something. Apparently I have waited just a bit TOO long to name her newest son and officially give him to Jaz. So I had to wrack my brains trying to come up with a boy name for a house elf. I mean, yeah, sure, we've named them all after flowers so far - boys and girls - but I have pretty much run out of flower names, so I decided on Blue, which should be easy enough for Jaz to sign. Thus, Muffy is now happy once again, and not at all disappointed in his name, which I thought she would be since it's rather simple. But I suppose it's probably still better than Dibly, haha!


	141. Chapter 141

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry talks things over with River and Draco receives a surprise visit...

Monday March 15th  
My Dearest Love,

I so very rarely get to say this, so I apologize for having to say it but I really can't stop myself. You may be a tad emotional and overreacting Love. I had a nice long talk with River about his actions, but thankfully there was no fighting, just a teenaged boy who seemed to listen at least a little bit.

I peeped my head into his room, "River, can we talk?"

He looked at me with those narrowed eyes. I could tell he was thinking that I was there to rail on him for snogging again. "You here to yell at me again?"

He didn't tell me to go away so I took his snotty response as an invitation, walking over to sit on his bed with him. "You know I'm not here to yell at you, I just want to talk with you. I'm not mad, but it sounds like maybe you could use someone to talk to. I've not much of a lap left, but I definitely have a shoulder for you to cry on."

He let out a relieved sigh but then gave me a, "I don't need to cry, I just need to know what it is I've done to make everyone mad at me again."

Deep breaths, deep breaths, shaking him is not going to help the situation Harry. I let out a sigh and then, "River, you are a young teenager, no matter who you're caught snogging, when an adult finds children behaving like adults, you are going to be stopped and sent away from the snogging area. That's just life. What do you expect, that Tabitha would see the two of you and offer to dim the lights and maybe turn on some B.B. King to set the mood? You're kids, one of which is under her care, it's going to be shut down."

River let out one of his annoyed huffs, "it's not like we're the first set of kids to ever snog inside of Unity House."

I laughed, "I know, and none of them were allowed to keep going once an adult found them together." Then I had to get serious, "but Riv, there are two parts of this situation that I'm disappointed about. I am not mad, I truly don't think you were consciously trying to hurt anyone, but I think it's important that you think about who you could hurt with your actions."

I scooted closer to him and held his hand, "I know how hurt you are about your relationship with Ananda ending. I know you were willing to help her raise Stella because you cared for her so much, I'm sure the break-up was heartbreaking because you were so invested. But it's a decision that Ananda made because she thought it would be the healthiest choice for the both of you. She doesn't hate you, she cares enough about you to have made a hard choice. I would guess that she's just as heartbroken as you are about the break-up. I know you weren't trying to hurt her, but when you start relentlessly flirting with another girl right in front of her, obviously giggling and sneaking off to snog, your careless behavior hurt someone you say you care about."

I expected an argument from River, but he just looked down at his hands, saying nothing.

"Again, I think you were doing this subconsciously and didn't mean to hurt anyone, but how do you think Kayla would feel if she knew you were using her to get back at your ex? As your dad, I am going to tell you you're too young to be snogging and dating. You'll just always be that little boy who clung to my hand in St. Mungo's, and I'm always going to think of you as my baby. But I realize that you're almost fourteen, and snogging pretty girls is just something that comes with the territory. But I think you need to take some time to think about the consequences of your actions. You are one of the kindest kids I've ever met, you have an enormous heart that wants to help everyone, I know you don't actually want to hurt these girls."

He sniffled a bit, "I definitely don't want to hurt anybody."

I couldn't hold back anymore, I had to give him a full Dad-Hug. "I know you don't want to hurt anyone Buddy, that's why I wanted to talk about it. But that's all I needed to say, you're aware of the situation and I trust you to make better decisions." I squeezed him one more time and then pulled back, "Now, tell me all about Kayla! Do you *like* her like her?"

Eventually I asked Muffy to bring us tea and biscuits and we just lounged around his room gossiping and snacking.

As much as I'd love to have the kids stuck at little easy ages until they're adults, I'm going to have to say no on the frozen age potion idea. For every afternoon we have to deal with a teenager caught snogging a girl, we have an afternoon spent giggling and gossiping with that teenager. I'll take a million hard situations to get these amazing moments of connection. Think of everything you'd be missing out on if you took the aging away! You wouldn't have your upcoming date with Viona to shop for a familiar.

You don't have to do this alone, we're in this together my love.

I can do anything with your hand in mine,  
Harry

P.S. I'm glad you managed to make Muffy stop being upset with you. Blue's a cute enough name, and yes much better than Dibly. But hey! At least you finally know his name!!

 

Tuesday March 16th  
My co-parent of the massive horde,

See now, VIONA is the perfect age to take the potion! She just turned 11, so she can go to Hogwarts, but will stay 11 and more interested in learning than in kissing until she graduates.

The good news is that I think I actually accomplished the potion, and it wasn't even particularly hard. So either I was just REALLY motivated and insanely lucky, or this potion has been invented before and just not used for anyone we've ever heard of. The problem is that I can't really test the potion because if it works, nothing overt will happen for a few years, and if it *doesn't* work, I still wouldn't know for sure for a few years. So... I've decided to give it to Melissande.

She's only a little older than Viona. If the potion works, she'll stay the equivalent of a youngish but fully mature adult for... That's the other part that will need to be tested. Would this potion when taken at say 25 or 30 prevent a person from ever getting old and dying? If the person does die, would it be at the old age they would have anyway, or would it be a hundred years later?

Aside from solving my dealing with teenagers problem, this could actually be a legitimate and lucrative product. It was actually simple and cheap to make, but should be fairly expensive to buy to prevent every single person on the planet from taking the potion in an attempt to live forever.

We all know how bad that could be. But for all I know at this point, it might only last 10 years, and then kill the person when it wears off. Thus, will definitely need extensive testing before it could be sold in any way.

But I think I should make something clear. Now that I've had some time to think things over from a different perspective, I understand that you are right. Giving Jaz a freeze on her aging at just five would be a bad idea. Sure, she'd stay sweet and only mildly independent for a few years, but...

Wait, what was the down side again? Something about bonding? WHY can't we still bond with her???

I swear, I knew the answer to this just five minutes ago, but NOW I'm confused again.

But uh-oh, I should probably sign off now. Something that looks very much like Nagini just slithered through the door and is now sliding up the side of the bed. This is almost certainly the Viper come to threaten me for turning him into a branch, I just haven't seen him in his Animagus form before, so I'm not 100 percent certain and should probably be ready to defend myself if necessary.

Love,  
Draco


	142. Chapter 142

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is pissed off at the Viper and Draco feels remorse.

Tuesday March 16th  
Mother-Fucking Harry James "The Viper" Potter! I can't believe he tried terrifying a medically fragile man who's pregnant with twins. I might have to flay him alive. Do you think I should do it while he's in his animagus form or in human form? I think I preferred it when he was trying to seduce you over this blood-pressure-raising, terror-inducing Nagini nonsense. Okay, okay, okay, I am being unnecessarily grotesque and macabre, I won't actually flay him alive.

You'll notice I did not say I wouldn't flay him at all or that I wouldn't murder him, just that the technique will not be flaying whilst alive.

Fine, no murdering or flaying in any capacity.

But he scared the shite out of me. I heard you yelling a bit (side note: congratulations on keeping your composure long enough to finish my email!) and came in to investigate. I had seen his animagus form before, so I knew exactly who it was. So I of course started screaming at him to stop trying to freak you out. That while it was completely inappropriate for you to transfigure him into a stick (Yes Draco, it absolutely was) he was going too far by trying to terrify you with what essentially looks like an exact replica of Voldemort's snake who you have actually had to witness eating people. Going on about how if you go into pre-term labor from fright and we lose our babies that I will personally make sure he no longer has any equipment that would make it possible for him to reproduce again.

I was a bit hysterical I admit.

However, I didn't realize that I wasn't speaking English. I was shrieking at him in Parseltongue. He argued back that it was just a joke, he was just trying to scare you enough to make sure you never made him feel that helpless ever again. And he's not wrong darling, he was completely under Voldemort's control for years, how do you think he felt being helpless in a tree just wishing someone would come and save him soon? I think you owe him a bit of an apology. After I murder him of course. He was mostly furious at your timing, you transfigured him right before he was supposed to leave for his bi-monthly visit to the other Draco, you cost him some of his little precious time with his love. But once I brought up the fact that he could have scared you into preterm labor, he was immediately contrite and agreed that he may have taken things too far. That's where we were in the conversation when he slithered out of the room.

The truly fun side effect of the whole situation is that apparently me speaking Parseltongue gets you super hot. I had no idea the snake language did it for you! We've been together for basically eleven years now, and this might be the first time you've heard me speak it since we were children. So anyway, once Viper was completely out of our room, you lost no time in stripping me down and having your way with me. Did you enjoy me continuing to speak Parsel? I know you don't actually speak it so I must translate for you, I was begging you to take me, claim me, prove I'm yours, own me completely. And then you got me so hot that I'm not completely sure what I was saying by the end; mostly just "please" and "more" and "harder" would be my best guess.

So yes, definitely won't be murdering the Viper since I have him to thank for getting you worked up into that glorious shag and for us finding a new kink.

Oh! Oh oh oh!! Guess what? Zwei is a parselmouth as well! I had no idea, but while you were napping after our session earlier I went to spend time with the kids in the entertainment room. I was still a bit surprised that I had never spoken parsel in front of you so I knew I must not have spoken in front of the kids either. So I decided to tease them a bit, I was looking at one of the snake carvings on the woodwork in there and just started talking to them, basic stuff "what are you guys up to" things like that. When wouldn't you know it, but Zwei answered in perfect Parseltongue himself! You could tell he was like me, he didn't even realize he was speaking another language. It was so bloody cool!

Anyway, I have to talk to you about your potion. I figured in email would be the best way so you have time to think of your argument instead of feeling blindsided if I were to confront you in person. So, I have to start with, you are the most brilliant man alive. I can't believe you are able to invent or altar these amazing potions. You are an incredible talent. But you and I both know that a steep purchase price doesn't stop everyone from misusing items. Can you imagine if Voldemort had gotten his hands on something that would extend his life that much? And he had the full Malfoy funds at his disposal, would a steep price have stopped him? You and I both know the damage that can be caused when someone thinks they should play around with life, time, or death.

I will of course not forbid you anything. You are an adult, you are my best friend, you are my partner, I love you. But I really wish you would give up on this mad crusade to freeze time. Our children will grow up as they're supposed to. Every age and stage is important for their lifelong development. River will outgrow this moody angsty horny phase. Let's not mess with their free will to make all the mistakes they need to. We made lots of mistakes and look how well we turned out eh?

My Love and Pride for you knows no limits,  
Harry

 

Tuesday March 16th  
MY Harry,

I have to admit that I didn't think I would be so effected by the Viper as a big bloody snake. I thought I would be just fine. I felt no real threat to my composure as I watched him slither his way onto our bed. But then he was close enough to look me in the eye and...

Yeah, I started freaking out. I couldn't help it. Logically I KNEW it was just the Viper, but, erm… viscerally, I could only see Nagini eating poor Charity Burbage. I started trying to scramble away and was shouting something like:

"Stay away from me or I'll hex you within an inch of your life!"

I'm certain the Viper found this hilarious.

I'm infinitely glad that you were close enough to hear me shrieking and come hold an intervention. I think I probably would have ended up hexing him very badly or ended up being hurt as he was provoked into defending himself. Either way, it's best all around that you managed to talk sense into him and get him to slink away.

I love you so much! My hero...

I do also feel bad about cheating him of some time with his Draco. I was a bit irritated and irrational as he was heckling and provoking me, so I just did it (Friday night, yes about an hour before he was supposed to leave, but I didn't remember that bit at the time), then I went to bed. On Saturday, we had the Drama with River and Ananda, and so I didn't really think about the Viper until the drama had me exhausted enough to need a nap, and I mentioned it to you in my email. So, yeah, he missed a full day and I'm sure that his Draco thought that he'd been dumped and was none too pleased with the Viper when he finally showed up.

I'll get them a nice gift to make up for it, shall I? Maybe give them some of my 'insta-boner' potion - which incidentally is actually named 'All day Stamina' in it's full strength form. Or some Dragon Barrel Brandy. Hmm...

Maybe both.

In any case, I'm about to take Viona shopping for her familiar. See you later!

I have nothing if I don't have you,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: something happens in the next chapter that is the trigger to a bit of a rough arc...


	143. Chapter 143

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has good news and Draco has his own... news...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting twice today because I'm so freakin' antsy to get y'all caught up to what we're writing today, heh heh heh...

Wednesday March 17th  
Draco!

Your ridiculous habit of turning off your alerts when you're shopping is costing you dearly today my Love. You spent your day with our amazing Princess, hopefully helping her pick out the perfect familiar. I, on the other hand, have spent the last hour or so snuggling our brand new surrogate grandson!

Yep! Right after you and Viona headed off to shop, I got an insta-owl from Finn. Beatrix had the baby, a boy, 4 kg! (8.9lbs) Ouch, can you imagine? What little peach fuzz he has on his head seems a light brown, and he's got some killer big blue eyes. Blake Gerald is his name. Isn't that just adorable? Mum and baby are doing very well. Everyone's happy and healthy, and as long as everything continues to go as well, they should be going home tomorrow.

I knew bringing our entire horde would have been much too overwhelming. Overwhelming for the Healing Staff, for Beatrix and Blake, and simply not enough room in a small hospital room to house us all for longer than a minute or two. So I only brought Zaire and Jaz. Jaz is pretty much quiet at all times anyway, and Zaire is very good about staying quiet when it's necessary. They were absolute angels. Sweet and well behaved. They both took turns holding little Blake. Well, Zaire held her while Finn and I hovered about an inch away from him just in case, and Jaz sat on Bea's lap and gave him sweet soft Jazzy hugs from next to him.

I'm relieved my heart didn't just explode with adorableness. Our babies holding a baby. And not just any baby, the baby of two children I've loved for years. I did one of my embarrassing giggle-cry-snort things. I was obviously crying at how sweet the entire moment was. Brand new life being welcomed into the world, is there anything sweeter? Bea looked up at me, noticed my tears, and got teary-eyed herself, that's when Zaire thought she was distressed over me. He put his sweet little hands on both of her cheeks and said, "Those are Daddy's happy cries, no worry, he okay" and thus the snorting.

He's just too much sometimes!

Don't worry, you'll get to see Blake soon enough, I told them to let us know as soon as they were settled and ready for visitors and we'd be over there in the amount of time it takes you to put pants on!

About getting the Viper and Viper's Draco a gift as an apology, have you ever thought of …. apologizing? I don't think a stamina potion or some delicious brandy would necessarily go amiss, but I think just being honest about having let your hormones get the best of you would be the most appreciated.

At this point you and Viona have been gone long enough for me to get myself and two littles ready to go to St. Mungo's, get there, spend a few hours visiting, come home, nurse them to naptime, and write this email. So either the Princess is being quite particular about finding the perfect familiar, you've gone overboard and gone shopping for other things, or my two business moguls have found some new venture.

Hurry home already! I miss you and I don't want you overdoing it! I just got back to you, I don't want to ONLY stare at your sleeping self all day every day!

Yours,  
Harry

 

Thursday March 18th  
The man I love most in the world,

Remember how much I love you? Like SO MUCH love! My first thought when I wake up is you as is my last thought before I go to sleep. I love you more than words could ever express.

So yesterday, I had a rather relaxing day. Yes, I took Viona out shopping for her familiar and we got side-tracked with shopping in general. We got to chatting and went to a spa so that we could be pampered while we chatted. The owner happened to be Japanese and liked to hire women from Asian countries. They're all British citizens - or at least the owner is as she told us all about how long she's been here and how arduous the process was. But then, she switched to Japanese and they had a rather long discussion on how best to gently persuade Viona into getting a manicure and pedicure so that she could be brought to a different room while they milked her rich father for all he was worth, and yes, they meant it THAT way.

Viona turned her head to the side so that she could look at them - and keep in mind that we were both naked on a table being massaged at this point and had two women working on us each - and said in perfect Japanese: "Good luck with that. My father is happily married - to a MAN - and doesn't particularly want what you are offering."

I chuckled and added: "And besides, if Viona wants a manicure and pedicure, I'd simply get one too. What? Did you think that I can't have my nails done simply because I am a man?"

I swear Harry! If they weren't so concerned with getting as much money from us as they could, they'd have thrown us out! They were SO embarrassed that they were an alarming shade of red, hahaha!

My actual favorite part - which happened prior to Viona speaking up - was when they wondered if we were really father and daughter, or if I just liked them really young. They planned to ask subtle questions to determine this - as they simultaneously tried to persuade Viona to agree to services in a different room - so that if she happened to be my very young lover instead, then they could simply include her in the inappropriate festivities.

NO, we did NOT buy that shop and straighten it up, but honestly, it was a near thing as my brilliant daughter had a full planning session on what she would do if she bought the shop. The thing that stopped us both is that even if we did, the most we'd be able to do is 'fire' everyone who worked there and then sell the shop to more ethical people. Which wouldn't really solve anything considering that all these women would simply take the money from the sale and open up a new shop.

So, no new businesses today.

We didn't walk out in protest or anything like that as the women were quite good at their jobs. Nowhere near as good as Aya, but well worth their no-special-services-added fee. And yes, we both got manicures and pedicures. And facials.

But then it was time to visit our favorite shop for couture. It just so happened that they were having a sale on Viona's favorite makeup. It's the same high quality, chemical free stuff that I always bought for Elena. The sale came with a professional applying the make up and styling the hair - basically a lovely makeover - to demonstrate how good the makeup is. Naturally, we took full advantage of this, and once we were all dolled up, we bought a few new bespoke outfits.

After that, we finally got around to shopping for a familiar. After meeting every animal in the Magical Menagerie, Viona finally decided on... sigh... A ferret... a pure white and disturbingly adorable ferret. I will give it this, it *does* seem to be very smart though. And no, I did not and will not explain to her why I was so dismayed by her choice.

Then we returned home to find that we missed the first peek at an adorable new baby boy. That is saddening, but I take comfort in the fact that I have YEARS to spoil and coddle my honorary grandson. That said, Bea had sent me an insta-owl about a month ago (while you were on tour) panicking over how she didn't have nearly enough stuff for her impending baby, and so, I had the privilege of bringing her shopping for everything she needed at that point.

So, I should sign off now and totally avoid the reason I was schmoozing so heavily to begin with ^_^

What's that? You're going to murder me if I do that? Sigh... I thought you might say that. Alright, fine, so I'll come clean.

Erm... well, so... You see... Well, it's like this... er...

Robards is VERY sick. Just came down with the Dragon Flu or something. Kingsley wasn't quite clear on that detail. He simply called me about a half an hour ago - around 4AM - and told me that they had a very big and very IMPORTANT raid planned and all ready to go this morning... and then Robards went and nearly vomited up his entire insides all over his office and had to be sent to hospital.

As you probably know, the Head Auror does two things, he physically leads the team during the raid, but he ALSO coordinates the entire operation. This is actually two completely different jobs, and not everyone has the capability of doing both. For example, Kingsley can physically lead the team in, but he's actually rather shite at the coordinating part - ironic considering that he's the Minister for Magic, eh?

In any case, THAT'S what he wants me to do; coordinate the raid FROM THE SAFETY of the command tent. And so, I WILL NOT be in the midst of anything, nor will I be in ANY danger. I will be snug as a bug behind a fuck load of wards, calmly taking reports on everything that is happening, making decisions, and giving orders. You know, the sort of business aspect of things.

And also, just so you know, I HAVE already taken all the potions I'm supposed to today, AND I'm bringing a few extra with me in case I need a little pick me up before the raid is over. That said, I'll be fine. I really won't be doing anything strenuous, and I'll have Muffy on hand to keep me supplied with tea and biscuits - along with blood pudding and sashimi. Mmmmm, sashimi... with golden starlet caviar. I daresay, the command tent has never been so civilized!

The good news is that since I will be sitting on my cushy arse in a cushy chair, doing nothing but mental work, I should be able to respond to messages should you happen to panic and jump to the conclusion that I'm actually IN the raid. In which case, you will probably be more than welcome popping into the tent for a few minutes to fuss and fret over me.

But honestly, I might even be back before you realize I'm not in bed with you, Zaire, and Jaz. It's supposedly a small operation peddling 'magical cures' to muggles. The only problem is that the suspects are reportedly selling genuine potions/charms/artifacts/etc that can do more than just relieve headaches and help heal minor illnesses - which is a gray area since they could claim to be muggle medicines repackaged to look like magic cures, so that muggles don't know they are real - but these potions and things have more overt effects, such as temporary anti-aging serum that makes a person look about 10 years younger for the night. Useful for first dates and the like.

But you can see how this is important to the Ministry to stop, but not likely to be too dangerous, even for the Aurors actually going on the raid. I really expect it to be over by the time you wake up and have breakfast.

Love you more than the air I breathe,  
Draco  
P.S. Oh! Looks like I finished up just in time, Kingsley just arrived and we're about to head over to the command tent to set up the pre-raid wards and things.


	144. Chapter 144

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is PISSED OFF!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note before you read this chapter. In the last chapter, Beatrix and Finnegan had their baby. Chrissie named their baby Blake Gerald, and this was a really subtle (so subtle that Bea and Finn didn't even realize they were doing it) homage to our boys. The baby is named after Draco and Harry, but since they didn't realize they were doing it, here's how:  
> Blake = Drake (Draco)  
> Gerald=Harold (Harry)  
> Thus Chrissie was being clever as fuck and even I missed it, lol ^_^

Thursday March 18th  
Sweetheart, Darling, Love of my LIFE,

Since you aren't currently speaking to me I will email you my thoughts on the day. It's probably best that you're not speaking to me since I am most decidedly not speaking to you either.

Also, I love you more than life itself, I can't wait until we're not fighting anymore, I miss you already.

Draco Lucius Malfoy. You. Are NOT. An Auror! Do you get that? No eres un Auror. Vy ne Avror. Anata wa ororade wa arimasen. Awuyena u-Auror. Maybe I should try it in Latin, wizard mine, vos autem non Auror. Seriously, I get that you are brilliant. You want to change the world. You HAVE changed the world. But you are not only *not* a fully trained Auror, you're not an Auror at all. I get it, you were safe and sound in the command tent. But what happens if the bad guys get a hold of one of the Aurors not behind enemy lines and is able to torture them for information? Information like, "How do I get to your bosses?" Hmm. Then I've lost you and two of our children in one fell swoop.

I cannot, I will not, live without you. I refuse.

I woke up in a bed half full. Jaz and Zaire were wrapped around me like adorable little octopi, but there was no you. I wasn't super panicked at that point, I assumed you had just fallen asleep somewhere weird or since I had woken up at 6:00 A.M. perhaps you were actually still up somewhere. Maybe finally feeling well enough to go back to your non-pregnant late-night schedule. I checked all the usual places; entertainment room, the older kids' bedrooms, the owlery, I even checked our playroom thinking maybe you had set up something fun and fell asleep before you told me to join you. Hmm. No husband.

Knowing you, I figured I would check my email to see if there was an explanation. And Boy Howdy was there an explanation. I called Muffy, she came and I asked her if you were still on your raid (in my rage I didn't think to ask her to apparate me to you) and she assured me that you were there.

And that's why I decided to find Robards, who was still yacking his guts up FYI, and force him to give me the coordinates to your location. Side note: he gave up the info really quickly. See how easy it would have been to get to you? All it takes is harassing a sick man in a hospital and I had your location in under a minute. (Don't worry, I did cast a sterilizing bubble-head charm on me so I wouldn't catch whatever he had if by chance he was contagious.)

So I immediately apparated to you. Yeah, I was angry enough to bypass the wards. Yeah I broke through your "fuck ton of wards" like they were butter. All it would have taken to get to you is a pushy, rage-filled pregnant man harassing a sick man in a hospital and then being angry and powerful enough to fizzle your warding to ashes.

I popped in and barely noticed the Aurors who immediately trained their wands on me. When you saw me your eyes lit up for just a moment, you started saying something along the lines of "Hi Love, so sweet of you to visit" before you realized I may have had my angry halo of magical rage surrounding me.

I truly don't remember much after that. I know I basically shrieked at you for a while. I think you tried calming me down at first, but eventually you were angry enough to shout back at me. I know I said something really awful like, "I can't believe you need your ego stroked more than you need to keep our family whole" and I'm really sorry. I should never have said something like that to you. I know that's not what this is, I know you took every precaution to stay safe, I was just so scared and hurt. Also, the hormones may have made me a little extra crazy.

Honestly, I barely remember everything I shouted at you. But I never should have ended the argument with "I can't even look at you" then apparating away. What if that was the last thing I ever said to you? What if something happened to one of us and the last words I ever spoke to you were angry and mean and hateful? I love you more than anything Draco. I'm scared that one day you're going to push too hard, agree to too much, take on an unsafe project, and I will have to live the rest of my life without you. There is nothing that scares me more than the thought of having to live in a world without you in it.

Well, you're not back yet, so I hope you're not mad but I'm going to borrow Muffy for a bit. hopefully she left you enough tea, biscuits, sushi, and caviar to hold you over for a bit. Because I think she's going to need to bring me to St. Mungo's. I uh, my heart hurts, my chest is tight, and I can barely hold my eyes open.

If I never see you again, my last words will be I Love You Draco,  
Your Harry

 

Friday March 19th  
My soul, my life, my other half,

If you die on me, I will murder you!

Wait, I need to process this logically or rationally, or whatever you want to call it. Chronologically?

It started with you popping in to see me. Or rather, shout at me.

I was exactly as I said I would be, safe in the command tent listening as each team member gave their reports and watching magical little dots of every person in the raid area on an enchanted table - side note, I came up with a great idea! It would be hella convenient for the Aurors if their little dot map on a table was a bigger and interactive map, so I'm going to try to work on that when I'm bored or have nothing better to do.

Anyway, I was actually staring intently at Kingsley's dot because he was closing in on an unknown dot and could potentially be in danger, but I'd already warned him, so he was being cautious. He'd even called another raid member over to back him up if needed. Then I heard - or more like felt because it was a very small sound, and felt like a bubble popping.

I looked up when the three Aurors (and miscellaneous others) in the tent with me - sort of spares who could be ordered to go do things if necessary - inhaled a soft, astonished gasp and whipped their wands out to hold them at the ready. That's when I realized that they were all staring at you, looking not quite sure if you were really you and not a threat, or if you were someone disguised as you trying to ambush us. I think the fact that you tore through our safety wards lent credence to the theory that you were you and not an impostor.

"Harry my love!" I exclaimed, about to say that I was happy to see you. I had already planned (if you visited) to give you a bit of a tour and hold you (and kiss the back of your neck) while we watched the magical dots, but I was preempted by the fact that you were VERY angry. You were definitely surrounded by your rage halo (another thing that told my minions that you were you).

"BLOODY FUCKING HELL, DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY!" You roared.

I held up my hands soothingly. "Calm down love, I'm fine. Everyone's fine."

"FINE?!?!?! AND THAT MAKES IT OKAY?!?!?! YOU. ARE. ***NOT.*** AN. AUROR!!!"

"I know, I'm not trying to BE an Auror! I'm just helping out in a way that I *can* do!"

"BY PUTTING YOURSELF IN DANGER! BY PUTTING *OUR BABIES* IN DANGER!!!"

"No one is in danger!" I tried to assure you, taking a step forward to get my hands on you and calm you down that way.

You probably didn't care, but part of the raid protocol is that each member is supposed to report in each time they clear a room, and *I'M* supposed to respond with an acknowledgment and clearance to proceed, plus any pertinent intel or information they might need (and vice versa). Kingsley and his temporary partner had apprehended their dot (criminality to be determined later), and had reported in, but since I was too busy arguing with you to respond, they had to assume that the command tent had been compromised and come back to help out. Thus, the Minister for Magic himself (lucky he's such a good friend of ours!) was right on hand to witness our row.

"IF I COULD BREAK THROUGH THE WARDS, ANYONE COULD!!!"

"NO THEY COULDN'T!" I couldn't help but roar. "YOU'RE THE ONLY BLOODY ARSEHOLE ON THE PLANET THAT CAN FUCKING RIP THROUGH A WARD LIKE IT WAS A WATERFALL!"

"I AM NOT! I'M NOT ANY MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY OTHER WIZARD, SO IF I CAN DO IT, ANYONE CAN!!! AND THAT'S NOT EVEN THE POINT ***DRACO***!!! THE *POINT* IS THAT *YOU* ARE *NOT* AN *AUROR*!!! I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE HOW ***SELFISH*** YOU ARE THAT YOUR ***EGO*** AND YOUR ***PRIDE*** ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR FAMILY!!! DO YOU ***REALLY*** NEED YOUR EGO STROKED MORE THAN KEEPING OUR BABIES ***SAFE*** AND OUR FAMILY ***WHOLE***?!?!?!"

"WAIT A BLOODY FUCKING MINUTE!!!" I shouted in return. I can't help it, arguing with you is my natural instinct. Especially when you're saying everything you can to make me irate, despite knowing that you're being hormonal, and I'm being reactive rather than proactive. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THIS IS ABOUT MY EGO?!?! I DIDN'T ***ASK*** TO DO THIS!!! I AM HELPING BECAUSE I ***CAN*** AND IT'S A ***SAFE*** THING FOR ME TO DO!!!"

"IT DOESN'T ***MATTER*** HOW ***SAFE*** YOU ***THINK*** YOU ARE, THINGS CAN HAPPEN, AND IF THEY DO, ***OUR BABIES*** ARE THE ONES TO PAY THE PRICE!!!"

I was tearing at my hair in frustration (seriously, when did I pick up this inelegant habit of yours???), and by this point, every member of the raid had tried to check in only to receive no response, and so was crowded in the tent trying to decide if they should attempt to break us up or just let our fight run its course.

"Harry, will you please try to calm the fuck down?!?!?!"

"CALM?! CALM?! YOU WANT ME TO FUCKING BE CALM, YOU RECKLESS BLOODY ARSEHOLE?!?! YOU. ARE. ON. A. RAID!!! ***WHILE PREGNANT WITH TWINS!***"

"THEY'RE FINE!!!" I insisted, gesturing to my enormous bloody bump, which twitched just then as if they were kicking in an attempt to reassure you.

"FUCK THIS! DO WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT, YOU BLOODY BASTARD! I CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT YOU RIGHT NOW!" You shouted right before you apparated away.

I exhaled a long and drawn out, growling sigh of frustration, but managed to stamp down the urge to go after you and finish yelling until we reached an agreement. Then I took a deep breath and exhaled a sigh to get rid of my anger and regain control of my temper. Once calmer, I turned to look at Kingsley, who looked rather abashed to be the underlying cause of the argument.

"Report!" I snarled, unable to stop myself from taking a little bit of my emotions out on him.

"We cleared the room we were in," he stated, pointing to where he had been on the map.

"Good, as you can see there are actually three dots in the next room you're headed to. Best to wait until the Aurors who were busy clearing this room can join you since there's nothing for them to do but backtrack and find a different direction," I, erm, commanded, I suppose.

"Right," Kingsley agreed.

"We've cleared that room and are ready to go!" The young male rookie reported eagerly.

"After I finish my coffee," the older female veteran stated stubbornly. She looked amused by the free drama show.

Rolling my eyes, I jabbed my thumb in the direction of the corner to silently tell her to finish her coffee out of the way of everyone else. Then I finished taking reports and regrouping the team before deploying them again. Lucky for all of us that the silencing wards - and ALL the wards - on the actual raid site were not effected by your obliteration of the ones on this tent.

Rest assured, I had our ward specialists recast the wards on the tent before rejoining the raid. Thus, unless you shattered them all again, I would be as safe as possible.

The rest of the raid was rather uneventful. What took longer than expected was that the entire operation was massive and it took a lot of time to get through. A few suspects needed the loo, discovered the raid, and tried to escape, but were caught before they could get to the nearest exit. I'm sure they were dismayed to find that they couldn't just Apparate out, but that's the first ward that goes up. The higher up criminals were clustered in the innermost room of the entire operation, and they had security measures in place that made the raid interesting for a few of the team for a couple of minutes, but aside from some few minor injuries, no one was hurt.

So, shortly before noon, the raid was officially over and it was now the Aurors' job to determine who was actually a criminal, and who was simply doing a job they were hired to do without realizing that it wasn't legal. This was all stuff that the Deputy Head Auror could do just fine. Kingsley decided that the only thing left for him to do - and for ME to do - was write up the report on what had happened. The two of us sat sipping on some of my favorite tea and eating (biscuits for him and sashimi dipped in fresh pig's blood for me) while writing. It didn't take either of us too long because the exact details were recorded by monitoring spells and a couple of office clerks whose job is to write everything down as it happened. We basically had to give an overview and look over what they'd recorded before signing off on it being accurate.

Well, Kingsley was actually in the raid, so he had to write more about what he did and what he found, but still, nothing too much because his assistant was doing the bulk of the record keeping. Speaking of assistants, Pippa had messaged me right about the time you must have woken up, and after I'd told her what I was doing (she knew I wasn't in bed because she'd gone into our room to tell you what you had planned for the day, only we were both missing, and she wasn't sure if that meant playtime in our playroom, or something else, and thus, messaged me to find out for sure), she popped into the command tent and was actually part of the office clerks keeping record.

Thus, she has an aggravatingly detailed transcript of our entire row, sigh...

Anyway, about five after noon, I had Pippa Apparate me home. The first thing I did was try to find you, but when you weren't anywhere in our suite, I decided to cut straight to the end and ask Muffy where you were. Which - incidentally - is when I noticed she wasn't with me in the tent any more, or I mean that she had disappeared at some point without me even realizing it.

Muffy popped into the room looking downright anxious. She was even wringing her hands.

"Wheeeeere's Harry?" I asked apprehensively, exchanging a concerned glance with Pippa.

"Master Harry sir is in St. Mungo's under Healer Rowe's care. Muffy has to get back right away and continue holding Master Harry's hand."

I grabbed Muffy and shook her lightly. "What's wrong with Harry?!?!?!"

Muffy squeaked, babbling something so fast I couldn't understand her. Pippa pulled her out of my hands and smacked me up the backside of my head.

"Ask Rowe directly! Bloody imbecile!" Pippa yelled.

"Right!" I agreed, finding the suggestion obvious now that she'd mentioned it. She apparated me directly to St. Mungo's. Once there, I threw a bloody fit until one of Rowe's Mediwitches rushed to give me the upsetting news.

You were at that very moment in a sort of magi-surgery. Apparently you had splinched yourself internally when you Apparated through all the security wards on the command tent. At that moment, the Mediwitch couldn't give me exact details, but she did tell me that Rowe was well on the way to having you good as new again.

So I spent a tense few hours in the waiting room with only Pippa and Elena for comfort. My parents, Pippa, Elena, and I had agreed that the rest of the kids didn't need to worry themselves sick in the waiting room when they'd have more support and things to distract them at home with everyone else.

Eventually, you were out from magi-surgery and in a temporary healing coma in a private room. Rowe came out to explain things to us in detail. You had splinched a small piece of your heart into your lungs. It was small enough that your normally high healing factor probably would have just fixed you right up in a matter of an hour or so, had you NOT also been expending a massive amount of magic in your rage halo.

Basically, you didn't have enough magic left TO heal the splinch.

Rowe thinks you probably didn't even notice it at first, as your anger and the associated adrenaline probably would have numbed you to all pain and discomfort. But as you calmed down, the blood leaking from a hole in your heart started to make you feel incredibly drowsy, and it probably also started to feel a bit like you were shot in the chest. So, you *definitely* made the right call in having Muffy Apparate you to see Rowe.

Harry James Malfoy! How DARE you get so mad over the small possibility that something MIGHT happen to me, that you LITERALLY and PHYSICALLY punctured a hole into your heart! Yes, I took a calculated and very SMALL risk with my safety and that of the twins, but did you honestly think I hadn't analyzed the risks extensively before agreeing to do it?! YOU - on the other hand - did NOT think, you reacted! You let your hormones and fear drive you into hurting yourself and potentially lose our baby, JUST so you could yell at me!

If I wasn't so happy to still have you among the living, I'd be FURIOUS with you!

As it is, even though Rowe has you in a bit of a healing coma, she's certain you and the baby will both be fine. It's lucky you are part of the magical world, really, since her healing powers were able to accomplish in a matter of hours what muggle surgeons and your body would have needed weeks to do. Fully and completely heal the hole in your heart. Siphon away the blood that leaked out (side note, we're making use of that blood, but more on that in a bit), and replace it with potions to rapidly replenish it. AND remove the bit of heart that was lodged in your lungs and heal them up too.

You'd be in perfect health, if only you had normal magic levels. Or even sub normal magic levels. But no, you don't. Remember the time I got so angry that I threw a fit in the crystal room and nearly died from wasting nearly every last drop of my magic? You're right about at that level. Rowe has you in the healing coma NOT because there's anything left to heal in your body, but because she doesn't think your body has enough magic to support the pregnancy AND let you wake up for even 30 seconds without overtaxing yourself.

SO, she's having you take ALL the bloody potions I have to take. Magic replenishing, magic boosting, the nutritive potions you were already taking PLUS extra to make up for the fact that you can't eat at the moment, AND the potion made from your blood. After all, what better way to help you regain YOUR magic than to have you take a potion made from your blood and magic?

The first batch was enough for about a month for me. A second batch was already brewed at some point (I forget when due to pregnancy brain fog, but it was a few weeks ago) so that I'd had more and not need to wait for the brewing process. A third and much larger batch will be started right now - actually, probably a few hours ago already - using all that blood Rowe removed from you. It was about three pints - and remember, the first two batches only needed about a half a cup of your blood. Thus, three pints should hopefully make enough potion to help us both until you are well enough to even consider giving more blood to make more potion. After all, three pints is roughly 6 cups, and so, more than ten times the amount of blood used in the first batch.

Here's where it gets tricky though. The potion made from your blood was brewed so that each dose of potion had the same amount of magic in it as your blood. Your blood for this current batch may not be ABLE to brew to that level because your magic was already very low when the blood was removed. Rowe HOPES that the brewing process will unlock the FULL potential of the blood, rather than the level it was at at the moment of harvest.

At this point, we can only try it and see.

But until then, I'm going to stick by your side so closely that you'll fear I used a permanent sticking charm! I will be practically in bed with you the moment you open your eyes. I will be here emailing you even as I talk to your unconscious body. I will hold your hand and - I don't care what anyone says - I'll sleep in this bloody hospital bed with you! You'll wake up from your mini coma feeling aggravated by how much I'm smothering you!

But on the plus side, I'm borrowing one of Aya's magic tables and giving you lots of massages even as I talk to you and sing to you - and give you sponge baths and light cleaning charms - so that somewhere deep down, you'll know that I'm by your side.

Also, I'm letting the kids visit you in small groups. Thus, you should feel them holding your hands too. Touching you. Kissing your cheeks. Crying on your chest. Missing you every bit as much as I am.

And I really have no idea how, but Venus somehow managed to show up at St. Mungo's and is sitting on your chest, purring soothingly. Rowe says she's not hurting anything and may even be helping in some mysterious way, and so, the cat stays. Not that she'd let anyone move her anyway. The only way she could be more threatening when anyone tries to shoo her away is if she was the same size as Amala.

But I'm going to finish up this email - for now, I'll probably end up writing more before you wake up - because River showed up for his allotted visitation, and he had this anxious, almost nauseous look on his face that makes me think he wants to talk about something important. You'll understand if I want to give him my full attention, even as I hold your hand and never let you go for even a second.

Love you with everything I am,  
Draco

P.S. I was serious about murdering you if you die on me now! Get better, damnit!

P.P.S. NOW who's the medically fragile man?! Harrumph...


	145. Chapter 145

Sunday March 21, 2010

My Dragon,

I love you more than anything in the world. I'm so very sorry. Please forgive me, I will do anything you ask. Well, I will do anything you ask once I have the energy for it. I'm already feeling drained and all I've done since I woke up was read your email and begin this response. I apologize in advance that it will probably be fairly brief.

I woke up alone. I was confused and a bit disoriented at first. And when I realized where I was and then recognized I was alone, I assumed the worst; that you hadn't wanted to be by my side because you were angry enough to have stopped loving me. Thank you for leaving the note and my laptop at my bedside. Knowing you had only left because it's River's birthday and you needed to be home for at least a little bit for him calmed my abandonment fears.

Unfortunately, it only added to my grief and guilt at what I've done. I almost hurt our Persephone. I hurt you with our fight and then I hurt you further by being scared for me. And now I've woken up and realize it's the evening of our son's birthday. He wasn't woken up to his Daddy Harry bringing him breakfast in bed on his birthday. This is the first time since he's come home to us that I haven't done that for him. I feel like the worst father in the history of the world. If you get this email before he goes to bed, can you bring him to St. Mungo's to visit me so I can at least tell him I love him and give him a hug for his birthday?

Did he end up telling you what he was so upset about? My poor little buddy, he's had a couple of rough months and then I do this to him. I hope it was something simple enough that you could calm his anxiety.

I suppose I didn't wake up completely alone. There was a certain royal cat sitting on my chest when I woke up. It was actually really helpful because the weight felt similar enough to when I wake up with either your arm or one of the babies tucked onto my chest. Kept me grounded a bit so I didn't wake up in a panic.

I'm sorry I overreacted. I keep acting like I'm this reasonable man who knows his limits and then I throw a temper tantrum and do this to myself. I'm just so thankful it was only a piece of my heart being splinched and I didn't lose something important to keeping Persephone safe and sound where she is as long as we can. There's a simple piece of my heart that was easily fixable and I could handle splinching, I much prefer that to losing one of the irreplaceable pieces of my heart. Like you, or our children.

Ugh, it's me, I'm the medically fragile one. Fine! I will allow you to give me as hard of a time as you'd like that I let my Gryffindor brashness and my Harry temper get the better of me. You deserve it for all the hard times I've given you when you've been secretive or sneaky due to your Slytherin cunning behaviors. I'm sorry. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, and I will do anything I can to make this up to you. I love you and I would never want to leave you.

I'm really sleepy now, I fell asleep for a minute or two there with my head on the computer. Wake me up when you come back. I need your face. Even though I know it will be an angry one.

Your medically fragile husband,  
Harry

 

Sunday March 21st  
Fuck my luck!

Of COURSE you bloody wake up when I'm gone for a few short hours, and then are sleeping soundly again when I return, sigh...

I hope this doesn't make you feel worse, but Zaire and Jaz helped me cover for you this morning. Muffy made River's favorite breakfast foods, and our two littlest helped me serve it to him in bed. Then I handed the littles off to my parents for a while so that I could take River to my Adventure Park and let him choose whatever he wanted to do. He chose a simulated World Quidditch Cup Match, playing a chaser. I was naturally the Seeker for his team, and so, we definitely won. That said, I let the snitch elude me just long enough for River to make enough goals that our team probably would have won even if I didn't catch the snitch.

Note, it was set to easy mode, but don't tell River that. I told him it was on normal, and thus, he thinks he made goals easily because he's just that good at Quidditch. Which is not to say that he's bad at it, just that he'd need to practice more and take the game a bit more seriously if he really wanted to be THAT good at it.

Speaking of River being serious, I'm rather glad you were in a healing coma during River's nervous talk the other day. You see, it was one of THE most awkward talks of my life!!! Are you CERTAIN we can't skip the teenager stage for the rest of them???

No?

Sigh...

Alright, so, River had an important question he wanted to ask me, but he wasn't certain that I'd take him seriously. He started by dancing around the subject to see if I'd answer his questions honestly.

"So... Dad… is it true that you and mum conceived me in the Hogwarts Library?"

If I had been drinking anything, I probably would have spit it out at that! I cleared my throat and tilted my head side to side as I thought over how best to answer. See, we'd actually told the story often enough that he knew it was the truth, so trying to claim otherwise right now would not only be dishonest, but he'd know I was lying to him. So I told the truth.

"Erm, well, yes. That's true. I was in 5th year and it was my birthday - so I'd technically JUST turned 16. She and I had already played around a bit, and that day, she approached me in the Library (which was our favorite spot to play) and challenged me with her eyes to stay quiet because the Library was full and we could NOT be caught."

"What would have happened had you been caught?" River asked curiously.

I shrugged. "She was about to graduate, and so probably not much more than a few detentions for her. As for me, I had just come of age to consent, and so I also probably would have only had detentions, BUT the more important part would have been the fact that everyone in the school would have known about it and would tease us both mercilessly. Honestly, the fear of being caught was more because of what the other students would do, and not about what sort of official punishment we would have gotten."

"And..... How did you know what you were doing?" River asked even as he looked away, and this was when I had the first inkling of what he really wanted to talk about.

"Well, it wasn't my first time. I'd already mentioned that I'd been playing with your mother before, but before even that, I had practiced a few things with both Pansy and Blaise," I answered as calmly as possible.

This temporarily distracted him. "So you thought you might be gay all the way back in Fifth Year???"

I shook my head. "Not gay, bisexual. I do love Harry with everything I have and would be perfectly happy never having another woman in my life, but fortunately, he is understanding and willing to keep an open mind."

River bit his lip and thought this over quietly for a moment. "But HOW did you know you liked both?"

I shrugged again. "I had the opportunity to try both, and neither seemed unpleasant. In fact, both seemed like good ideas to try as often as possible," I replied with a chuckle.

This was when he finally got around to what he really wanted to talk about. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm being honest and serious when I say that I'm NOT ready for full on shagging, but I really want to know how to make a girl happy by doing other things, only... I don't KNOW what those other things are. I... erm…" He was completely red in the face and looking at anything but me. "I tried watching a porn on the internet and..." he grimaced and shook his head.

I chuckled very softly and put a hand on his shoulder. Yes, part of me was cringing inside, but I felt like I had to push myself to be honest and supportive lest he decide to close up and never try talking to me/us about this again.

"I can only imagine how unhelpful that was. See, the thing you have to understand about those things is that they aren't REAL. They may look real, but they are movies just like any other with actors who are getting paid to give their audience a very unrealistic fantasy. Sometimes the fantasy is actually rather dark, and I sincerely hope *that* wasn't what you watched as it would not only be unhelpful, but probably unhealthy to try to emulate those sorts of things."

River sort of winced and shrugged, and then grumbled: "Yes and no, it was actually a bunch of different videos."

"Ah... Was there ANYTHING that seemed helpful?" I wondered, thinking that I could correct the bad information if I knew what it was.

He shook his head. "Not really." He let out a heavy sigh. "I just want to make her happy..."

"Kayla?" I wondered curiously.

"Yes... and no. I like her, but I feel like she's a sort of practice session for the real thing someday," he admitted.

"Is she pressuring you to do things you don't want to?" I asked in concern.

"No... and yes... She really likes snogging, and she ALSO likes to take off our shirts, which I really like. It feels so good. Then her hands will wander to places that I'm not entirely comfortable with her touching. When I tell her to stop, she does, but then I spend the rest of the time wondering if she won't like me if I don't let her do whatever she wants."

I sighed and gave him a supportive smile. "If she doesn't like you because you won't do things you're not ready for, then she's not the right person for you. You NEVER have to do anything you don't want to. Don't let anyone make you feel like you do."

River looked out the window and muttered. "But that doesn't solve the problem of knowing how to do the things I DO want to do."

I sighed and pressed a hand to my head because he's JUST 14 (and this was actually a couple of days before his birthday), and I hadn't anticipated having this conversation for at least another year. But I suppose that this is all part of homeschooling him. I as his father am his main source of learning (along with you), thus I couldn't just send him to his Head of House. I suppose that I could have told him to ask Saoirse or Rhys, but I didn't want to send him the message that he couldn't come to me for anything he needed.

"Alright, listen, this would actually be easier if you were interested in boys, because mutual wanking and frotting are easy enough to explain. That said, I can describe cunnilingus, and..." I summoned a peach. "Sort of show you how to do it."

I transfigured the peach just enough that it had clear representations of everything needed for the demonstration. Then I pointed them all out and explained what they were and what to do. Yes, I realize that this in essence gives him permission to try the things I was teaching him, but it sounds like he's planning to learn about and try them no matter what I did, so... what else was I supposed to do?

Perhaps you'll be relieved to know that I DIDN'T tell him to go find a girl and practice his skills on her. Hopefully, he'll feel the need to practice on peaches and the like until he feels he's perfected the skill before gathering up the courage to try it on a real girl. Even better if that takes a year or two!

In any case, after we BOTH got over our initial awkward embarrassment, he asked all the questions he had and I answered them as honestly as I could. And I'm SO GLAD he asked me, because he had so much stuff wrong! For example, he thought that frotting ONLY referred to rubbing one's fully clothed member against an inanimate object until... ejaculation I suppose. Not sure if he was going to say that because I laughed and corrected him before he could finish his sentence.

During this conversation, I was able to stress the importance of protection, and made sure he knew all the relevant spells. And that he would come to me for certain potions if he felt like casting the spells was somehow too embarrassing. I can see the reason it might feel embarrassing to cast a spell, because it's not a very sexy thing to do in the heat of the moment, and simply drinking a potion is less embarrassing because it can't be miscast and go wrong - provided it was brewed correctly, which since I (or Sebastian) will be making them, it will be done right.

But moving on, I'm currently by your side again and you're starting to squirm just a little. So, I think that if you aren't waking up, you might need to have the contents of your bladder vanished, and so, it's probably an excellent time to bathe you and give you a massage too. Love you!

If I never feel you in my arms again, if I never feel your tender kiss again, if I never hear I love you now and then, will I never make love to you once again? Please understand, if love ends, then I promise you, I promise you that, that I shall never breathe again,  
Draco

P.S. Stealing kisses from you is strangely thrilling when you are like this. I wasn't so perverted as to molest you while you were comatose, but I will admit that my Somnophilia has been BAD these last few days!


	146. Chapter 146

Wednesday March 24, 2010

Well, this will officially go down in history as the stupidest thing I've ever done.

And by history, I of course mean that you will remember it for the rest of our lives and I will never let myself forget it. Keep in mind, I have done some monumentally stupid things. Remember that time I ran off half-cocked to the ministry with nothing but a herd of thestrals and a handful of fourth and fifth year students? Or remember that time in Colombia when I almost accidentally joined a gang because I am shite at languages? Yeah, this tops that.

Maybe almost murdering you when we were in sixth year was stupider. Merlin, why am I even bringing that up now? My behavior was monumentally idiotic, but it probably wasn't "almost murder the love of your life" idiotic. Right?

Anyway, Rowe just left after telling me all about my diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment plan. I know you would have liked to have been here, but she had the time now and you were at home unfortunately. If we hadn't done it just now she wouldn't have really had the time to sit and discuss all of the details until tomorrow afternoon. I'd rather know now than have to worry for the next twenty-four hours. But now I wish I'd waited because it's not good news and I could use your hand to hold or your shoulder to cry on.

Oh shoot, that probably sounded really bad. I am fine and Persephone is fine. We're all … fine. Actually, little miss is doing quite well in her safe little bubble. Me, on the other hand, I am doing just about as well as I was when I came out of the healing coma. Which is to say, not great. Physically speaking I am in good health. My heart is healed and working as needed. My weight is where it should be. Iron levels and all of those other nutrient levels they worry about during pregnancy are all just fine. Unfortunately my magic levels are not budging.

Rowe was quite hopeful at first that the potion you've been taking made with my blood would be beneficial. Nope, status quo here. At least I'm not draining any more magic? Ugh, that's probably because my levels are so low I'd probably barely be able to cast so much as a silencing spell.

So, when you take care of your somnophilia kink just know that you're going to have to cast the silencing spells! I was too worked up so I didn't think to ask Rowe, but as long as she okays it, you taking care of business while I sleep is A-OK by me! I am exhausted, I was in a coma for a few days, I am hospital bound for the foreseeable future. However, my libido has taken no damage!

Are my distraction techniques working? Yeah, they're not working on me either. So, here's the deal … I can't leave St. Mungo's. Not just I can't leave anytime soon or I can't leave today or this week. Nope. Prognosis: hospital bound until they are forced to deliver this baby or until I hit the 36 week mark and am fully in the safety zone of pregnancy. Rowe thinks the chances of me making it to 36 weeks are extremely unlikely. But hey, you know my luck, the chances of surviving the killing curse are extremely unlikely and I did that!

I'm trying to stay positive but I'm pretty damn hysterical. I know you have responsibilities at home. Taking care of our children all by yourself because I'm a fuckwit. But damnit Malfoy I need you! I am 28 weeks today. Rowe would like me to start increasing my magic levels and make it to 36 weeks plus. But as I said, she thinks that's not going to happen. So right now we are shooting for making it to 34 weeks, with 32 weeks being the "absolute earliest unless your life is in danger" line.

Since the potions from my weakened blood aren't working, Rowe is wondering if Viper would be willing to donate? He and I are an exact genetic match so it's the second best option after my own in theory. So, fingers crossed that he says yes and they work and my magic levels go up and this baby stays cooking for the next eight weeks or more!

She did have one piece of good news though. I was crying a bit, definitely emotional during our talk, and I mentioned how sad I was that this meant I couldn't nurse Zaire and Jaz anymore. But according to Rowe, since my body is already producing (I didn't completely dry up since being here!) it shouldn't effect my magic levels in any way. She wouldn't let me take the potion now to induce lactation, but since I am a mammal and could have possibly lactated even without the potion, the only thing my milk production is drawing on is my nutrient level. And as I said earlier, nutrition and bodily health aren't the issue, just the magic.

So, whenever you get a chance to bring those two for a visit here, they can nurse to their hearts' content! And I could honestly use the physical closeness and bonding time with my sweet babies that I won't be able to live with for much longer than I'd be happy about.

And I hate to put more work onto you since you've not only taken on my responsibilities but you're also kinda busy growing our twins. But I really want as many of our kids visiting as often as they possibly can. Even if all they do is snuggle in my bed while we listen to some music, read a book, or watch some movies. I need my babies. I miss them so much.

Especially my boy whose birthday I ruined!

I have to say, this whole parenting teenagers thing pretty much sucks. But with all the drama we've had out of River in recent times, this one is no big deal. He's coming to us with questions. He's listening about being safe. He's comfortable enough with us that he can ask questions like this (well, you at least). I obviously don't think he's ready to be sexually active, but it's not my life to live, I can only tell him what I think is best.

I'm glad he's asking questions so he can be safe and do his best. I'm actually quite impressed that he is concerned about his partner's enjoyment, that's not always so common with the teenaged boys. But mostly I'm glad that he knows I would have no idea what to tell him about pleasing a woman and so you had to take this talk!

And I kind of want peaches?

Anyway, will you hurry up and come back and hold me? I know this is all my fault. I know I deserve to be alone. I deserve this stress I brought upon myself. But if you have any sympathy, I'd appreciate a snuggle and a snog or two.

With immense guilt,  
Harry

 

Wednesday March 24th  
Beloved,

I saw your email come in while I was at home trying to get the littles to bed. Siri and Zwei went down pretty well. I promised them that I'd bring them to see you tomorrow for a couple of hours, so they wanted to go right to sleep so that it was tomorrow already.

Once I received your email, I ordered Muffy to bring me a basket of peaches and then Apparate me, Jaz, and Zaire right to you. I knew that there was nothing better for your hurting heart (emotionally) than snuggling as you nursed them. While eating peaches. Since you had your hands full of little loves, I sliced the peaches for you and fed them to you while you nursed and rocked and just generally held onto our current youngest. I could see you visibly relax, even if just a little.

Then, once they were asleep, I ordered Muffy to bring them home and put them to bed. At that point, I slipped into bed with you and just held you while you dozed off. I also groped you and gave a pleasant start to your nap, and yes even though it is nighttime, I know this will be a nap because you're in the stage where you can't stay comfortable for more than a couple of hours, and also need to get up to go to the loo several times each night. I will be right here to help you with all of it. As will Dibly since he's technically your elf and Muffy is at home with our littles.

In any case, before I doze off for a bit myself, I wanted to tell you a little bit more about what's happening. Specifically with your blood potion. The news is actually more alarming than you understand. You heard Rowe say that the potion isn't working, and assumed that it's the potion made from your weakened blood, but that's incorrect. See, if you recall, it took Sebastian 17 days to make the first batch - not because he needed to learn how to do it, but because it took a couple of days to get all the ingredients and 15 days to brew. The first batch was done on February 11th, and so he thought ahead and had the second batch ready to go on March 11th when I would have run out of the first batch (although, with a 30 day supply coming off a 28 day month, I had a couple to spare, which is good because March has 31 days in it, but that's not important at the moment). You ended up in the hospital on Thursday March 18th, and it's currently only the night of the 24th. Can you see how there hasn't been enough time for the batch from the blood recovered during your surgery to be brewed into a viable potion?

This means that from the 11th to the 18th, I took one potion a day, as I'm supposed to. That left me down to 22 (I will be honest and confess that I used up my extras during the raid, not because I needed them, but because I didn't want to even slightly risk running low on magic that day, sorry). From the 19th to today, I've taken a potion a day, and YOU'VE taken a potion a day... Which should leave us with ten potions to last the next ten days, right?

Actually, no. See, Rowe was so worried about your levels the first two days that she insisted that you have *2* potions each day, which means that we are down to 8 potions, and there's still 10 days left before the new batch is brewed. The good news is that as far as Sebastian can tell, the brewing process IS unlocking the full magical potential of the blood, and there's enough of it that we could both take it for the rest of our pregnancies.

But as I already said, the bad news is that it's not helping you at all, so far as we can tell. Rowe suggested using the Viper's blood because while it *should* be the same as yours, he is different enough from you that it *might* make some sort of difference and help. So, we ARE trying that too. It'll still take 15 days to brew, but once brewed, if it works, then you'll have enough to help you maintain your levels until your rightful due date.

Here's hoping!

In the meantime, Rowe has a monitoring spell on you to see if she can figure out why you're not responding to what *should* be the perfect solution for you. She *thinks* it might be similar to what happens to muggle diabetics. Very often, the muggle - not having access high quality potions that help the body process sugar normally - will produce an excessive amount of insulin, but their own body resists it. That's why it's called insulin resistant. The solution for them is to take insulin from something else, and strangely, this particular insulin is made from pig's blood. This is close enough to humans that it works, but is different enough from the diabetic's own blood/hormones that the body can't resist it.

It's a sound enough theory - as far as I can determine. If she's right, then all we have to do is get you through the rocky patch until the potion is ready, and then you'll be just fine again.

But for right now, you just opened your eyes to look at me. Judging by the look, you want me to molest you until you can go back to sleep. I have no problems with this and am signing off now to do exactly that!

Love you with every piece of my heart,  
Draco


	147. Chapter 147

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something weird happens...

Thursday March 25, 2010

My Heart,

So I've been in St. Mungo's for a week now as of today. One down, hopefully eight more to go! This won't be so bad right? This past week practically flew by. Alright, part of that is probably because I was in a coma for a lot of it, but the upcoming weeks should fly by quickly right? Oh who am I kidding, this is going to be a nightmare isn't it?

You just left to bring Siri and Zwei home, hopefully bringing Jaz and Zaire back with you so I can rock them to sleep. The mischief twins are at the perfect age for dealing with me being hospital bound; they're old enough to understand that I am alright but I am staying in the hospital so they can keep an eye on me, as opposed to the littlest who just don't understand why Daddy isn't home with them. But they're young enough to not quite realize that if I am in the hospital for months, it's because something really scary is going on. The older kids have that wariness in their eyes every time they visit, looking like they don't quite believe me when I tell them I'm fine.

Last night was lovely, thank you, it went so far in relieving some of the tension and stress I've been wrapped up in for days. Lying in bed, nursing my babies, snacking on fruit, while you and I talked and caught up on our day was exactly what I needed to feel a little more normal. I hope it's not too much trouble for you, because I'd really like to be able to end my days like this as often as you're able to. I'm feeling selfish asking for it, but I think it was really good for the littles. Zaire wrapped his little fingers in my hair as he fell asleep, like he wanted to sleep but wasn't ready to let me out of his sight.

My hair is finally starting to grow out a bit after the big cut. I had been planning on getting a trim soon, I kind of liked it being short, but between you and Zaire I think growing it out again would be well received? I honestly don't know if I want to grow it out as long as it used to be. It was a lot of work and I pretty much always had to have it braided back. But maybe I could grow it out long enough to give you enough to play with, maybe make a short braid, but where I could still wear it down if I wanted.

Anyway, I knew I should have had you with me when I spoke with Rowe yesterday. I was still out of it enough that I probably should have at least been taking notes. You would have asked all of the important questions. It's a good thing you had a chance to talk with her today so "we" actually know what's going on. I probably should have put two and two together and realized it hadn't been long enough to make the potion with the weakened blood. I guess being in a coma will cause you to forget about time lapses. But now I am even more worried that I'm not responding to the potions.

The resistance thing makes sense I suppose. I just hope she's able to find something that works, I don't want this little bun born too early. Based on my talks with Rowe, anything before the 32 week mark sounds terrifying. I know with the magical medicine options that we're definitely at a point where Persephone would survive if she were born right now, but surviving is different than thriving and I want the best for my child. Ugh, I'm so fucking thick! I will just never forgive myself for this.

I was going to argue with you a bit about Dibly being my elf. Sure, technically I am the one who hired him. But I hired him to keep an eye on you all those years ago when you were pregnant with Eri. Then I realized, he was hired to take care of the pregnant man who was dumb enough to behave in such a way as to need an elf babysitter. Well, I guess he really IS my elf then! He doesn't seem to be emotionally attached to our family the way Muffy is so I don't feel badly saying this, I know Muffy is your elf but I love her so much that I like to pretend she's mine as well. It's why I call on her more than Dibly.

Also, she hates it when we let any other elf help us and I'm mildly terrified of her.

I'm getting sleepy now, so I think I will try to take a nap before you guys come back. Wake me up when you get here!

Your Idiot,  
Harry

 

Monday March 29th  
The dearest part of my heart,

Something weird happened today...

Alright, so first of all, I actually slept in bed with Jaz and Zaire last night, but that's only because Rowe has been giving you sleeping potions for the last couple of nights to maximize your rest. Thus, I figured that you wouldn't even be awake at any point to appreciate me being there, whereas our littles have noticed that I'm not there in the mornings and have insisted that they miss me - even though they see me for hours each day when I bring them to see you.

Anyway, concurrently, despite the fact that the potion made from your blood seems to have no effect on you at all, Rowe consulted her monitoring spell and realized that it does have a little bit of an effect. It gives you a very tiny boost. The weird thing is that all the other magic replenishing and boosting potions you're taking - same as I'm taking - aren't helping much either. They're getting you to a level where you're not in a coma nor in danger of dying, and they're keeping Persephone alive and well, but they AREN'T bringing your levels up where they should.

Well, because all the potions are helping, even if only a tiny bit, we (Rowe and I) decided that we're going to focus on you since my needs are much less at the moment. Thus, we've been giving you those remaining blood potions from the second batch until the next batch or two can be brewed. Which means that I *haven't* been taking any of them.

So far, I hadn't felt any blood cravings beyond the normal PICA I've been having. I'm drinking pig's blood and eating most of my food with blood either directly in it or on the side as a dipping sauce, but I haven't had the INTENSE NEED for it like I had right before we figured out what was going on. This is a good sign, showing that my magic levels are holding, right?

Well, maybe they were, but today when I woke up, I was craving your blood like I'd been dying of dehydration in a desert for nearly a month. Coincidentally, the Viper came into our suite to ask about taking his kids to visit you for a bit. He'd JUST returned from his twice monthly visit to his Draco, and so I hadn't seen him for a couple of days either.

Without a word or even thinking about it, I grabbed his hand and yanked him into bed with me so that I could attack his neck. The weirder thing is that he must have been having flashbacks to his weekend with his Draco, because he moaned and surrendered to my attack. I drank enough blood to get that high feeling, a little more than a half a cup. Three quarters maybe?

As I was floating in bliss, he rolled us over so that he could sort of return the attack - not by drinking my blood, but by licking and kissing my neck. But then he stopped. I was just starting to come back to myself, and hadn't really registered him as NOT YOU, but his words reminded me.

"No... you're not MY Draco..." he murmured sadly as he rolled off of me and stared at the ceiling. If he really was you, he probably would have started sobbing, but being him, he simply slung an arm over his eyes to hide any potential leaking. "I just came home from his bed and I already miss him SO BADLY!"

I rubbed his arm soothingly. "It's like a bone deep ache, isn't it?"

He nodded. I nodded in return. Then I took a deep breath and broached a touchy subject.

"Have you given any thought to what will happen in the future?"

He made a strange noise like he let out the tiniest sob possible. "I've thought about it almost constantly! The problem is that while I want to marry him and be with him forever, my kids are here and I will never bring them back there!"

"And he has a son there that he wouldn't leave, even to be with you. I understand," I murmured, not sure what else to say.

"So I guess that we'll just have to keep on doing what we're doing until something changes... or we get tired of it and call it quits," he stated morosely.

I sat up with a sigh. "Well, thank you for the blood. Sorry I attacked you. I've got to get ready to go to see my Harry."

He nodded. "I want to bring my kids to visit him too."

I inclined my head in permission. "Best to do that now then, which'll give me time to get ready and round up some of my kids. In fact, bring my older ones with you. I know Harry will love to chat with all the kids in that age range for a bit before I arrive with Siri and Zwei."

He nodded in agreement. "See you when you get there."

"See you," I returned as he slipped out of bed and trudged away. I really feel bad for him as I cannot imagine only getting to see you twice a month for a couple of days each.

In any case, I stopped everything to send this email to you, but now I'm ready to go visit you, so I'm going to sign off and head out.

Love you!  
Draco


	148. Chapter 148

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With everything else they have going on, Harry remembers to remind Draco that it's Kisa's birthday.

Wednesday March 31, 2010

My Best Friend,

Merlin I miss you. I keep falling asleep on you. Not literally on you, but during your visits I just randomly pass out mid-conversation. I swear I don't find you to be boring, it's just this bloody exhaustion. I keep waking up feeling refreshed and thinking to myself, "this is it, I'm finally on the mend!" until I find myself passing out less than an hour later. I think you've definitely been making the right call by going home and sleeping with Jaz and Zaire (and I assume Zwei has been climbing in most nights as well) they need the consistency of you right now.

Do you think Eri and Haz will ever forgive me for falling asleep while they were showing me their newest designs? They had even brought a … what would you call it? Prototype? A Sample? I'm not sure which, and I suppose if my girls are going to be designers I should get a bit better about learning the lingo. After we get Persephone out safe and sound (and hopefully many weeks in the future) I will have so much time where I will be doing nothing but cuddling a newborn and nursing. That should give me all the time in the world to let them educate me on the fashion world.

Aren't they just brilliant young women? I am so unbelievably proud of them. When I was eleven years old I attempted to buy a solid gold cauldron and gold gobstones and then ended up purchasing the entire snack trolley on the Hogwarts Express. These amazing little people aren't yet ten and already building their own business based on their talents and interests. I think they take after their Daddy Draco and their big sisters Elena and Viona. Thank goodness for that!

I did really enjoy the visit the other night from the bigger kids. You've been bringing the four youngest by pretty much every day, and they need it, they need to visibly see that I am alright. But with the older set I've been able to insta-owl them when I'm awake, catching up that way. But getting to see their excited faces while they tell me all about their last almost two weeks now, giggles and hugs, I sure needed that. Not that I haven't seen them in all the two weeks since I've been here, but it hasn't been every day.

Although I bet St. Mungo's staff is probably pretty pleased that we aren't parading ten to twenty children through the halls every day! I'm sure they're enjoying how much of their work you're doing. Besides taking vitals and administering potions, the staff hasn't had to do much of anything else for me. You've been giving me baths, feeding me, keeping me from being so bored that I ring them every hour or so. I'm not sure if you realized this since you're in love with me and think I'm wonderful, but according to every Healer whose care I've been under, I am not the best patient.

I'm officially 29 weeks today; one more week down, seven more to go! I can do this!

Oh Hell, I can't do this! I am so bored! I am so tired. My arse is sore from sitting. I want to go for a run. I have gotten a little bit of writing done though. Not too much usable unfortunately. Apparently, being a little delirious from exhaustion doesn't always translate into well-written storytelling. Who knew? So instead of writing I have decided to devote my waking time to something else; figuring out how to give Viper and Other Draco their happily ever after. Or at least their Happy Right Now.

So, Viper pops back and forth, but other Draco hasn't come this way yet? Why is that? Does he not realize we have the spellwork done or has Viper not invited him or is he just not interested? The only reason I wonder is, what if he came here occasionally as well? I mean, I know he's now trying to be as active in his River's life as possible, but Rosalie does have custody of him. I'm thinking something like a three week cycle, they spend one week here, one week there, and then a week apart? Or even every other; one week here, one week apart, one week there, one week apart. That way they'd have a minimum of two weeks together every month instead of the weekends, Viper would only be away from his kids one week a month, and other Draco would still have plenty of time with his River.

I don't know if there is a true workable solution, I just picture being in his shoes and having to live without you in my arms for so long and I die a little inside. I feel badly enough about the situation that I won't even make a single comment about him putting his mouth on my husband's neck.

Ugh, running out of steam again. I'm going to try and get a nap in so I will be wide awake and ready to catch up when you get back here later this evening.

Love you,  
Harry

P.S. Don't forget Kisa's birthday is tomorrow!

 

Thursday April 1st  
Proof that I have a heart,

I have not so good news and not so good news that is also excellent news. I'm going to start with the first not so good news. Rowe and I have come to an agreement.

You see, the blood potion that you are currently taking has two more days before the next batch is ready. Sebastian reports that it's not quite as potent as the potion made when you were still at normal levels, BUT it's the equivalent of *most* people at normal levels. So it should hopefully still help the same tiny bit that the full strength potions have been. The reason this is not so good news is that today is the last dose left from the previous batch, and so it's been decided to put you back in a mini coma until the next batch is ready - starting tonight when your levels start to dip again and you'd be going to bed anyway. Er, well, you sleep on and off as it is, but I mean the *time* you consider bedtime.

You'll be in the mini coma until Sebastian deems the potion ready and has his house elf deliver it. He's trying to get permission to deliver it himself since it will be ready on a Saturday and he'll be home for Easter Hols anyway. I think my parents are hesitant to agree simply because they know you'll be medically sleeping until the effects of the potion are verified. That said, I think if you wake up even for a few minutes while he's visiting, it'll do both of you some good. You will almost certainly want to thank him, and he tries to deny it, but I think he needs validation that he did brew the potion correctly and that it IS helping you - even if not as much as we need it to.

Alright, so that's the not so good news; you'll be asleep for a couple of days. During which time, I'm going to bring all our kids out to Unity Park so that they can release some of their pent up stress and have fun. Well, actually, all of our kids except Jaz and Zaire. For two reasons. First: I need to be able to focus on the bigger kids and their needs for the day - especially Siri and Zwei. And second: I don't want Zaire's first trip to Unity Park to be at a time when you aren't there. I know that when we do finally bring him, YOU will have far more fun than I will on the rides with him. Thus, he will actually be in Molly's grandmotherly care so that she can fuss and fawn all over him and Jaz.

This actually helps Molly out a bit too, because... And this is the other not so good news that is also excellent news. Hermione had her baby last night. Well, it was last night Russian time, but I think that actually places it yesterday afternoon here. I know you really wanted to drop everything and go be with her when she had her baby, and that's why I'm certain you'll consider the fact that you missed it as not so good news, but you'll also be over the moon that she had her baby and so, it's also excellent news.

I'm over explaining this, sorry. I'm a bit worn out. I've tried my best to not attack Viper again, and so, I'm going on day three since my last blood boost, and I feel like I'm... well, not dying exactly, but...

Anyway, I want to tell you the last bit of the excellent news before I crawl in bed with the littles. Kisa is - at this very moment - in labor with her baby. It worked out because she was able to be with Hermione and keep their hopeless lovers in line, and now that she's in labor, Hermione is already in the same room and can give encouragement and attempt to keep Ron and Blaise from losing their shit. Plus, Kisa said all she really wants is Blaise to hold her hand (good luck to him! I know how strong she is and fervently DO NOT want to be holding her hand during labor!), so the fact that he's not distracted by Hermione being in labor at the same time is best for everyone involved.

I'll let you know when I know more, but at this point, Blaise and Ron were babbling the news so quickly that I don't even know if Hermione's baby was a boy or a girl - nor how much was the birth weight and at what time. I could barely understand a word! If they hadn't both shouted baby and Hermione several times, I really don't think I'd know anything, hahaha!

As for Kisa, I know what I know about her because she called Elena, who promptly excused herself from dinner to take the portkey she'd prearranged. She's by Kisa's side, helping Hermione keep Blaise and Ron in line, and we all know how our little dictator hates to be disobeyed, hahaha!

But as I said, SO TIRED. I'm going to sign off now. Love you!

Ooo that man is on my list, and ooo that man I wanna kiss, my only sin is I can't win, ooo I wanna love that man,  
Draco


	149. Chapter 149

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note I tried a couple of times to edit the beginning of Harry's email so that it made more sense, grammatically and chronologically, but then decided that it wasn't MEANT to make complete sense, because it illustrates how Harry is not quite able to focus. Thus, if you are like me and like things to be grammatically and chronologically correct, you might feel slight dysphoria, just fyi.

Sunday April 4, 2010

My Love,

You were here when I was woken up from my coma this morning, but seeing as it was either early morning or the middle of the night - depending on how you feel about 6:00AM - you are currently at home sleeping away with our kids. I woke up again about an hour ago unfortunately, and I have a feeling I'll be falling asleep any moment here.

You'd think I had woken up in the middle of the night because I'm feeling well rested and finally have a bit of energy. Nope, I feel so awful that my body literally won't let me fall asleep even though I'm exhausted. So, I've been trying to distract myself since I've been awake. When you were here earlier, I obviously hadn't read your most recent email, so I didn't think to ask about Kisa or Hermione's babies. And I certainly wasn't going to message you at five to ask you. So I took the chance that at 8:00, Hermione would be awake with her newborn anyway and messaged her to see if she was up for a Magi-Skype session.

Lucky me, she and Kisa, and both babies were awake and wanting to chat with me. Oh Draco, the boys are so beautiful! Kisa's little Misha Rurik is so teeny! I think he looks exactly like Kisa with darker coloring. Same shape eyes, but his are a dark brown, same slim "Black" aristocratic features, but with Blaise's darker skin tone. He's a stunner! Have you managed to see them yet?

And little Tristan Matteo, he looks exactly like his big sister Bianca did when she was born. I haven't even officially met him yet and I am sure he already has me securely wrapped around his tiny fingers.

Both women were practically glowing. Bright eyes, flushed cheeks, perfection of motherhood personified. They seemed to appreciate me saying so. I however, did not appreciate them telling me that I looked like death warmed over. I already knew I felt like it, I didn't need to know I looked it as well. I apologized for not being there for the births and they both told me I was ridiculous and needed to take care of myself instead of worrying over not being there when they had plenty of support with them during labor.

Hermione ended up nursing Tristan while we were still skyping, I'm going to be doing the same thing in (hopefully) a little over seven weeks. I certainly don't want to wish her out anytime soon, but I am really looking forward to feeding Persephone after she's born. As well as Lily and Caelum when they get here. I know I'm not going to be able to produce for all three of their needs, but I'm really excited of this "new" way for me to bond with our newborns.

I did get to see Sebastian today … yesterday? Whenever he was here. I hope I made him feel better about his potions and how they're helping me. I had no idea he was worried about the potions. With how much they've helped you, I would think he'd be well aware of how well they were made. Obviously the issues lies with me.

Ok, I don't think I'm going to fall asleep. I feel even worse than I did a few minutes ago. I think I should call for a Healer. Hopefully I'll see you later today when you get a chance to visit.

Love Always,  
Harry

 

Sunday April 4th  
Oh my poor sick love!

I feel so bad for you! I wish I could take all your troubles away. I'd suffer them myself if I could to spare you. You look like someone tried to drown a dog, changed their minds *just* before it was too late, and then cursed the poor pup to vomit constantly.

So it's another not so good but still slightly good news situation. You see, and I understand that you might be feeling too miserable to pay attention when Rowe talks, but the potions are helping. They are weaker than the original batch, but strangely, they have an infinitesimally greater effect on you than the original. So basically, it's much like when a muggle takes a synthetic vitamin. They have to take ten times more than actually needed just so their body can process the tiny amount they do need. Only in your case, you need the ten times amount and only are receiving the tiny amount, sigh.

The bad news is that for whatever reason, your body just DOES NOT like these potions, and so even though they are helping just enough to let you stay awake at times - rather than just be put in a semi permanent coma until Persephone is born - they're making you sick. Like REALLY sick. :-(

There's a different bit of good news. It'll only be two or three more days until the NEXT batch (made from Viper's blood) is ready, and we all hope that that potion will be better for you. Not make you sick and actually give you the magic you need.

Along the same lines of being good news in general, just not for you, is that I am responding as well as ever to these weaker potions made from your blood. There's a LOT of them, so I should be good for the rest of my pregnancy - even if I go late. Even if you need to continue taking them too.

However, I do recognize that taking something that literally makes you sick is not fun. So Rowe and I are wracking our brains for ANY other solution that might help. We're really pinning all our hopes on the potion from the Viper, but if that doesn't pan out, we will do our best to come up with a solution that helps more and doesn't make you vomit almost every time you take a breath.

But for now, please try your best to put up with the misery. The worst case scenario is that you have something very like Hyperemesis Gravidarum for the next 7 or so weeks until Persephone is born. It might feel like forever at the moment, but it's not forever.

Rowe gave you a combination of potions to help settle your stomach and make you sleep (non-coma) for a while. Thus, I'm going to sign off now and give you a nice sponge bath and have Muffy and Dibly help me cast spells to keep you in a relatively decent shape by exercising your muscles. And then, I'll probably finish off with a massage.

Love you!  
Draco  
P.S. I'm actually feeling really good today. Not only did I have a potion as soon as I knew they were ready, but the Viper saw how terrible I looked last night at dinner and purposely put himself in my path afterwards so that I would attack him and drink some blood. I suppose that he can't stand seeing a Draco in any world looking so rough, haha.


	150. Chapter 150

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is still in St. Mungo's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This arc lasts a bit longer, but we skipped time each email so that it goes by much quicker than it would if we went day by day.

Tuesday April 6, 2010

Draco,

Thank Merlin the updated potion is going to be ready tomorrow. I don't think there's anything left inside of me to throw up. And I don't mean contents of my stomach. Literally, I think I ran out of contents and just chucked out all of my internal organs. But in good news, the potion seems to be helping my energy levels so I get to be wide awake more often to enjoy this horrible nauseated feeling.

I swear Draco, I am never throwing another magic tantrum ever again as long as we live. If you ever see my temper starting to come out I want you to remind me of the one way ticket I bought myself to VomitVille. I can't even take any anti-nausea potions for this because Rowe doesn't think it's worth the risk of them reacting poorly in combination with the boost potions. 

I'm glad the weaker potions are still working for you. I haven't seen much of Viper recently, I don't blame him, the smell of vomit even when vanished immediately doesn't make for a pleasant visiting atmosphere. Between him donating his blood to the potions cause and occasionally placing himself in your way so you can top yourself off with a little drink, he's been an enormous help. Just promise me you won't go and fall in love with him since he's being so kind and I'm so far away.

I think I've made a pretty tough decision all this time I've had to sit alone with my own thoughts. This is definitely going to be my last pregnancy. I can't imagine potentially doing something like this to our children again. Bedrest, hospital stays, worry about my safety. Our family is big and beautiful and perfect, I can't risk the happiness of the ones we already have, just to add another little one. So if our family ever grows again in the future, it will have to be through adoption or you being pregnant. I know it's not my place to put my foot down and decide for your body or to tell you you're never allowed to fall in love with another orphan and bring them home, but I can make this decision for my own body.

So, hope you enjoy these last weeks of Harry with a baby bump, because as soon as Persephone is out I plan on getting it flat and toned again and keeping it that way!

Ugh, just barfed again, I'm going to go before I accidentally ruin my computer.

Love,  
Harry

 

Thursday April 8th,  
Oh my dearest love,

Watching you suffer is tearing my heart to pieces! I seriously would rather be the one suffering - all alone in the back of my closet so that you don't have to see it. I love you so much and knowing that you wouldn't be in this nightmarish misery if I hadn't given you a potion and gotten you pregnant without even asking you, well, it's making me feel like I deserve to go to Azkaban or something for the cruelest and most unusual punishment imaginable.

The new version of the Blood Potion - made from Viper's blood - it's... sort of helping. It's doing about the same as the other potion, to be honest, which is to say, not much but enough to be better than nothing. Even so, you're STILL experiencing side effects. This time, it's uncontrollable and frequent diarrhea, accompanied by the same painful twisting sensation in your gut as you had with the vomiting - I suppose it's your body's attempt to get everything 'bad' out as quickly as possible.

But also, a traveling itch that wanders all over your body and refuses to be scratched once and for all. You were given a choice between the two potions - at least until Rowe and I can figure ANYTHING else out - and you chose this one because at least diarrhea is slightly better than vomiting.

I'm doing everything I can for you, as little as it is. So, I'm giving you cleaning charms and sponge baths, and even wiping your arse when you're too weak to get out of bed before things explode again. During one such bathing session, I noticed that the diarrhea is so strong that it's giving you a rather nasty personal problem. Lucky for you that I happen to have LOTS of potion to help heal that condition. I'm currently rubbing it in whenever I'm in the area, whether you actually need it at that moment or not, because I feel that at the very least, it'll probably help soothe what is bound to be a VERY sore area.

I'm utterly torn. About 80 percent of me wants to stay right by your side doing everything I'm doing to care for you until you're finally better. The other 20 percent wants to go home soonish, get a good night's sleep, and then take Eri and Ori out to do something special for their birthday tomorrow. I'm going to have Zaire and Jaz (and Muffy) help me serve them breakfast in bed for you, and then I plan to have them come visit you (just them) for a little bit. Maybe a much lighter second breakfast WITH you.

That might be a little bit of good news, actually. Since you're no longer vomiting, you CAN eat, it's just not very fun to do because it triggers extra bouts of diarrhea. That said, you do need to eat, and obviously, you're still taking nutrition potions and other magic restoration/boosting potions. I think there's even one potion designed to help protect your body from the damage the others might potentially cause (such as diarrhea, which can easily dehydrate you) AND a potion to attempt to boost your normally very high but currently very low healing ability.

All in all, you're taking a lot of potions and not eating very much, and I don't blame you, but I think you might enjoy a tiny bit of *normal* when you can get it. Thus, bringing the twins here tomorrow to have breakfast with you.

Then I'm probably going to take them somewhere they want. I'm not entirely sure yet as Orion definitely wants to go to my Adventure Park, but Eris seems adamant about shopping. Maybe I can bring them to Japan for sushi and sake. Wait... I'm pregnant and can't have sake. Damn! I could really USE some sake right about now! And also, the kids are still too young for that, sigh... (Well, too young to have more than a small cup. Possibly two. But that's beside the point.)

As for Hermione and Kisa's babies. Elena is still in Russia helping out with them. She's been magi-skyping with me, and so yes, I've gotten a chance to see them. They are so adorable. There's actually a ray of sunshine to hopefully cheer you up:

The Quartet has decided to come back home for a visit. Ron naturally is being pestered by his mother to bring the newest grandbaby/ies for a visit, and also, Hermione REALLY wants to have a nice long chat with Healer Rowe and see if SHE can't research a solution to your problem. Maybe I'm suffering from pregnancy related brain fog, but I just can't think of anything that'll work - and this angers me because I literally JUST came up with a potion to stop aging what? A month ago? How can I make useless potions like all day stamina and stop aging, but I can't come up with one good potion to help you regenerate your own lost magic???

Fuck I'm useless!

I'm going to sign off now because you're waking up from your nap and I want to snuggle with you before I leave for the night.

Love you and praying for you every moment of every day,  
Draco


	151. Chapter 151

Saturday April 10, 2010

My most definitely and ridiculously not useless husband,

Are you actually messing with me right now? Trying to take the blame for the situation we're in and also say you're useless because you can't invent a potion that will work on me even though no one else seems to be able to either? You must be out of your mind. First of all, I wanted to be pregnant. If we hadn't been arguing over who got to be pregnant I would have chosen to be pregnant, all you did was do exactly what I wanted to happen. Secondly, the pregnancy did not cause this issue. Prior to my ridiculous tantrum over your Auroring I had enough magic to spare that you could drain me occasionally and take some of it for yourself.

Third; useless? You are currently running our (massive) household singlehandedly while I sit in bed on my arse doing nothing. You are physically and emotionally caring for nine of our children, bringing them to see me, rubbing ointment into my bum, making birthday breakfasts, taking aforementioned birthday kids out on adventures, and uh …. what's that other thing you've been doing? Oh right, growing two babies yourself!

Give yourself a damn break Draco! None of this is your fault and you're going well above and beyond trying to keep our family running and doing a fantastic job of it. Please give yourself a break. If you don't do it for you, can I convince you by using my sick husband card? It really stresses me out when you're not kind to my husband, I think my health would be better if you treated my husband better! Does that work?

I think it's great that you went home the night before the almost twins' birthdays so you and the four littles could make their birthday breakfasts. You certainly deserved a full night's rest where you didn't have to worry about wiping my arse! I don't think I will ever get over the embarrassment of having to have my husband take care of me in that way. And you did it like it was just no big deal. You barely change the childrens' nappies, being content letting Muffy or their personal elf deal with that, and you're just cleaning me up like it was nothing. What did I ever do to deserve you?

Thank you for bringing Eri and Ori to come see me and have second breakfast together. It was wonderful. It sounds like you all had a wonderful day planned. But I'm even more thankful that you managed to come alone for a short time last night after your adventures ended and before they all needed you home to put everyone to bed. My bum problem seems to have stopped and I was feeling pretty good, so I had the chance to just hold you in my arms, stroke your hair, tell you how much I love and appreciate you. And when you started to get into a strop because I dared say nice things about you to your face, I sang to you.

I have no idea why you like me singing to you, my voice is not particularly good. But I guess your taste in men and their ability to sing is a bit odd ;) You seemed to get cozy and sleepy so I just kept singing. But you seemed to perk up at a certain set of lyrics; since I know you like hearing words of love when you're in private and can be as emotional as you feel, here's what I sang to you …

"Souls in the wind must learn how to bend, seek out a star, hold on to the end. Valley mountain, there is a fountain, washes our tears all away. Words are swaying, someone is praying, please let us come home to stay."

Some day Draco, this horrible time will feel like a distant memory. It won't be too much longer before Persephone and I are truly coming home to stay. You can do this, you are the strongest man I know, just have faith in me and our love being able to see us through anything.

In today's good news; my diarrhea seems to have completely tapered off. It's been replaced by a new symptom, but of all the symptoms I've had so far this seems to be the easiest to deal with. My nose has been running and I have been sneezing a lot. My nose has been rubbed raw from me blowing it and I have a bit of a headache, but I will take this a million times over the vomit or the diarrhea. I never thought I'd be so happy about a gross and drippy head cold!

Rowe stopped in a few minutes ago, just doing her morning rounds, and while we don't have a good working theory as to how we're going to fix it (thank goodness Hermione and crew come tomorrow!) we do have a hypothesis about why I'm having the reactions I am. All of my side effects thus far have been my body's attempt to purge itself. Vomit … diarrhea … sneezing … it's my body trying to get rid of something. Just trying to come up with plausible ideas, maybe there's an ingredient in the potion that I am unknowingly allergic to? It would have to be an ingredient that I haven't taken in a potion before since I've never reacted this way, or some combination of ingredients that are causing the reaction.

It's not an answer but it's better than nothing I suppose!

I am sure I will see you at some point today, but I hope you're having a nice lie in and getting some much deserved and needed rest. You are three huge pieces of my heart, please keep them safe.

Loving my amazingly useful husband,  
Your Harry

 

Monday April 12th  
My poor aching heart,

That's a reference to you, in case you suddenly think I'm having heart problems. You're still so miserable! :-(

The Quartet arrived yesterday, but were basically obligated to go straight to the Burrow and let Molly fuss over all of them. I know that Molly and Arthur have been visiting you in the hospital whenever they can - just holding your hands and chatting about their own large brood - but I don't think they had a chance to do much more than pop by for a quick Hi yesterday before going home to prepare for officially meeting their newest grandbabies.

But that actually works a bit in your favor because Molly insists on watching them while the Quartet visits you today. To maximize the space in your hospital room, I'm going to let them visit without me or any of our kids crowding them. But Blaise and Kisa only plan to stay for a half hour or so, then they're going to leave you to Hermione and Ron. I'll give you another half hour or so to chat with just them. Catch up and the like. Then I'm going to come in for an official conference with them, you, and Healer Rowe. MAYBE we'll be able to brainstorm and come up with SOMETHING to help you.

But at the moment, I'm in bed resting and am going to sign off and take a nap. I'm not sick with the Dragon flu again, but I think I did over do it with the twins the other day - or maybe just trying to spend time with all of them when I can - because I'm definitely feeling worn out. So, I'm going to nap for a while before I join you and your friends for a planning session with Rowe.

Love you!  
Draco


	152. Chapter 152

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione points out something important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting twice in a row today because I know y'all are impatient to get to the end of this sad arc. Take heart, I'm posting the resolution tomorrow :-)

Wednesday April 14, 2010

Bloody Hell,

I feel like such a dickbag opening my email like that. You keep saying things like "my heart" and I start mine with "bloody hell." I want to apologize and change it and come up with something beautiful and romantic and loving. But mostly I don't, I'm feeling pissy, and I want to start with Bloody Hell. It's not aimed at you, but at my situation. You, my love, are my Bloody Heaven.

I'm on Day #27 in this place and I am just about climbing the walls. Although not literally climbing the walls because I'm not supposed to get out of my bed for anything other than the loo. Except of course when I had diarrhea, that was a lot of vanishing and cleaning because that would have had me out of bed too often. As you'll remember, I was so thankful that symptom passed. As miserable as sneezing constantly was, it was infinitely better than the alternatives. Even after about four days of the sneezing, I still was thankful it wasn't something else.

As of this morning, it's again something else. Yeah, I cannot stop peeing. I swear I am peeing every fifteen minutes. My cock actually hurts and not in the good way. And to add to my utter humiliation and mortification … it's again too often and Rowe doesn't want me up and out of bed every fifteen minutes. And I can't vanish my own bladder contents because it's using up precious magic. So I have to call a medi-witch in every time I have to pee. But what am I supposed to do if they can't get there in time (helping someone pee immediately every fifteen minutes is not exactly an emergency situation) so I have to sit here in an adult diaper just in case. I haven't had to do it yet, so far there has been a staff member available every time I've called. But I know it's only a matter of time.

Between this and the other symptoms will you still love me after all this? I'm such a broken burden on you. You deserve someone whole who doesn't make you exhausted or require their bum wiped and their bladder vanished. You deserve better than the nightmare that is me.

Our kids deserve better than having to come visit ME in the hospital on THEIR birthdays. Teddy deserves to have me take him out to something fun tomorrow on his birthday, but instead he's also going to spend time in the hospital on his birthday.

Ugh, I hate this. And I threw a bit of a tantrum earlier today. Don't worry, it wasn't magical. Even if I weren't keeping a tight leash on my magical outbursts, I wouldn't have really had enough magic at my disposal to cause myself any damage anyway. So I had a classic toddler temper tantrum. I was brought a lovely pot of peppermint tea earlier. I was irritable and tired and this bloody padding on my arse is bothering me. So I was quite rude to the nice man who brought it to me. I told him to bugger off with his damn tea. And instead of buggering off, he said, "Healer Rowe thinks a spot of tea would be quite good for you."

That's when I took the pot from him, shouted "I think getting the hell out of my room would be good for you!" and threw the full pot of tea against the wall. I am so embarrassed. The guy was just doing his job. All he did was bring me tea. But all I could think about was if I drank more I would have to pee more and if I have to pee more then maybe there's a chance I would have to use this humiliating thing I'm wearing and my options were to sob or throw the teapot.

So our meeting with Rowe the other day was pretty unproductive. Hermione hadn't had the chance to really search through my chart, look through the ingredients list, and have a chance to come up with a working hypothesis. She and Rowe are coming by a bit later this afternoon to do another meeting with all of us with hopefully some actual answers. I'm 31 weeks today, and I'd really like some answers so I can get our Persephone to the best health I can before she has to come out.

I'm so scared Draco. What if she doesn't make it? What if I don't make it? What if I'm not strong enough to keep her in as long as she needs to be there?

I'm so sorry I did this to all of us,  
Harry James Malfoy

 

Thursday April 15th  
Bloody hell!

I get snippy too, love. And in this case, it's utterly called for. See, we're both having the same problem. Sort of. We're both taking three different potions to try to do the same thing, and in both our cases, they aren't working as intended.

Let me explain in case all you heard during the meeting with Rowe and Hermione was blah, blah, blah, not working like we want and we don't know why.

Ever since before the blood craving thing, I've been saying over and over that I'm taking magic replenishing and magic boosting potions. Then I started craving your blood because they're not actually solving the underlying problem, simply managing it the best they can.

Under normal circumstances, say Ron gets in a long and exhausting duel, and he comes out low on magic. Chances are that sleeping for two or three days would solve the problem and he'd be back to normal - by regenerating his own magic while sleeping. But let's say that despite winning the duel, he still needs to cast a bunch of wards to protect his kids (because he's alone with them for some reason. WAIT! Better example, the Viper. Picture him fighting tooth and nail to protect his kids). Well, in THAT instance - after a hard duel - his magic is too low to cast a simple Lumos, but since he NEEDS it, he takes a replenishing potion that is supposed to REPLACE a portion of his magic. In other words, give a little bit of simple generic magic to him. Even in a very strong and potent potion, it's only going to be able to replace so much. That's just biology, I suppose.

The second kind of potion we've been taking is a BOOSTING potion. It's designed and intended to increase base levels of magic temporarily. To boost them higher than they would normally be. So, for example, if a powerful wizard like the Dark Lord took one of the potions, he'd go from being insanely powerful to being insanely powerful with a little icing on top. A complete squib with no magic whatsoever wouldn't suddenly have useable magic, but someone who is mostly a squib with at least a little accessible magic can use a potion to boost their base level for a few hours to a day so that they can cast an important spell or, I dunno, help with a ritual.

When I was taking the replenishing potion and the boosting potion, the two were working like a plaster to cover the problem of me having low magic. The replenishing brings it up from close to zero to 10 or 20 percent, and the boosting potion can bring it up say another 5 or 10 percent. Some of it depends on the day and how much rest I've had, and some of it is inexplicable as to why it works better at times and worse at others.

These two potions have been doing the same for you - and under NORMAL circumstances, we'd BOTH be just fine, regenerating our magic eventually. But we're both pregnant and - to use easy math - let's say that my full capacity is my 100 percent. Let's also say that I need at LEAST 15-20 percent of my full magic just to not die AND be awake and reasonably functional. Around 10 percent is survivable if I happened to be sleeping or in a healing coma. A tiny 5 percent is just barely survivable if I'm definitely in a healing coma and on magical life support - so to speak.

Using the same percentage analogy for easy math, a pregnancy takes approximately 20 percent of my magic for bare minimum, the baby will live and probably be healthy so long as all nutritional needs are met. 25-30 percent of my full magic level is optimal to have a definitely healthy and magically strong baby. Keep in mind that other facts also determine the baby's base level of magic, so me running low doesn't doom the baby to being a squib. NOT that being a squib is a bad thing!

Okay, so, NOW I'm coming to the point. Once it was discovered that my levels were so low that I was drinking your blood to obtain more magic, Rowe dug around and uncovered a rare potion to use blood to help replenish low magic levels. But it's a little bit like BOTH of the other two potions combined. It's potent enough (when using your full strength blood) to help me recover quite a bit of magic AND boost my current capacity beyond what it is.

Sounds like I could replace both of the others with just this one, right?

Nope!

The way I am currently is: I can only generate and maintain on my own about 10 to 15 percent of my full amount of magic. That's enough to not die and be reasonably capable of thinking. The first two potions can help me gain about 15-30 percent of my magic, and again, not too much is known about why it's sometimes a better rate than other times. So my ability of 10-15 percent plus the first two potions 15-30 percent means that AT MOST, I have 45 percent of my normal level of magic, and that just so happens to be enough to keep me alive and maintain a healthy pregnancy. Even with twins.

But as you can imagine, especially with twins, the *moment* my levels dip under *enough* into *not quite enough,* I start craving blood. When my levels get too low, I go into uncontrollable vampire mode. Your blood and the potion made from your blood temporarily brings my magic levels to around 60 or 70 percent, hooray!

When it was working, sigh...

With you, you can't even generate a good 10 percent of your levels on your own at the moment, and Rowe thinks that it's because the baby sucks up your magic as you make it. (Like mine always do to me, which is why I always have low magic when pregnant.) So, the replenishing and boosting potions do the same for you as they do for me: Give you about 15 to 30 percent of your normal magic levels, which helps you stay awake, think somewhat clearly, and maintain your pregnancy IF you don't exert yourself and stay in bed.

Sucks, I know.

The BLOOD potion - for me - provided a nice hit to bring me up so that I could leave bed, take our kids out to relieve some stress, and have around six hours of out of bed time each day before my levels started dropping and I needed to slow down, rest, and maybe even take a nap.

Are you with me so far?

You were not so lucky. The same blood potion - made from your blood or the Viper's - is basically giving you an extra 5 or 10 percent. That's it. Not enough to be worth it in ANY other circumstance, but enough to help you stay awake long enough to have visits from me and the kids and thoroughly *enjoy* all the *lovely* side effects, sigh.

I am so sorry, mi Corazon, that I can't trade places with you. I really would much rather be the one to suffer than you. I guess I'm used to it, having suffered some painful things in my past and coped with them reasonably well even before the very helpful therapy. Side Note: I've been seeing Yesenia so frequently lately that people might accuse us of dating if they didn't know better. She's been coming to the manor when I'm resting in bed so that I don't exert myself when I need to NOT do that.

The thing that is most worrying to ALL of us though is WHY you're having these side effects. After all, if it was simply because the potion has side effects, wouldn't *I* have some too? But I don't.

Thus, Hermione is doing her brilliant researcher thing and looking into every single ingredient of the blood potion - and every other potion you are taking at the moment, which includes nutritive potions, healing potions, protective potions, and what the hell maybe it'll help potions. She's going to scan her impressive memory to see if you've ever been exposed to the ingredients and if they caused a reaction in you. And since you haven't really reacted to anything before, she thinks it'll be relatively easy to narrow it down to things you HAVEN'T had before.

At least it's a place to start. And we all know she's brilliant enough to have your problem solved in three days flat! Also, she'll probably solve my problem while she's at it.

See... The current batch of blood potion that I'm taking - made from the blood siphoned during your magi-surgery - SEEMED like it was working the same as the first two batches, at first, and that might simply have been a sort of placebo effect of my body expecting things to be a certain way, and so they were. But now they're not. I'm getting alarmingly low again, so much so that Rowe ordered a second bed put in your hospital room so that I could lay or sit in it when I'm visiting you - during those times when we need to rest and keep our hands to ourselves, sigh.

If you are awake enough with sufficient brain power to have followed me so far, you might be wondering why I don't just attack the Viper again and suck his blood. Well, he's not available TO attack. He's spending the entire week with his Draco because his kids decided that he deserved more than 2 Saturdays, 2 Sundays, and 2 Friday nights a month with his true love. They HATE watching him go at half 9 on his designated Fridays looking all eager and happy, only to return Sunday afternoon or evening looking like his favorite dog just died.

So, he's now at a full extended week, and a weekend. To be specific, he started this schedule on Friday night after the twins had a lovely family dinner for their birthday, is still with his Draco at this moment, and will be back here on Sunday April 18th. Then, he'll have a week/weekend home and a normal weekend visit after that. It's a bit confusing actually, but at least he has more time with his beloved. It's also about half of what you suggested, but Other Draco refuses to even consider visiting here until he's fixed the world AND fully raised his son - and daughter because he's decided that he should get to know Viona too.

Incidentally, him being gone, that's why we haven't tried having YOU drink his blood directly either yet. We think it'll help, but he's not around to try it on.

Hold on, Hermione just read the last couple of paragraphs over my shoulder and is demanding my attention for a moment...

Fuck me! Hermione just said: "Bloody moron! The Viper is NOT the only person with blood on the planet! WHY don't you just ask someone else?!" She then swept her hands out emphatically toward Blaise. "Say, your best friend?!?!"

"Yeah mate," Blaise added with a wry grin. "So long as you promise not to drink me to death, I'll let you have some of my blood. It's not like I'm currently pregnant or suffering any magic weakening conditions - such as a recent pregnancy."

So, I'm going to pause a minute and...

AHHHHH! … Mmm... Yep, it's official. I LOVE blood! It's seriously the best high ever! Well, I suppose what I'm actually feeling is the pure magic in the blood, but still, it's so good!

Well, now that I'm feeling better, we just need to solve YOUR problem. Since Rowe and I thought the Viper's blood would help you better than the potion made from his blood, without the side effects, hopefully, perhaps Ron will let you drink some of his blood. Worth a try, right?

Well, we're going to ask you directly tomorrow since it's a bit late at night and we know for certain that Rowe gave you a sleeping potion to help you rest tonight. You've had it rough for so long that she really just wants you to sleep as much as possible at this point. I can't help but agree, love.

So, we'll see you tomorrow, and if we're DAMN lucky, not only will Ron donate some blood to you and it'll work better than all the potions have, BUT Hermione will have hopefully finished up her research and figured out what's going on.

Love you more and more each day, especially since I'm more than a little afraid of losing you...

If we hold on together, I know our dreams will never die, dreams see us through to forever, where clouds roll by, for you and I,  
Draco  
P.S. You singing to me the other day when I was rather depressed and feeling so very low helped me more than you can imagine.

P.P.S You sang in front of a large audience in California, including some reporters for the Daily Prophet, who published their opinion that you are actually a pretty good singer. So it's NOT just me that thinks it, you really are!


	153. Chapter 153

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione figures out what's wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, grab a tissue, a blankey, and a pint of Ben and Jerry's, but don't worry, no one dies...

Sunday April 18, 2010

My Heart and Soul,

Well, our Hermione seems to have solved the mystery of why nothing is working on me. Unfortunately she and Rowe are fairly certain that there isn't a solution to the problem. Which means I am fucking terrified. I'm only a little over 31 weeks right now. She wanted me at 32 weeks bare minimum! No one knows how much longer I'll have enough magic to sustain this pregnancy. And it's all because I used to be a horcrux. Twelve years after he died and Voldemort might finally accomplish his task of killing me. That arsehole was really playing the long game I guess.

The morning after Hermione called us both morons for not having thought of asking someone besides myself or the Viper to donate, Ron did come by and donate to my cause. While I may want the magic boost, the idea of fully drinking the blood made me feel pretty sick. So we did it medically, Rowe cast a spell to collect his blood and then spelled it directly into my stomach. We were all sitting around waiting for side effects and for about half an hour we all got our hopes sky high. Because I felt more energized almost immediately. I now know exactly what you meant about the blood being a high. I felt better than I had in weeks.

Until I didn't. The blood certainly helped my energy and magic levels, but eventually my newest side effects from drinking the blood hit. And because it was from something different, this time it didn't replace the earlier side effect, just added to it. So I was still needing to empty my bladder every fifteen minutes, but I was also sweating profusely. Rowe actually had to locate and use a muggle IV for me so that my body didn't lose too many fluids too quickly. I was in danger of becoming severely dehydrated.

This morning Hermione came in to tell me the bad news. I kind of wished you were here with me when I heard, but I'm mostly relieved because I think this is something you're going to need to process on your own. She looked through all the ingredients of everything I've been taking. Not a single ingredient I haven't had before except one. Blood. I've never had a blood-based potion before. And especially after the horrible side effect after "drinking" Ron's blood, I'm inclined to believe it's the cause.

Her theory, and I believe she's right per usual, is that my body is trying to push out anything it would consider another witch or wizard trying to invade my body again. So, because I used to house a part of Voldemort, my body looks at anything human as an invader and it needs to attack the unknown intruder. I argued a bit because I've previously had two successful pregnancies and wouldn't my body have tried to remove them? Unsurprisingly, she had already considered that, so she looked up the male fertility potion. Apparently because the babies were created inside a magical uterus, the magic of the potion created a safe shield around them and my body didn't recognize it as an invader.

It also makes sense in relation to the blood from myself or the Viper compared to Ron. I reacted badly to the potions based on my or the Viper's blood, but it took a bit for the side effects to hit, whereas the blood from Ron was quick to cause a reaction. It seems my body recognized the blood as "mine" and only made halfhearted attempts to remove it. But Ron having no genetic connection to me, it was recognized as an invader almost immediately. Which really sucks because it did give me the biggest magical boost of all the options.

My options were pretty limited; I could forgo all blood-potions and blood and just hold out as long as I could, I could continue the blood potions or blood and just deal with the side effects for as long as I can, or she could put me in a magical coma. With the coma we run the risk of Persephone also being in the same coma and if that happens she's not going to develop during that time which defeats the purpose of the coma. With the non-blood potions we run the risk of my magic running out and then we could lose her. And with the blood-potions we run the risk of developing a more dangerous symptom than I've had previously.

So, I decided to keep up the blood potions. So far all of my symptoms have been around for three or four days, and besides the dehydration, they've been more or less annoying as opposed to dangerous. Last night the sweating and the peeing seem to have disappeared and today's symptom is again just annoying so that's left me pretty hopeful. I can't stop crying. And not emotionally where I can't stop crying because I'm sad, my eyes are literally leaking. Super weird and annoying, but definitely something I can handle.

I have been feeling so horrible lately, particularly emotionally. I'm feeling guilty for putting myself and the baby in this situation. Guilty for making you pick up my slack. Sadness over missing my family. Homesickness. Just a lot of emotional garbage. And apparently I have brain fog because I never once thought about having a session with Katja until you told me you've been in constant contact with Yesenia. I am the king of forcing people to therapy and I've been sitting alone in a hospital bed for almost a month now and haven't spoken with mine once!

Anyway, she should be here any minute, hopefully she's not freaked out by the crying! Hopefully I'll be in a better emotional place when I see you next.

Love you!  
Harry

 

Wednesday April 21st  
Harry James Malfoy!!!

I vow on my life and the lives of all our children that if you die on me now, I will turn you into an Inferius and chain you to my dungeon wall so that I can go in and torture you every single bloody day for the rest of my life!

You can NOT die, do you hear me! (I'm telling you this out loud even as I type this - shouting it really - but even so, I'd be surprised if you can actually hear me considering that you're currently in magi-surgery again.)

But as you might intuitively understand - once you are definitely NOT dead and recovered from your ordeal - I'm really fucking terrified right now! Today started, erm, well enough. You were still suffering from your uncontrollable streams of tears, despite not actually crying. The constant stream had started to chap your cheeks, which triggered itching again. But nothing so bad that you couldn't deal with it.

Until I stopped looking directly at you long enough to rock and sing Jasmine to sleep. Zaire had already fallen asleep and was laying in the second bed in your room intended for me. That said, I haven't needed it as much since it was pointed out that I can ask others for blood too.

I'm not sure how long it took Jaz to fall asleep. A half an hour? 45 minutes? She was probably asleep long before I stopped humming and rocking, figuring that it was soothing you into a lovely rest as well. But when she started snoring a soft and adorable snore, I decided that it was time to lay her in bed with Zaire and snuggle up with you.

The moment she was all tucked in, I turned to look at you and nearly screamed. If I had, it would have woken and utterly terrified our littles, and so, I bit my lips together and held my breath so that I didn't make a sound. See, you were bleeding.

Not something concerning but probably no big deal like a simple bloody nose. No. Those streams of uncontrollable tears were now streams of blood. Also, there were thin lines of blood leaking from your ears, AND yes, you had a bloody nose.

I felt a moment of sheer terror when I realized that you ALSO had a small amount of blood oozing out of your famous lightning bolt scar. I had to take deep and even breaths to control the rising panic.

But more alarming than even all of that was the fact that there was a small but definitely noticeable pool of blood growing on the sheet under your bum. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't thrown the blanket off just moments before, mumbling something about feeling hot and a little dizzy.

All in all, the idea that you were dying grabbed me, shook me to my core, and refused to let go. I did my best to hold onto my calm, although I strongly suspect that you were a bit out of it and wouldn't have noticed me start panicking anyway. I simply DID NOT want to risk waking our littles and letting them see you like that.

With every ounce of calm I could muster, I quickly stepped out into the hall and closed the door - using one of my Chore Control devices to cast a quick silencing spell on it so that our kids wouldn't hear me, and then I completely lost my shit and started shrieking that you were dying and Healer Rowe had better come fix you THIS SECOND or I was going to -

Thankfully, I didn't get a chance to finish that sentence before Rowe was rushing into your room and calling out orders to her Mediwitches and wizards. Two of them had the wherewithal to gently pick our kids up and float them out to me in the hall before vanishing the extra bed to make as much room as possible.

I desperately wanted to be in the room with you, but Rowe snarled at me that there simply wasn't room with all the TRAINED staff she needed, and so, I was curtly ordered to take my kids home, or if that was too far away from you for me to handle, the nearest waiting room.

I ordered Dibly to come take the kids home and Muffy to bring me my laptop so I could write this command that you had better obey:

DO. NOT. DIE.

As for now, I'm going to sign off and pace the waiting room. Thankfully, Yesenia just arrived to chat with me and try to keep me calm, AND The Quartet and Elena are here too. Between the six of them, I might just make it through this terrifying time no matter what happens.

Unless you die, in which case, I might just explode from grief on the spot.

Praying for you with every thought, every breath, and every fiber of my being,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting the next chapter right away so no one is left hanging on the cliff :-)


	154. Chapter 154

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is better again. Mostly. :-)

Thursday April 22, 2010

My Dragon,

I love you.

I woke up just a few minutes ago. As you had fallen asleep in the bed next to me, I figured you would probably want to be woken up and told that I am awake and alright. But you also need your rest since you are still very much pregnant. I leaned over and carded my hands through your hair until you woke up enough to give me a sleepy smile. I told you how much I love you and you fell back asleep with that smile still on your beautiful lips. If you wake in the morning and think you dreamt that, you didn't it definitely happened.

I'm so sorry I scared you my love. We seem to have swapped places from our first joint pregnancies, I was the one who remembers nothing and just woke up to a baby while you panicked in the waiting room to find out if I would make it. I know how horrible that feels and I would have done anything to keep you from going through that. But if the sweetly flushed cheeks and the bump you're still sporting tells me anything, it's that you are doing just fine.

My computer is telling me it's almost midnight on Thursday night, the last thing I remember was Wednesday … morning? afternoon? I'm not sure, it was all a blur. But I do remember thinking to myself how glad I was that I had made it to the 32 week mark and I was hopeful that I could keep her in a bit longer. I did not.

Our beautiful, perfect, and super teeny and fragile baby girl was born yesterday. I'm sure you know all of this since you were awake and aware yesterday when everything started happening. I on the other hand freaked out after I gave you your mini wake up. I was in the bed, but my bump was gone, you were in the bed next to me, but there was no baby in sight. I didn't realize it until after I'd woken you up. Luckily I had some sort of monitoring spell on me because by the time my heart started pounding, Rowe had already made her way into the room to calm me down and tell me Persephone was doing alright.

She's in the NICU since we both needed our rest and she needs constant monitoring, but Rowe will be bringing her in to me any minute. It's why I figured I should distract myself writing while I waited.

Again, you probably know all of this, but I want to write it out before I forget all the information Rowe gave me. Persephone Hikari Malfoy was born on 21 April, weighing a very tiny 1.72 kg (3.8 pounds) and only 45 cm (18 inches). I guess she came out silently but with the widest eyes Rowe has ever seen. Ready to observe every part of our world already!

When they got me into magi-surgery they found just what you described, I was bleeding from just about every exit on my body. I'm so thankful that Zaire and Jaz didn't see anything and that Rowe didn't allow you in the surgical room. I think you'll have a hard enough time dealing with having seen what you did, I doubt you would have been alright seeing me in even further distress. It's a good thing I was at St. Mungo's and not just sent home on bed rest, my heart was doing a fantastic job of trying to purge my body of blood. If I had been at home I would probably be a tortured inferius right now.

According to the readings just done on me, I am on the mend. At only 24 hours out of the pregnancy, my magic levels are already higher than they were at any point during my hospital stay. It won't be long and I can probably let you vampire me again!

\----------------------

Oh Merlin Draco, they just brought our baby in for me to see her. She's so tiny. I knew how much she weighed, I knew she would be little, but nothing prepared me for how delicate she really is. I guess her lungs are doing well, she's eating quite a bit for how young she is, but she's having a bit of trouble regulating her temperature. They had me take my shirt off so I could share my body heat with her (you know how much of a furnace I am) and now we're both wrapped up in some warm blankets.

How am I already this in love with this tiny human? She's perfection. I love her, I love you for helping me make her. I can't wait to introduce her to the rest of her crazy family.

To heck with this, I am waking you up so you can come snuggle our daughter with me.

Love,  
Harry

 

Friday April 23rd  
Oh Harry!

She's so tiny! and little! and fragile! and so so so adorable!

I'm honestly afraid to hold her lest I do it too hard and break her. Our Persephone looks like a very realistic doll with your hair and my eyes - or at least I think they're going to be mine. They're currently a baby blue with an underlying sheen of silver, but the others that had your eyes had a sort of muddy greenish quality under the baby blues, so I think they're mine.

It's so fascinating to see how she's going to turn out! Aside from your thick black hair, she actually looks more like me with a pointy chin and my paleness. Although, that could just be because she's premature.

I love you so much! I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for how much you willingly suffered to get her to a stage where she could be born safely, even if very small and with a couple of problems, such as the inability to maintain her temperature and a touch of jaundice. I'm so happy that Rowe has magic to help with that! I don't want to even imagine...

Anyway, you are amazing! I love the fact that you woke me up just so I could hold you and watch you hold/feed our newest daughter. I couldn't stop kissing your shoulder and back. I'm dead certain that you are NOT in any sort of condition for physical loving, but my heart is so full of you right now that if I could demonstrate it for you, it would probably last an entire weekend and involve all your favorites - spanking, tying to the ceiling, teasing, torture, and kissing every centimeter of your beautiful body.

But since you definitely need to finish healing up a bit more before any of that, I'll just settle for showing you by kissing you every time the urge crosses my mind - approximately every second or so.

In other good news, now that you are no longer taking any of the blood potions, there's enough left made from the Viper's blood - that work rather well for me - that I don't need to attack and drink anyone's blood. Sebastian is already making more so that I don't run out before my due date. Not that Rowe thinks I'll go that long.

But as for now, I'm going to sign off, kiss you yet again, and supervise the horde that just arrived to see you and Persephone. Love you!

I'm everything I am, because you loved me,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are not so heavy after this, but our boys have underlying issues that need to be solved, and that's going to take a while :-)


	155. Chapter 155

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Persephone comes home from the hospital and Draco is not having fun.

Saturday May 1, 2010

My Love,

Wow, it's been almost two weeks since I've written anything to you. It's been just a little hectic around here since Her Majesty came into our lives. That first week after she was born was such a frantic mix of bringing everyone to visit her while not overwhelming her with noise. All of our other babies were quite used to noise by the time they were born, but between my hospital stay and the fact that preemies are more likely to be overwhelmed by lights and sound, she needed a slightly different atmosphere.

It was so hard coming home without her. I know between you and I, as well as her grandmothers, she wasn't without one of our family for more than five minutes the entire time, but I still hated having her at St. Mungo's while we were home. The day Rowe told us she'd passed enough milestones to be allowed home was one of the best days of my life. Now our Persephone has been here with us for three days and it already feels like she's been here forever.

I wish I could have kept her in longer, her being in the NICU for a week and her being as small as she is are definitely things I could do without. But I am so glad it meant we were all out of the hospital and home in time for Zaire's birthday tomorrow. I know it's not his first birthday, but it's his first birthday with us! And knowing what his life was like before coming home to us, it may as well be his first birthday. He's been so wonderful about helping with birthday breakfasts and wanting to make sure his siblings are cared for on their birthdays, I cannot wait to do the same for him in the morning!

Most of the kids like birthday pancakes, but our Z is partial to crepes covered in berries so that's what's on the menu for the morning. And with how much of an early bird he is (my little morning buddy!) I'm going to have to get up extra early and sneak out of bed so I can actually wake him with his breakfast. So what am I doing awake at almost midnight the night before? I can't sleep. My mind is much too full.

Full of happiness. We have this beautiful son of ours who we get to spoil tomorrow morning, give him his first real birthday celebration of his life. I can't believe McGonagall is letting us "borrow" the Hogwarts Express so he can go on his first real train ride! He's going to freak out! Every one of our kids is either happy, healthy, and home or they're still growing safe and warm in you.

And once I got on a roll of feeling so happy about right now, my brain went into overdrive thinking of all the things that have been adding to that happiness lately. Seeing our beautiful Elena, the first of our babies to hold her new sister, looking down at this tiny little doll with awe and love in her eyes, my heart hurt from how full it was. There's something so intense about seeing my oldest and my youngest cuddled together. Well, youngest for now! When it was Ori and River's turns to visit her, even Ori who tends to be a little more stoic seemed to melt into a gooey puddle over those big eyes of hers watching him. Viona took one look at her, turned to me and said "She's a princess like me isn't she?" I had to laugh and tell her I'd already dubbed Persephone 'Her Majesty.' Eri and Haz have already started designing clothes for her. Siri and Zwei, held her a bit and said they're so glad she's here, but then pretty much said they'd be much more excited about her when she was big enough to play with them!

But Draco, our two tiniest with her? I'm so glad you thought to bring the MMM's before any of the kids met her because I wouldn't have thought to take pictures and I'm so grateful to be able to print out these memories. While we were at St. Mungo's we all agreed that Zaire and Jaz were a bit too small and uncoordinated to hold her while she was so delicate. So Persephone was laid in the middle of the bed while they laid on either side of her. Zaire ran his fingers through her hair and hummed the lullaby you sing for him to her. Jaz kept giving her gentle kisses all over.

I would never tell any of the kids this, but I think Persephone's favorite is Jaz. She seems the most content with her, I'm guessing it's because of the fact that Jaz makes hardly any noise. I can't wait to see these two little girls be the best of friends as they grow up.

However, as happy as I am about seeing our kids hold their little sister. The joy I'm feeling at the prospect of spoiling Zaire tomorrow. The relief that Her Majesty is here safe and sound. The vision of you holding our beautiful daughter, the love pouring out of your eyes, I think that's my new Patronus fuel.

I think writing that all down helped, I'll probably be able to sleep now. And if not I think I will just stare at the beauty my bed is full of.

My heart is fit to burst with you,  
Harry

 

Thursday May 13th  
My heart,

Today was interesting in that we had two kids named Haz celebrating their birthday. Two very DIFFERENT people who INSISTED that they were GOING to celebrate together. Sigh...

I honestly don't know why they wanted to do that. They practically loathe each other - unlike Della and Del, who get along so well that I honestly fear they are plotting something best never discovered. Such as how to hide a body.

Anyway, Hazel and Harrison decided to go to Unity Park because it was something they could both agree on, and also, neither wanted to go swimming at the water park, probably because Hazel is starting to have issues with the fit of her swim cozzie.

So, Unity Park.

I love how much money that place makes us in general and Unity House in specific, but I never seem to enjoy myself whenever I'm there. There's always some drama going on that distracts me. Plus, I'm HUGELY pregnant and doing anything at all at the moment makes me ache ferociously. So, not fun for me. But I DID enjoy watching you and all the others have fun.

I could tell you really needed a day full of fun. And now that Persephone is a little less fragile seeming, I was content to wear her in a carrier and snuggle her all day.

But now I'm utterly worn out. I feel drained and in need of your blood, despite having taken TWO blood potions today. Also, my back is practically on fire from aches.

That's it! I'm calling Aya in!

Love you, and thank you so much for letting me slip away to rest while you bond with the kids.

Singed but triumphantly yours,  
Draco


	156. Chapter 156

May 14, 2010

My Singed Love,

You poor thing. You look beautiful as always, but utterly miserable. I feel so guilty about having been through with my pregnancy over three weeks ago while you just suffer away carrying two babies. I wish I could take this stress away from you. You're so close! You'll hit 36 weeks on Monday, that is so far for a twins pregnancy! I am proud of and in awe of you.

I'm sorry you didn't really have fun at Unity Park. One of these days, once our babies are born and they're all old enough that I will feel comfortable leaving them for more than ten minutes, you and I should just go together. No drama, no veela mates, no needy (perfect) preemies, no practically twin ten year olds in constant competition with each other. Just you, me, and all the rides you can stomach!

You must have been feeling awful since you decided to go home instead of having the birthday dinner with the rest of us at Café Exquis! Normally you would have been making delightfully stomach churning food combinations. I expected to come home to you in a strop, perhaps you taking a relaxing bath, maybe even pacing due to discomfort. I didn't expect to come home to find you having fallen asleep on Aya's makeshift massage-table/nest. Persephone was sound asleep in her bassinet, you were snoring away on the table, and Aya was just sitting there with almost a panicked look on her face. "He fell asleep and I didn't want to move him, but I didn't feel right leaving him on the table or the baby here without supervision."

I sent her home with my thanks and a hug, kissed our sweet baby on her head, and levitated you to bed. I snuggled and nursed Jaz and Zaire to sleep, and just about as soon as they were both out, Her Majesty woke for her feeding as well. Once I got her back to sleep I snuggled up with the rest of you and fell fast asleep. And I was out for the night! Muffy was apparently on feeding duty last night! I would have assumed you got up with her, except I think I would have heard you get up since you're so uncomfortable and when I woke up a bit ago you were in the exact same position you were in when I placed you in bed.

I guess the both of us really needed our sleep huh?

The three wigglers all seem to be waking up and I don't want them to disturb your rest, so I am going to bring them to breakfast. Keep sleeping as long as you'd like, I know how much you need this rest. But if you're feeling as awful today as you were yesterday, maybe I should call Rowe to make a house call?

See you soon you beautiful man,  
Loving you,  
Harry

 

Wednesday May 19th,  
Oi mutt!

These Braxton Hicks contractions I've been having for nearly a week now are more painful than ever! I don't care what I have to bribe or threaten Rowe with, the twins have been in there long enough! I can't take much more of this! I seriously feel like my insides are going to contract themselves into pretzels and then push themselves straight out my belly button! I don't want to MOVE much less get out of bed! I know Rowe said to suffer through them as long as I can so that the babies finish baking, but I really think I might be dying here! Call her and tell her I'm sending Grandmama after her if she doesn't come here and deliver me this instant!

OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!

Draco!


	157. Chapter 157

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a bonus chapter written entirely by Chrissie. It's dedicated to Hestia - who asked very prettily for a description of Zaire's Birthday celebration. It was written tonight and only lightly edited, and it's written as if Harry is either writing in his diary, or writing an article for a newpaper (or giving an interview, I suppose). Thus it's not in email format :-)

I woke up the moment my alarm went off this morning. Who am I trying to kid? I was already awake. Today is the second of May and it is my little boy Zaire’s first birthday. At least it’s his first birthday in our family. He is four years old today, and most of those four years were spent unhappily. I have a feeling, much like my own childhood, my Zaire hasn’t had a true birthday celebration until he was with his real family.

And a celebration was most definitely in the works for today. My little boy has been helping with all of his siblings’ birthday breakfasts, so I knew that while I usually did pancakes, he would be most excited by crepes. To be fair, he really just uses the crepes as a vehicle to force as many berries into himself as possible. What kind of berries you ask? Any of them. He is an equal opportunity berry monster. My favorite for him to eat would be raspberries because he makes the most adorable little sour faces between bites.

I am fairly good at cooking, and I enjoy it when I can cook for the people I love, but I really love baking. And crepes are one of those perfect mixtures of cooking and baking coming together. I was up early, all by myself, making a mess of the kitchen and singing along with some embarrassingly ridiculous pop music when I heard a big gasp behind me, “Daddy! You start without your Zaire?”

Oh goodness, the birthday boy was awake and not happy with me. “Happy Birthday little buddy! Daddy didn’t want you to help at all, it’s your birthday you should be in bed waiting for your special breakfast.”

The big puppy eyes I can’t resist showed up on his little face, “Daddy not want my help?” 

“Of course, I always want your help! I just meant you shouldn’t have to do any work on your special day.” I immediately assured him that he was wanted, and that big smile was right back on his little face.

I wasn’t going to make the mistake of trying to send him back to bed again, so I put him up on his favorite counter spot to help me. He is a champion batter stirrer and berry thief. By the time we were finished making breakfast we had a trayful of oddly shaped crepes and half as many raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries as we had started out with. 

“Well, little birthday boy, normally I would bring breakfast to the bed of the birthday kid, but today he’s in my kitchen, what should I do?”

My heart just about exploded when he exclaimed, “We feed my Jazzy and Daddy!” while racing off back to my room. I followed much more slowly since he had left me to carry all the food. Thank Merlin for levitation charms! And when I reached the room, what was left of my heart clenched. My husband Draco, the love of my life, was sitting up in bed holding our newest daughter Persephone while Zaire and our second youngest daughter (for now) Jasmine looked over his shoulders cooing and smiling away at their baby sister. And when they all heard me enter the room, they looked up at me with ear to ear grins.

There is no one on this planet luckier than I am.

I took my little Seph from Draco’s arms, so he would have his hands free to eat and help Zaire and Jaz eat without making a huge mess of our bed. I cuddled her up, taking deep breaths of her powdery fresh baby smell and kissing her little face where I could smell hints of milk on her soft skin. I’m exhausted having a newborn in the house, and it will only get worse when the twins Draco is carrying are born in a few weeks, but I wouldn’t give up this exhaustion if it meant not having these perfect little people in my life.

As they ate, the rest of our family started making their way into our room to wish their little brother a happy birthday. Zaire seemed to be enjoying himself, but he kept responding to every little gift, hug, or birthday wish like he was confused that he was getting this attention. He’s doing much better about realizing he deserves nice things and love but today was definitely the most he’d gotten all at once.

Lainie, our oldest, wrote him a sweet little song. It was very similar to the lullaby Draco sings to him, but she had written her own lyrics to make it just for him. Siri (Sirius James) and Zwei (Draco Jr) had gotten him his own set of dirt-biking clothes now that he’s old enough to go out on the tracks with his brothers. Everyone seemed to have their own special gift for him, handmade artwork or beautiful treasures they’d found outside being the most popular.

But nothing was going to top our outing I had planned for his birthday. You see, my sweet Zaire loves trains. The very first toy he ever picked out was a train. He was playing with one at the toy store and when he realized I could see him playing with it, he apologized for touching it because toys are for good boys. The monster that raised him had made him think he wasn’t “good enough” for toys. That train was home and put together practically before he could blink. 

Then, when Draco was worried Zaire might be jealous or think he was “bad” on his sister’s birthday, Draco bought him another train to assure him that he was loved and very very very much our good boy. Zaire liked trains to begin with, but I believe those two events cemented a lifelong love of trains into his psyche. 

And just in case that wasn’t enough, I contacted my former professor and current headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall, to see if we’d be able to bring him to see the Hogwarts Express for his birthday. She immediately agreed and did us one better, she told us we could actually travel on it. We were to meet the train at its usual beginning of the year location at King's Cross station and take it all the way to Hogwarts. 

It took a bit to get our entire family ready to head off to King's Cross. We are currently a family of thirteen, with one of those thirteen being (VERY) pregnant with twins. We were also bringing Draco’s parents, who not only wanted to see their grandson enjoy his birthday but were going to use the trip to Hogwarts as a chance to visit their four Hogwarts aged children at school. My Godfather, my kids’ honorary Uncle Sirius, was coming as well. And the Harry from a secondary universe (we call him the Viper) was coming along with his own four child brood. Zaire’s other grandparents, Molly and Arthur, were meeting us at the train station and coming along for the ride. 

It did take a while, but not as long as you would think with a group this large. Part of the speed was our amazing support staff turned family, Pippa, Leah, Saoirse, and Rhys helping keep us all on track, but I think it mostly had to do with everyone being excited to see Zaire’s reaction to his (secret) birthday surprise.

When we got the station and were in place for the big reveal, I was practically vibrating with excitement. And for one short moment I thought I had made a huge mistake. Because as that train started pulling up to us, I looked over at Zaire’s face, and tears were pouring down his cheeks. “Hey buddy, it’s okay, it won’t hurt you, it’s just a train, we don’t have to go on it if you don’t want to.” I tried to assure him.

He looked up at me with those deep dark eyes, wet tear tracks staining his deep umber skin, “Is it real Daddy? I can ride?” The most hopeful look on his sweet face. Oh, he wasn’t scared, he was crying because he couldn’t believe it was real.

“Of course we can ride it! We had them bring the train here just for my special boy to take a trip for his birthday, do you want that my little love?” He couldn’t answer, he just nodded so hard I thought he might injure his neck. “Then we shall, all aboard!”

He explored the inside cars for a bit before picking what he decided was the perfect seat. Once everyone was settled in, we took off. I swear, I have not heard that many words total out of Zaire before today, he wanted to talk about every single thing he saw. He signed almost constantly to “his Jazzy” pointing to anything he saw out the windows that looked remotely interesting. 

When we eventually got to our destination and left the train, I could see Zaire looking at the train with longing. Until he managed to face forward and saw the enormous castle we were walking towards. I think I figured out what his next obsession will be after trains!

We had a lovely afternoon. Minerva, Hagrid, and my little sisters and brothers joined us for a picnic next to the quidditch pitch. And now I am watching my family ride brooms or play pick up quidditch while I sit in the sunshine holding Persephone who fell asleep nursing.  
This moment, this image, will be seared into my brain for the rest of my life; a sweet little boy who’s never had a birthday before, zooming around the lawns of my first home, eyes bright, cheeks pinked, giggling like mad playing broom games with his beloved brothers and sisters. I peek over at my Draco, round with my children and most definitely the handsomest man I’ll ever see, catching his eye … Yep, certainly one of the happiest moments of our lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D'aww! Now I'm crying happy tears! :')


	158. Chapter 158

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is suspicious...

Wednesday May 19th  
My Perfect Brave Beautiful Man,

So … not Braxton Hicks! You are currently resting after your very long day of actual contractions followed by bringing these new lives into the world. I am propped up next to you in your hospital bed, after a month being in here myself preceded by a long book tour, I can't handle not sleeping with you right now.

I was snuggling our newest treasures, but Rowe pointed out that giving them nonstop kisses while they sleep might be disturbing their rest. I snarled at her just a tiny bit, but realized she was right so I laid them in their little bassinet. I put Seph in with them, and then cried over how amazing our newest set of almost triplets is. She may be a month older than her "little" siblings, but Persephone is still small in comparison.

I feel utterly ridiculous, I want you to rest, I want the babies to rest, but I want all of you to wake up so we can cuddle up and ooh and ahh over this gorgeous new part of our family. I want the older kids to come meet them, but I also want it to stay quiet and be just us for a while. I want to cover all of you in kisses, but I also want to just stare at you all sleep contently.

Shite, sorry, the clacking of my keyboard seems to be disturbing you. I'm going to sign off here and sing you back into a nice sound sleep.

Love you to the ends of the universe,  
Harry

 

Thursday May 20th  
So Harry...

Tell me something honestly. Did you have Ron Polyjuice into you and top me around 9 months ago?

Lily is hard to determine since she only has peach fuzz so far, but it's light and wispy and looks like it will probably be white blonde - like in my dream. But CAELUM has a full head of thick and coppery bright ginger hair.

I know *I* didn't shag Ron on purpose, not at the time frame in question, but did you play a prank on me? Is it possible *he* played a prank on me??? Should we call him in for a paternity test spell?

Other than that, Caelum is perfectly gorgeous. And Lily looks a lot like my mother, to be honest. It always amazes me when we first hold brand new combinations of you and me, trying to figure out which bits come from you, and which bits are all mine. It honestly makes me want to do it a hundred times just to see all the different combinations possible.

But then reality crashes down on me and I realize that these perfect little squishy bundles of joy turn into teenagers and I'd quite like to avoid having a hundred of them! I'm going to have to make an executive decision: barring unforeseen circumstances that drive me insane and make me HAVE to be a safe haven for new life again (which by the way, I actually did enjoy. Even with two of them in there making me feel constantly beat up, I STILL had a lovely time when I was alone just communing with them and imagining them forever safe inside me - just not as big as they eventually got!) we will NOT be having ANY more kids! 13 is enough!

Or however many of them we actually have. I feel like we have a million of them at this point.

You are giving me that look like you want to roll your eyes at my silliness. You have your head resting on my lap as you stare at and coo over our three newest, even as I type this to you. Yeah yeah, it IS a bit silly to email you when you are literally in my lap, but it's not ALL just about talking to you, some of it is sorting out how I feel and recording it so we can look back and remember later on.

I love you now more than ever. So much so that I feel like my heart can't possibly hold anymore and if I try, I'll burst. I'm going to sign off and card my hand through your thick and wild hair while I kiss you as slowly and lazily as possible.

You are the best part of me,  
Draco


	159. Chapter 159

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry forgives Draco, and Draco tries something new.

Thursday May 20th  
My Wonderfully Ridiculous Man,

Yes, I am absolutely certain Ron got nowhere near your arse, polyjuiced or not, when you were hopped up on fertility potions. Did you forget that my mum was a redhead? And since I know you've not really done much in the way of researching muggle science, I'll tell you that it takes both sides to get a redhead. So I could be redheaded and all of my ancestors from the beginning of time could be redheaded, but if you didn't also carry the gene we would have no chance of a redheaded baby because it's a recessive trait.

And what do you mean "other than that, Caelum is perfectly gorgeous"?!? Are you saying that headful of coppery hair ISN'T gorgeous? Hmmm. You're lucky I love you more than life itself and I'm currently in that thankful afterglow where I want to give you the world for giving birth to my children. There's a tradition in the muggle world called a "push present" where the carrier gets a present from the sire (it's hard to do this gender neutral!) as a thank you for "pushing" out the baby. I think for us, we'll call me restraining myself from pushing you off this bed in retaliation for maligning my son's hair your present, okay?

I know, even though we're no longer pregnant, we do still have some of those insane pregnancy hormones swimming through our bodies, so I reserve the right to potentially change our minds if we want to in the future. But I am all for keeping our family exactly as is. Now that these final three came into our lives, I really feel complete. We have our thirteen, a nice Baker's Dozen … hehe, I bake a lot and we have a baker's dozen!! And we have our Miles. We have two honorary grandchildren. Yeah, our family feels complete. I love you more than I ever thought possible. Thank you for creating this life with me.

Did you see Molly's face when she came in to see our newest bundles? She did her usually crying over them. She hugged and kissed both you and I an excessive amount. Then she settled into the rocker to hold and coo at her two newest grandchildren. We had little knit hats on their heads, partially for warmth and partially for a dramatic reveal. Once Molly was all settled, I popped Caelum's hat off. Well it's a good thing we put silencing charms up beforehand because her shriek of delight would have brought everyone running!

I'm really glad that we kept their names a secret from everyone but you and I. Seeing your mum's eyes light up as she held Lily Narcissa while finding out her name was enough to make me sob. Not that it generally takes much, but still. It was obviously emotional since even Narcissa couldn't hide her tears behind her Black/Malfoy mask. I agree with you that she looks like your mum, so the choice of name was perfect.

I loved watching our first set of almost triplets hold the second set. Ori grabbed Caelum, Eri grabbed Lissa, and Haz took Persephone and just started giggling. Haz with a bright smile on her face saying, "there's one for each of us!" was perfect.

Siri has nominated himself as their protector. We sat Zaire and Jaz on the bed, and laid the babies in front of them. They were both so gentle and sweet, petting their hair, touching their little hands. But even if they hadn't been gentle, General Siri was there to make sure. He gave Zwei a little more breathing room, but not by much.

I'm very proud of Lucius. We played the same trick on him that we did Molly, while expecting slightly different results. This man has come so far. Pureblood former Death Eater, now doting grandfather to thirteen grandchildren; adopted muggleborn, adopted Crabbe, biological half-bloods, from ivory skinned to the deepest brown and every skin tone in between. He saw that copper hair, his eyes got wide, and his only response was, "Caelum, a good strong name for this handsome little man."

Arthur didn't even flinch. Nothing rattles that man. Not even learning we had named him Caelum Arthur. He just got a very pleased look on his face and snuggled the babies a little closer.

Sirius could not be more in love with these children. I don't think I mentioned this, but when we first brought Seph home I found Sirius cuddling her and talking to her. He was telling her all about her Grandpa James and Grandma Lily, how they would be absolutely in love with her, and he planned to be there for her since they couldn't be. Our children are so lucky, they have so many people ready to move mountains for them. I'm so glad they are having a childhood full to the brim of people who love them.

I'd better sign off, Miles, Colm, and Sammy are on their way over to see our babes. We'll officially have all our children under one roof! Get the MMM's ready!

Yours,  
Harry

 

Sunday May 23rd  
My Harry,

I love you more than words can express for understanding that I am just not in the mood for any sort of shagging. I know that we don't have to wait as long as women do as our wombs are removed during delivery - so we don't bleed and need to heal - but the hormones are making me feel like I would gladly hex anything that tries to go near my arse.

And not just my arse, the entire lower half of my body.

But you have been wonderful, giving me all the attention I can stand and not even *hinting* that you're horny as fuck, which I know perfectly well that you are. You've had over a month to heal, so your libido is working just fine. Plus, your magic levels are already almost back to normal, so you've been annoyingly energetic, but that's just part of what makes you the man I married.

So, to reward you for being so patient with me, I pretended that I needed your help in the shower before bed tonight. Then I used my hands and mouth to help you relax and sleep very well. At the same time, you actually did help me bath oh so thoroughly - without even attempting to touch me in places I didn't want. Although, I think I may have growled softly if you tried.

In related news, Rowe says that my craving for blood will probably remain until I am consistently above a certain level with my magic. It always takes me a while to regenerate it after a pregnancy, and so she has me taking all the same potions I was. Even so, thank you so much for letting me drink a little of your blood directly from the tap. It comes with a lovely high the blood potion just doesn't compare to. Honestly, I may not give up this craving completely, but I will promise not to make it a regular thing.

As for right now, drinking your blood at the time I did was poorly planned because I am now wide awake and ready to dance when I *should* be sleeping. I still need a lot of rest after all. But since my magic level ARE high enough - just barely - I'm going to try something. I can't promise I'm going to like it, but it seems worth a try at the very least. So...

I'm drinking a potion to make me lactate. I know that between you and Donna donating as much milk as she can, we'll probably be fine. BUT you have Persephone already nursing from you, and you're still trying to give Zaire and Jaz a little snuggle and nurse when you can, which means that it's just not reasonable to expect you to be able to produce enough for five children. Thus I'm going to try it.

And besides, watching you look so serene as you rock a lazily nursing baby has me curious. Perhaps there's a hormone released while nursing that makes you feel so zen, but even if there isn't, clearly something about the experience makes you happy. So, as I said, I'm going to try it.

Oh wow! I didn't expect that to work so quickly. I think it took a while for it to work for you, but maybe that's because you were pregnant at the time and your body needed to sort out your nutritional needs first, or maybe taking a little of your magic boosted the effect of the potion, but suddenly, my chest feels rather heavy and achy. Very achy! And sort of full.

Just my luck, not a single child is awake and ready to feed!

You know what, I don't care. Trying this for the first time on a baby that isn't starving is probably going to work better until I figure this out, so, I'm going to wake one up. Worst case scenario is that he latches on and falls right back to sleep, right?

Alright, here goes nothing...

Caelum is quite a sleeper! It's taking a bit of effort to wake him. Oh wait, there he goes, opening his baby blues to glare at me for daring to disturb his sleep. But... Ow... alright, that's a little better. Hmm... this isn't... good or bad. I don't feel at peace with the world or anything, but I do like having a baby in my arms as I rock and let him nurse.

Greedy little bugger! Ow...

Hmm, clearly, I must be doing something wrong... But thankfully, after only a couple of minutes of drinking vigorously enough to make me feel like he's a little vampire as well, he fell back asleep and is drinking much more gently.

I suppose it's time to try with Lily... Ow... Okay, she's a bit vigorous too, but nothing I can't handle.

Sigh... Maybe I'm just not meant to do this. It's more painful than expected and I'm not certain the benefits will be worth the hassle. But at least I feel rather sleepy myself now, so, I'm going to snuggle up to Lily and see if we can both go to sleep.

Love you. I even pressed light and sleepy kisses to your head. Sleep well,  
Draco  
P.S. If you tell ANYONE that I'm trying to nurse, I'll hex you! Then I won't touch you or let you touch me until you Obliviate the knowledge right back out of whomever you told! >:(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: Draco's recessive genes for red hair come from about 300 years ago when the sole heir to the Malfoy line went mad and rebelled against tradition to marry an Irish witch who was basically nobody, but not quite a muggleborn. She had the red hair and green eyes that are stereotypical of the Irish, and so, it's ALSO why a lot of their kids have Harry's eyes, lol ^_^  
> Her portrait was hidden in a Vault for a long time, but Narcissa recently thought it would make a lovely addition to the hall of portraits, and so, she can be seen wandering from painting to painting, spying to her heart's content, lol.


	160. Chapter 160

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry made the perfect plans and Draco will not fail, Merlin damn it!

Monday May 24, 2010

My Dragon,

I don't think you need my permission for this, but if it helps; you have my permission to not like nursing and not continue doing it. I am producing enough for all of Persephone's needs, and what Zaire and Jaz have been consuming. Now that Lily and Caelum are added to that, you're right, I don't have enough for all five. But I have nursed both of them as well so they're getting the emotional bonding aspect even if it's not for every feed. Donna is still pumping and if we need to, I am sure we can find another woman or two who would be interested in making some extra income for something their body is doing anyway. There is no NEED for you to do this unless you WANT to.

Thank you for my lovely nightcap last night! Again, not something you need to do until you're ready for it. No matter how horny you think I am, how much you think my libido is back, I have two hands and an overflowing wank-bank. I certainly didn't say no, but I can handle myself until you're ready. What would probably be most helpful until you're ready would be if you could stop being so bloody gorgeous. Can you work on that?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Our anniversary is Saturday. Can you believe eleven years? I know there's no way you, me, the newest almost triplets, or the youngest four of the older kids (that made sense right?) are ready for us to go away, not even for a dinner date. So, I made plans that will give us some time to just ourselves but not actually take us away. I talked to the staff at Café Exquis, they will have the enchanted menus for us to choose from and I hired one of their staff to pop in and out of the Manor to wait on us. It's perfect, we'll be alone but at home. So if the babes need us, or we need the babes, we'll be here. This way we can take a break from our date to put all the littles to bed, and then rejoin the date afterwards.

Eleven years of being allowed to love you. Eleven years of having the privilege of waking next to you. Eleven years of being welcomed into another family that didn't need to let me in. I owe every beautiful thing in my life to you.

I love you Draco Malfoy,  
Harry Malfoy

 

Tuesday May 25th  
My loving husband,

I think you picked the perfect date idea for our Anniversary. I'm quite looking forward to it.

And I know I don't *have* to like this whole breastfeeding thing, and to be honest, I really don't. It's a bit painful, makes my chest ache, and I feel like I can't leave my chair or our bed for longer than five minutes before someone else is demanding that I feed them.

That said, I WILL buggering master this if it's the last thing I do!!! I will not FAIL! If you can do it, I can bloody well do it too!

But not at this exact moment. I'm an utter mess! I've secluded myself in our posh en suite with both Aya and Yesenia so that I can, erm, *calmly* discuss my feelings (a bit loudly perhaps) while Aya tries to get rid of all the soreness in my body. And if she can't, I'm considering having her vanish me altogether.

And if Aya should happen to finish her job before Yesenia can get to the bottom of why I seem to be experiencing that side effect you had where streams poured even though there was no reason to, then I'm going to bring Yesenia to my closet with me and snuggle up in the back with a blanket and a large bowl of Sanguinaccio. And probably tea.

Thus, if you can't find me, you know where to look, but I've warded it so that none of the kids can come in while I'm, erm, chatting with Yesenia. I ordered Muffy to handle the babies so that you don't have to literally juggle three of them. Plus two slightly bigger ones.

Side note, Muffy is quite put out that she can't feasibly have another healthy pregnancy so soon. She is distraught that she can't simply conjure up three more children to give to our newest. Honestly, I think she's been annoyed with us for not waiting a bit longer since we first got pregnant, or possibly wishes that she could go back in time and tell herself to just have three or four more when she got pregnant with Jasmine's elf. Hopefully she won't completely fall apart if we suggest hiring elves for the three newest and Zaire.

I'm a bit afraid to mention it to her though...

But I'm going to sign off now and let Aya work her magic.

Love you,  
Draco


	161. Chapter 161

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry sticks his foot in his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said our boys still had underlying issues to solve? Well, you get a glimpse of them here.

Tuesday May 25th  
Love of my life,

I passed Aya leaving our rooms, she wished me a hearty good luck. I peeked around for you, but couldn't find you. I figured I would check my magi-mobile to see if you'd sent me a message, and then this was my next stop. There was my email from you. You sounded quite upset. So, have no fear, you can spend days with Yesenia in the back of the closet if you need it. Stroke your komboloi, eat your pudding, drink your tea, look at some ridiculous costume you made to torture me at some point. I've got things under control.

I carried Jaz and Zaire to the entertainment room, and we're going to do a bit of a family movie night. Don't worry, not watching anything you love and would hate to miss. I had Muffy bring the babes in as well, I hate to have her watch them all night while she's worried about not being able to make elves for them! I nursed each of them a little, and then had Zaire top them each off with a bottle. Just a little assembly line with me and my little man! Jaz is helping out by being particularly adorable.

You know, speaking of nursing, no one would think you'd failed if you gave up. First of all, you did accomplish it, you just don't like it. There's a difference. Like I'm not a failure at topping just because I know bottoming is WAY better! And secondly, no one besides me knows you've even tried, so no one would know if you stopped. There are just so many other options for the babes that don't involve you doing something that makes you achy and grumpy.

Just so you know, we have offers of help if these three newest are too overwhelming right now. When the Russian Quartet went home, Molly made sure to let me know that she and Arthur would be willing to come stay for a bit if we needed a few extra set of hands. I think her arms are just a bit empty when they brought Misha and Tristan back to Moscow and she's jumping at any excuse to get her arms full of babies again. Just say the word and I'll tell Dibly to air out the blue room.

Your parents stopped in a few minutes ago as well, you know your father talks a big game but he had to make baby babbling noises over his grandchildren. I told them you were having a rough time and having a session with Yesenia. And they both offered to help out as much as they can. Nothing really needed right now, I think I hit the easy portion of our evening because they all dropped to sleep pretty quickly, so now I'm just snuggled in with Jaz, Zaire, as well as Siri and Zwei who decided to join us in lieu of bedtime stories tonight.

So, just remember before you get all overwhelmed with how much work these three tiny humans take, we have so many helpers ready, willing, and wanting to help out. And you always have me in your corner, you need to take a breather and cry in the closet with your mind healer? Well, you know I've been there! If anyone can understand that it's me.

Just hoping I get a moment to get in a good soak in the tub tonight, I went for a pretty long run this evening and haven't had a chance to shower since getting back home. Cleaning charms are good enough for a short time, but nothing feels as clean as a nice bubble bath! I'll send you a patronus if you're not out by the time I get in, that way if you're in the mood I can get you all squeaky clean again. I do so love scrubbing down your gorgeous skin.

Love you baby,  
Harry

 

Tuesday May 25th  
>:(

Are you mocking me? Are you trying to imply that I'm so hopeless that I can't help you parent our children. That I need not just YOU but ALL our parents to come in and help *you* out while I hide in the back of our closet and - ahem - chat with Yesenia?

I'm so furious that I can't even type coherently! I'm going to sign off before I Incendio my laptop in your place!

*Growls so much that forgets to sign off*


	162. Chapter 162

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry tries to reassure Draco, but Draco is in a MOOD...

Tuesday May 25th  
Draco,

Sweetheart, of course I am not mocking you! Why would I do that? If anyone understands needing to come to terms with things under the care of a mind healer it's me! I never said you were chatting, I said you were having a session. You've never once mocked me for needing to talk with Katja, I would have hoped you knew me well enough to be aware I would never mock you for needing a session.

Of course you can help me parent our children. No. That came out wrong. You don't help me parent our children, you and I co-parent our children. Sometimes I'm the one who's hands on a bit more and sometimes you are. You kept things running while I was away on my tour, and you kept every single person sane and happy, including me, when I was laid up in St. Mungo's. These kids are a lot of work, there's no shame in needing help.

You support me in every way imaginable, just let me support you right now when you need it. I promise it won't be long before I do something utterly moronic and things will go back to normal. I'm Gryffindor through and through, you know I'm going to go charging headlong into something stupid before you know it.

You are not hopeless, you are amazing, I love you more than -

Shite, you're shrieking, gotta go

Love,  
H

 

Tuesday May 25th  
HOW DARE YESENIA SUGGEST THAT I NEED TO GO TO SLEEP?!?! HOW DARE SHE IMPLY THAT I'M OVERLY TIRED?!?! I'M OF HALF A MIND TO FIRE HER!!! WHINGING THAT SHE HAS KIDS AT HOME WHO NEED HER MORE THAN I DO!!!

AND THEN ***YOU*** COME BURSTING IN AND TRY TO CALM ***ME*** DOWN RATHER THAN TELL HER THAT SHE IS WRONG ABOUT ME NEEDING SLEEP!!! I'M SO PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW THAT I COULD SPIT FIRE!!!

FUCK THIS! I DON'T NEED THIS SHITE! I'M GOING TO SHATTER EVERYTHING IN THE CRYSTAL ROOM!

IRATE BUT STILL MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU,  
DRACO  
P.S. I HAD BETTER NOT SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN TONIGHT >:(


	163. Chapter 163

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco finds out what's wrong with him.

Wednesday May 26th  
My Love,

Well, that could have gone better.

I did as you requested last night and did not dare show my face anywhere near you. I did make sure to have Muffy keep an ear out for you in case you needed her. What? You never said anything about anyone else's face. Just mine.

So, this morning, I went to check up on you in the crystal room. Yep, you were still in there, sound asleep on a conjured bed. Why would you do that to yourself? You know that conjured furniture isn't as supportive as actual crafted furniture. Your poor back, we're going to have to call Aya in again today to work out the kinks I'm sure. I suppose if I have to make it worth her while I may as well take a massage as well.

There you were, my angelic gift from above, sound asleep, all alone, your beautiful hands tucked up under your chin. Even exhausted and curled up on a conjured mattress you are the most beautiful creature in existence. I leaned over for a soft kiss and you stirred a bit. I didn't want to risk upsetting you, so I started to pull back. But you gave me a soft sleepy smile and pulled me back for more kissing.

I needed to hold you so badly, I climbed into that bed with you so I could get more of your mouth. For the first time in what feels like years, I could feel the both of us hard at the same time. Grinding into each other, that lovely slow frotting I love, was toe-curling. Gods I've missed the feel of you.

Unfortunately the glow didn't last very long. As soon as you woke up fully, your memories of last night must have hit you hard. You began … leaking from your eye sockets? It's like all of the anger last night just seeped out of you and all you were left with was self loathing and embarrassment from speaking to Yesenia the way you did. Love, she works on a daily basis with teenagers who are in a mind healing session, don't you think she knows better than to take any emotional outburst to heart? I'd be willing to bet she knew more about why you were upset than you did yourself.

Certainly more than I am understanding. But then again, no one's ever accused me of being emotionally observant now have they?

So, uh, at the risk of making decisions that you will be less than pleased about, I called up Yesenia and asked for her recommendation. Don't worry, I did not ask for a single detail as to what you've talked about, I didn't ask what she thinks the issue is, I swear I did not invade your privacy. I asked what I could do differently to help you get what you need. Well, she uh, she's going to come back over and talk with you. Just said I should give you space but remind you that through everything I will always love you.

That part's easy enough. I will absolutely, one hundred percent, always be madly in love with you. Let me know when you want to see my face again, or if you need me to get something for you, or do something for you, bring you somewhere. Whatever you need, I've got you. Unless what you need is for me to go away … I will do it obviously, but I won't exactly "got you" if I am nowhere near you.

Maybe I should have gotten more sleep last night because I think I've confused myself.

Anyway, I love you, I will always love you, do what you need to do for you and I will be right here waiting for you.

Accidental Bryan Adams quote,  
Harry

 

Thursday May 27th  
My wonderfully patient husband,

I'm so ashamed of myself for acting so horrible. But there's slightly good news, I suppose. Yesenia says there's a reason why I'm so snarly at the moment...

I have something called Post Partum Depression. Basically, even though I was quite ready to have the twins out of my body physically, emotionally, I guess I just never wanted to let them go. But I had to, and now I'm cranky as fuck about it.

She called Rowe in and our knowledgeable Healer agreed with Yesenia and said that in some cases, a nutritional deficiency created during pregnancy can trigger or aggravate PPD. However, we're all certain that I HAD more than adequate nutrition while pregnant, so part of this aspect of the problem seems to be the fact that I haven't felt like eating much since giving birth.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I've only taken a few bites of any given meal. It doesn't matter how delicious it is, I just don't have much of an appetite, and actually, food tastes rather bland. The only thing that I've truly wanted to eat in any quantity is my Sanguinaccio Dolce. And while yes, it's literally a pudding, it's made from fresh blood and milk, so it actually does have a lot of nutrition to it. The problem is that while blood (healthy blood) should have ALL the nutrients in it that the body needs, they're in small quantities, only enough to maintain homeostasis.

At least, I think that's what she called it. It basically means that the body has an optimal performance range and likes to keep it the same at all times, so the blood always carries a little bit of everything in it to have on hand at all times, but quickly gets rid of anything in excess of the optimal range so that the excess doesn't slow the body down.

I suppose it's a bit like defragmenting a computer.

In any case, that's part of the reason that I'm currently a little undernourished. I'm craving something that IS giving me all the nutrition I should be getting, but in small enough quantities that I'm not truly getting what I need - despite eating large bowlfuls at a time.

That said, Rowe doesn't think this is a simple matter. I cannot take a simple nutrition potion and suddenly be happy and cheery again. Although, yes, she IS prescribing me more bloody nutrition potions, grr. The nutritional deficiency - if it's even a factor - is simply a trigger, not a cause. THUS, I'll have to keep on chatting with Yesenia until I truly feel better, and that could take a while as the real underlying cause of my depression is something along the lines of unresolved issues from Iran plus an abundance of hormones still running rampant through my body as everything finishes sorting itself out.

But there is ACTUAL good news. I suppose. Rowe noticed during her exam that I'm lactating, and asked me reasonable questions on how it's going, and after I snarled at her for invading my privacy - despite consenting to a full body exam - I admitted that I'm the worst and most pathetic person in the world that I can't seem to figure out something as simple as letting a baby do what a baby intuitively knows how to do. Latch on and drink.

This provoked a rather informative session with both Yesenia and Rowe. I won't go into tedious details, but basically, I actually WAS doing it wrong. Sort of. I didn't know what a good latch felt like, and so, I was letting the babies latch on poorly, which was the main cause of the pain I was feeling. Now that Rowe taught me how to do it correctly, it doesn't feel quite so bad.

Still not enjoyable and zen, but that's because of the PPD. Rowe assures me that as I recover from that, my enjoyment of the nursing process will increase. Provided I stick with it. She says that if I don't like it right now and it aggravates my PPD, I can always take a potion to dry up for now, and then start again when I'm in a better frame of mind.

I've decided to stick with it for now. After all, I JUST learned how to do it right. Seems a shame to give up the moment I get it right, dunnit?

So now I'm currently rocking in a chair in our suite as Yesenia and Rowe sip on tea and chat while watching me to make sure I don't accidentally let the baby latch wrong again. I'm in a slightly calmer state than I was, simply because I have a rational explanation for what's been going on. This might even be a good time to have Siri and Zwei come in here to chat with me - so long as they promise to keep their mouths shut about what I'm doing. I may have to cast a notice me not charm on my chest, come to think of it.

Also, I think I'd really like it if you were here to tell me everything else that's going on in our family. I feel like I haven't truly talked to most of our kids in ages. For example, does Leah still work for us and has Jaz learned any new signs? Does Zaire still like trains? Have our older kids survived this rough time or are they traumatized by your still recentish stay in the hospital and my current short temper?

Come on in here if you dare and have a joint session with me? Perhaps Yesenia can help you understand what I only barely grasp myself. Love you!

You are my strength when I'm weak, my voice when I can't speak, my eyes when I can't see, you see the best there is in me, and lift me up when I can't reach, I have faith because you believe in me,  
Draco

P.S. Thank all the Gods! Muffy is so upset by the fact that *I'M* having such a hard time at the moment, that *she* has decided that the solution is to hire more elves for our babies as soon as possible so that they have dedicated care and she can dedicate herself to me as much as possible. So she asked for permission to go to Hogwarts and talk to some of the younger elves born after they all received permission to breed as they like. She's hoping that some of Kreacher's other offspring will jump at the chance to come serve our family, since in most situations, they would technically be YOUR elves anyway. They were born free, but chances are that she's right and they ALL want to come work for you/us - so you might have to do a bit of light interviewing to narrow down the selection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the unresolved issues I was talking about. This influences the upcoming chapters, BUT it's not all Draco being a snarling bitch, lol. He knows what's wrong now, so he tries his best to cope with it. That said, there are still some rough patches ahead...


	164. Chapter 164

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry blames himself for Draco's condition, but then reminds himself that he shouldn't do that.

Friday May 28, 2010

My Love,

Hey now, none of that "my patient husband" nonsense. I didn't do anything for you than you've done for me a million times over. I've said it over and over again, and I will continue to say it, there are going to be times that you carry me through and there are going to be times when I carry you through, times we will lean on each other, and times that we will run forwards together, we are a team.

You seem to be dealing with this much better than I am, and that's ridiculous since you are the one who has the PPD. For crying out loud, I should be being strong for you instead of blubbering away about it being all my fault. I feel like this is all my fault because 1- I fertility potioned you without your knowledge. 2- I was an idiot who caused you to take on too much when I was stuck in the hospital and you had to be both parents for our kids. 3- It was my orphanage building that caused us to live in Iran for all that time and had residual effects on my entire family. And then I feel even worse because I am trying to take any blame there could be had over this situation and now I'm making it all about me. How do you even put up with me?

Ok, I can't spiral down the "why is this glorious man with me" spiral. It's a dark spiral and I think we need to limit ourselves to one of us being in a dark place at a time.

I want to be supportive, and your feelings are your own, neither of us can tell you how you should be feeling about something. But I do want to point out that there really should be no shame in your behavior. Would you feel ashamed if you were bleeding from a wound? Did you feel ashamed when you lit the toilet on fire when you had the dragon flu? Should I be ashamed of having worn glasses or needing nutritional potions? Of course not. Because they were all symptoms we couldn't control on our own. So, no feeling ashamed because this depression caused you to lash out. Yesenia wouldn't be in the business she's in if she couldn't handle an emotional outburst or two!

I did join you in your session, and got to hear all about this arsehole Post Partum Depression Monster that's treating you so poorly. I feel much better knowing that it was caught so quickly and that we have such a dedicated physical and mental health team ready to help us through this. I honestly feel so much relief after talking with them. I was a bit panicked when I first read your email.

But between your crystal explosion, still recovering from pregnancy and surgery, and the emotional trauma from PPD, you fell asleep before I got a chance to get you up to speed on everything that's been going on!

Yes, Leah still works for us. Jaz has really taken off on signing. She went through a phase when she first started walking, and then running, where she just didn't quite have the patience to sit and learn more words and signs. But now that it's not quite as much of a new fun trick as it was previously, she seems to have become interested in learning more language again. Her current favorite sign, unsurprisingly, is "baby."

Our Zaire is still definitely in love with trains. He loved them before, his birthday trip on the Hogwarts Express just seemed to cement the idea in his head that trains are the best things on the planet. Every day since his birthday he's asked me, "Remember the red train Daddy?" Yeah buddy, I sure do. Besides wishing I could go back in time and really make his biological donor's ending as painful as possible, the only thing I regret about our having brought Zaire home is that we did it AFTER we took the train safari and cruise around Southern Africa. Oh well, I guess it just means we'll have to plan another awesome vacation on some form or transportation he'll fall in love with!

Zwei and Siri are thrilled that the weather has finally warmed up for good. Warming charms can only do so much when you want to spend the entire day outdoors. They'd have to pop back every hour or so for a reset. Now they just disappear in the morning and come home covered in mud with their pockets full of bugs when it starts getting dark. Can you think of a better childhood for these little boys? Acres to run around and explore with your trusty pups following on your heels. And before you think, "Wow, Harry used to be so overprotective, he's come so far in letting them just play unattended for hours" yeah, I set their house elves on them.

Hazeris and their brilliant business manager have been hard at work getting ready for their first fashion line to hit the public. They've also been enjoying the warm weather and the outdoors, but it's mostly from a table in the garden where they are busy sketching ideas and coordinating all their many plans for world domination. Well, at least the fashion world. I am sure they've told you, but just in case you haven't heard, they are actually putting on an outdoor fashion show at the edge of Diagon the week after classes let out for Hogwarts and Traditions for the summer.

Viona has managed to convince Lainie, River, and Orion to model in the show, as well as all four of the Viper's kids, three of your siblings (guess which one said no way?), Sammy, and any of the Weasley cousins that were the right age and live nearby. Oh, and Daisy! Lainie is a bit old for their target market, but while she may be taller than I am, it's not like there won't be any pre-teens or teens her height.

Orion and River, when they aren't busy being roped into fittings and practice, have been pretty much their usual selves. Nose stuck in books, or stuck in the neck of whichever girl he's trying to snog. I'll let you guess which one is which!

And Lainie! Her school is really coming together. I'm actually surprised she agreed to do the fashion show at all since she's so busy. Oh who am I kidding, I'm not surprised at all, that girl would do anything to support her younger siblings. Even put way too much on her plate because she's a soft hearted, overachieving, dictator. She gets that from you ya know!

Your parents are a bit scatter-brained and busy at the moment. Very out of character for them. They're both trying to get everything prepared for the kids to come home for summer hols, help out as much as possible with the babes, your mum is planning a big congratulations party here for after the fashion show, and your dad has been spending what little down time he has side-eyeing Snape's portrait.

That's most of what I wanted to say, and I want to get a run in before you wake up for the day. But I just wanted to tell you, I love you and I'm excited to spend our anniversary together tomorrow. However, if you aren't feeling up to it, just say the word and we can celebrate when you're feeling better. It's an important day, but it's just a day. We show each other every day how in love we still are and how glad we are that we got married. If, for this year, we need to celebrate a week or so later instead of exactly on the twenty-ninth? Then so be it. You're more important than the calendar.

Love you my husband of ten years and three hundred sixty-four days,  
Harry James Malfoy

 

Saturday May 29th  
My husband of 11 years!

We've just had a mostly lovely day. I'm sorry I kept bringing the mood down. It seems like every 20 or 30 minutes, I'd have to hug you tight and, erm, mumble incoherently against your shoulder. In case you couldn't quite understand what I said, I was saying things like I have no idea why you put up with me, I'm so lucky to have you, I don't deserve you, I love you so much, and I think I'd genuinely die without you.

This PPD has been messing with my head. Lately, I keep thinking that my life is WAY too good to be true. That I'm actually in Azkaban for so many reasons and I've gone so completely insane that I'm imagining this whole fantasy life with you. In case you were wondering, that's why I've been holding your hand as much as you'll let me. I need to feel that you are tangible and not just part of my head.

Alright, I know that you can't tell how long it takes me to write an email, or whether or not I take breaks, but I feel I should tell you that I just took a rather long break simply to breath and stop from panicking over the previous paragraph. You're not in here at the moment, so maybe I really am dreaming...

No... I'm fairly certain I'm not. After all, we spent all day together holding hands. Didn't we?

It started with Aya coming over at my request and giving us both a massage. She's actually been bringing an apprentice over with her a lot lately, but this is the first time you've meet Angella. Aya is almost 70 and hoping to fully retire at some point, but can't help but work on me whenever I beckon because I pay her enough to work on our entire family most of the time that she only needs to have us as a client to fully support herself these days. That said, she knows she will *eventually* stop seeing us - and also feels that having help to work on a mob this large is only prudent, and I can't exactly blame her.

Anyway, where I was going with this is that Aya and Angella were working on us when River popped in, noticed that Aya was giving a bit of a lesson to Angella, and asked if he could apprentice with her too. So, strangely enough, our oldest son got his hands on us and massaged us too. He's not half bad, considering that it was his first time giving a massage. I'm certain being worked on as often as I was in the mood to call Aya over ever since the day he first arrived probably helped him to know how it was supposed to feel.

Aya has no problems taking him on as a student since he's actually serious, and so, he's actually going to be spending his days with her for the next couple of months. You know, when we're not traveling. Speaking of, Pippa asked me today when we planned to go to Egypt and I told her to consult with you since I am more or less ready to go whenever you are.

So long as we rent an extra hotel room for me to disappear to every time I'm feeling... well you know. That PPD thing I loathe.

Anyway, after Aya, Angella, and River were done with us (and you woke me back up in such a simple yet delightful way the moment they'd left the room), it was time for the small crew from Café Exquis to come over and serve us dinner. We spent a few moments with our various littles as dinner was being set up - reassuring them that we still loved them, even though we wanted alone time.

Then we had a delicious dinner consisting of ocean delicacies for me, and tender rotisserie chicken over a massive bed of veggies for you. We took a break to put the littles to bed and sing them to sleep, then had a mouth watering strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Followed by me insisting that you were my second course of dessert.

Strangely, I was in the mood for parts of the time, but when you tried to touch me, I... wasn't. I have no idea why. That triggered more mumbling against your shoulder and you rubbing my back. I want to want you. I REALLY want to want you. I even managed to push whatever BS is making me be weird about this to the back of my mind and pull you on top of me so that you could have me.

But you knew that I wasn't really in the mood. That I was just giving you what I thought you wanted because it's what I want to want too. So, rather than shag me in any way, you simply kissed me all over until I fell into an emotionally exhausted sleep.

But now I'm awake for a night feeding. It's my turn so I'm leaving you to sleep. Persephone was fussing quite loudly, so I took her into the sitting room of our suite and am currently rocking her in front of the fire as she nurses herself back to sleep. And typing this one handed.

The strangest part of all is that I'm literally holding proof that you must exist and we really are together 11 years now, but since YOU aren't in the room with me, it's taking every deep breath I can manage to NOT start panicking again. What if I really AM dreaming, and rather than a tiny gorgeous baby, I'm actually holding a doll or something to give me the sensation of actually holding a baby while I am lost in mad fantasies?

What if NOTHING is real and I'm just some unfortunate amoeba with a shockingly advanced capacity for fantasizing???

What if I was tortured into insanity by the Dark Lord?!?! Merlin Buggering Shite! I was tortured into insanity, wasn't I??? I am mad as the bloody Mad Hatter!!! I either AM or SHOULD be in St. Mungo's!!! I really think I need to crucio myself - wait...

Damnit, that sounds like Caelum Arthur is demanding to be fed and I'm not certain I can get to him before you wake up. I was right, I haven't even had time to stand up and you're already making soothing hush noises. Now you must be feeding him because he got quiet. Oh, you must have realized I wasn't in the room with you because now you're peeking out the door at me.

I'm going to sign off and send this email before I go back and delete the parts that might be construed as loosing my shit. Rest assured, I sent an Insta-owl to Yesenia asking her to come over first thing in the morning, but first, I'm going to let you persuade me onto the sofa so that we can snuggle up together while we feed these vampires. I mean adorable cherubs.

I would die for you, I would kill for you, I would steal for you, I'd do time for you, I would wait for you, I'd make room for you, I'd sail ships for you, to be close to you, to be part of you, 'cuz I believe in you, I believe in you, I would die for you,  
Draco


	165. Chapter 165

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry reminds Draco of their upcoming plans, and Draco's feeling a bit better.

Monday May 31, 2010

My Heart,

Whew, it's been a long weekend. A long weekend that in some parts was so beautiful I barely believed it was real. But some parts that were so heartbreaking I wish it hadn't been real. I don't want you bottling anything up, I am so thankful you're able to tell me, tell Yesenia, tell yourself, what your PPD is making you feel. But hearing you say you think you don't deserve me or that you don't know why I put up with you makes me want to scream and rage all over the cause of this. When there's a person who's hurt you it's easier, I can get mad and either rage all over them or send Grandmama to them. But this disorder doesn't give me an actual outlet to blame. I feel so helpless and powerless.

But the good parts were so good. I hate that you felt you had to hold my hand to remember we're real, but I also got to hold your hand all weekend. Definitely one of those silver linings I love to find. I wish I never had to use my hands and I could just hold yours at all times. I never want to let go of you. The handholding seemed to ground you and I'm sorry when you woke up to feed Persephone that you didn't have that grounding. You are really here, you are really living this life, you really deserve every beautiful thing we have in this life.

I've been so tired, these babies are exhausting. However, the beautiful memory of sitting on the sofa together, nursing our babies by the glow of the fireplace … I just seem to never run out of Patronus fuel. We obviously talk of important things, but sitting in the dark talking about nothing of real importance is everything. And despite our exhaustion and your PPD, I managed to get a couple of your real smiles. Eyes shining silver, that flash of teeth while your mouth stretches from almost smirk to full grin, so few people get that sight and I'm one of them.

I know what you mean about feeling as though this life is something we've imagined up. Maybe I'm not really a wizard and I've been locked in my cupboard for so long that my mind snapped and created this alternate world. It's just so unlikely, I'm just not creative enough. Even my subconscious couldn't come up with a world like this.

I needed you to have a reminder of our reality. Something to hold onto when the babes are sleeping and I'm busy in the loo or something. So, last night I laid you down and undressed you. You argued a bit about not feeling ready for anything sexual. I hope you didn't think I was trying to pressure you. It wasn't meant to be sexual. The night of our anniversary, I gently kissed your entire body until you fell fast asleep. Last night I had a slightly different plan in mind. I bit and sucked, only gentling my kisses when I needed to soothe a spot I'd already marked. Thoroughly claiming you as mine. So, when you have a moment of panic, all you need to do is find some spot where I bit hard enough to break the skin or a spot where I sucked hard enough to leave a bruise. Every one of those spots is proof of my love, proof of reality, proof of us.

Also, it's fucking hot to look at your pale skin all marked up like that. After you fell asleep, I went into the shower and took myself in hand with visions of you at the front of my mind.

We've a busy few weeks ahead of us, I've already given Pippa the information so I know we won't miss anything, but this way you have a written reminder you can check on whenever you need to.  
-5th June, someone I love turns the big 3-0!  
-7th June, Sammy's birthday  
-11th June, your siblings will come home from Hogwarts, that following week will be full to the brim of last minute fashion show and after-show celebration plans  
-19th June, the fashion show and subsequent celebration  
-23-28th June, Glastofest  
-30th June, We leave for Egypt.  
-11th July Home from Egypt  
-19th July, Lainie's school's grand opening … and I haven't heard anything specific but I would assume that Grandma Cissy will be planning another after-party

It seems like a lot, but it's spread out fairly well. In between all of that, my plan is to hug and kiss you and our children nonstop. Snuggle up and watch some movies. Play some board games. Take a few trips to Café Exquis for dinner. Sit in the sunshine holding our babes while our big kids and our little big kids play on the playground or run amok through the gardens. I'll be spending time in the gardens. Just normal life. Working very hard on making sure you know you belong in this beautiful life of ours. Even if it means never letting go of your hand.

I love you Draco.

Thankfully Yours,  
Harry

 

Saturday June 5th  
Beloved,

I think the nutritional potions are working. I've been waking up the last two days ready to have my wicked way with you, and I've been hungry and eating again. Actually, this nursing thing makes me feel like I'm starving - almost as much as when I was pregnant.

After taking advantage of the fact that you were taking a nap - I don't blame you since we once again have three tiny humans in our bed demanding that we feed them at all hours, plus two bigger ones who sometimes wake up to watch or nurse a bit themselves - We're having a lovely day.

Thank Merlin and Salazar you understood that I am just NOT in the mood for a party this year. Like at all.  
Normally, I would have wanted a huge play party for my 30th birthday, but not recently. I barely want you most of the time (sexually, I always want you romantically). Also, celebrating in general is just... no, not in the mood for that either.

Best of all is that our older kids have noticed me hiding away as much as possible - when I'm feeling, erm… PPD. And because they are smart enough to guess that I'm not feeling well, or perhaps you told them that I'm not feeling well, they haven't tried to find me when I've disappeared yet again. So, they decided that because we've been taking care of our newest almost triplets almost constantly, that all I really wanted for my birthday was a bit of a break. They were NOT wrong!

So, they took it upon themselves to watch the littles. Well, not Elena or River - of course - as they were both busy with their own things. Elena is taking advantage of Ekaterina's presence to help her fine tune her curriculum (and have a few 'free' dance lessons from a famous ballerina), while River is continuing to prove that he's serious about learning massage by spending the day with Aya.

But Viona, Eri, Ori, Hazel, Del, Bel, Tommy, and Harrison are willing and more than capable of taking care of Siri, Zwei, Zaire, Jaz, Persephone, Caelum, and Lily. Especially with help from their elves (and my parents if absolutely necessary), and so, the two of us are currently spending the day...

Enjoying the sun. The sunshine is doing a LOT to make me feel at peace with the world at the moment. But having you curled up on a blanket in a secluded meadow in the North Fields simply cuddling with me, and marking me, and kissing me, and yes, shagging when I feel like it - which I have been on and off for most of the day - well it's...

Perfect.

I couldn't ask for anything better.

But you're napping again and I'm feeling happy enough to take down the ward keeping all animals out so that I can bond with this year's flock of baby peafowl. They noticed us here and have gathered around the ward out of curiosity. But don't worry, I have recast a much smaller ward around your entire body so that they can't accidentally wake you, or worse, curiously chomp on anything.

My silly dork!

Love you with the intensity of a thousand suns,  
Draco


	166. Chapter 166

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! ^_^

Monday June 7, 2010

My Love,

Good morning! If you wake up and wonder where I am, I decided to take this morning to visit Unity House. We've been so busy over the last year with travels, people coming back from the dead, people coming from other universes, adoptions, pregnancies, fundraisers, etcetera, that even though we've been back for roughly a year, I feel like I don't have a good handle on which kids are here, I don't know them as well as I'd like. I want to be fun Uncle Harry, but I think I am "that guy other people say is fun but we don't have any frame of reference."

So, now that you are feeling a bit better, before things get really hectic with Hazeris, before the big kids are off from either Traditions or Hogwarts, I decided to come make a day of getting to know the littles here at Unity. I brought the four non-babe littles. The babes were sleeping sweetly and soundly when I left. I told Muffy that if you were still asleep when they woke up, she should bring them here to me as well. If you're up before them and don't feel like sending them over, have a nice day with our tiniest! I definitely won't be gone long, it's still too early for me to be alright being away from them for longer than a handful of hours.

I'm getting better with Persephone though. Now she's pretty much needy like a newborn as opposed to preemie levels of neediness. I think she's done much better since Lily and Caelum got here. They're pretty much always snuggled up together, either packed in side by side in one bassinet, lain together where Jaz and Zaire can poke at them, or cuddled into my and your arms. I think much of Seph's fussiness was needing the rest of her set! Also, I think she's just going to be a fussy one. She's all Malfoy. She may have my hair, but as her main personality trait is wanting exactly what she wants exactly when she wants it, I am going to say her soul is Malfoy all the way.

Our Lissa, on the other hand, is Black. Not in coloring, her hair is definitely coming in all blonde and she might be the palest of all our children, but the family line. She looks so much like her Grandma Narcissa. And she has this serene look about her most of the time. But I am a bit worried because I know the sheer stubbornness that can hide under that family's aristocratic features. And this one will have her Uncle Sirius in her life from day one! Terrifying!

And my Cael, he's already a loud little attention seeker begging to be noticed. Not a problem my fiery little man. He shouts until he's fed, changed, cuddled, or rocked. And it's not like regular crying; if he had language, I think all I would hear from him would be "Oi, you wankers, pay attention to me!" Luckily there is no shortage of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or siblings ready to grab him at a moment's notice. He's going to be trouble, he ceases all his tantrum the moment he's aware that he's gotten someone's attention.

I'm getting off track! I was supposed to come here and play with little kids so I could do something besides gush about my babies. And here I am gushing about my babies! I figured I would send you a quick message to let you know where we'd gone off to, and instead I'm sitting near the Park writing away when I could be climbing around the Park chasing squealing toddlers.

I'm so glad you're feeling better. I know you're not completely healed, or cured, or whatever you want to call it. Tough times don't just fall away that quickly, but I'm seeing a sparkle back in your eyes and feeling so much relief. Why don't you spend a bit more time in the sun today if you're up before we get back. I'm basking in it myself right now, sunshine is everything; it's medicine, fuel, nourishment. Now I'm going to go kick a bunch of little kids' bums at the climbing wall!

Love you always,  
Harry

P.S. Thank you for protecting my naked bits from the animals!

P.P.S. Hooray! Zaire just made his way to the top of the climbing wall for the first time! I almost missed it writing, but looked up just in time! Now I really have to go make an enormous fuss over him!

 

Monday June 7th  
Sammy is probably going to sort Slytherin some day,

So yesterday, she had a kids' party for her birthday. You know, the kind that adults only go to because they feel obligated to help wrangle all the kids? Well, she had a lot of kids to invite, and also knew that I/we haven't been feeling good lately and have had our hands full of babies. So rather than insist that we go to her party yesterday, she insisted that we DON'T go to her party so that she could come 'spend the day with us' today.

And here's where I'm dead certain that she's going to sort Slytherin, after her father dropped her off, kissed her goodbye, and left, rather than have me send Muffy to go tell you to come home from Unity, Sammy looked up at me with impossibly huge puppy eyes and pouted so becomingly.

"Grandpa Draco, will you pretty please take me shopping for my birthday?"

Which means that yes, our cunning honorary granddaughter purposely manipulated both her fathers and us so that she'd have me all to herself and in the mood to shop. Well, I'm fairly certain that she didn't manipulate you into going to Unity for the day, simple took advantage of the fact that you had.

In any case, Sammy and I are on the hunt for the perfect costume, and are buying lots of not quite so perfect costumes while we're at it. She wants one of those slightly cliché costumes in which half of her body is very girly and the other half is very boy-y (?) - and since that sort of costume usually isn't intended for children, we may actually have to find actual clothes she likes and turn them INTO the perfect costume.

In any case, she's having a lovely time finding fluffy dresses AND handsome tuxedos. I have a feeling she's going to be some sort of performer like her father. She tells me that you gave her the best birthday present of all, you're paying for her to have singing lessons.

In any case, since shopping therapy is one of my favorite therapies, I'm going rather overboard in buying lots of things we really don't need. I don't even want to know how much I just spent in the jewelry store, but at least I have fabulous presents for every woman in our lives for Christmas and birthdays for the next year or so.

And I'm going to sign off now so that I can go buy more.

I'm giving him something he can feel, all my lovin'  
Draco


	167. Chapter 167

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's movie night and Draco might just have a new favorite.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Dragon,

Of course our Sammy is a Slytherin. Is this the first time you've met? Sammy has been able to play you like a fiddle since birth. I truly think he and Colm are in for a shock when their newest gets here. I've heard Miles mention how easy Sammy was as a baby. Uh, yeah, because you had Grandpa Draco ready to step in and dance his grandchild to sleep every single night. It's not like they can't drop the new baby off here whenever they need a break, I'd be quite put out if they didn't, but it's going to be quite the surprised when they realize how hard it is when you don't live with the baby's grandpas!

And here I am sitting here acting like I'm a wall of granite who can't be moved. Those big eyes peering at me, "I love to sing Grandpa Harry, but it will have to be a hobby, it's not like I can get voice lessons and really make something of my voice." Oh gee, Grandpa Harry has a brilliant idea that just came out of nowhere! I'm such a sucker for that child! Then I walk in after my day at Unity to find Sammy curled up with Jaz and Zaire, singing away, Jaz held up close so she can feel the vibrations and Zaire staring with a dreamy look in his eyes? Yeah, those lessons will be worth every single knut.

I just finished getting ready, getting all the kids ready, and now we're waiting on you to finish getting ready so we can head over to Unity for Movie Night. It's my first Movie Night in months. I'm not sure if you took the kids while I was in St. Mungo's or if you brought the littles when I was on my book tour, but wow, I bet I haven't been to one of these since January? Yeesh. Anyway, I am quite excited, we're going to watch How To Train Your Dragon. Technically it's not supposed to be released to the public until October, but sometimes there are benefits to being a wizard!

Who am I kidding, there are so many benefits to being a wizard. My favorite benefits call me Dad! Or Mum-Dad if they're hoping to butter me up and get something special. Although why they feel the need to try buttering me up is beyond me. Everyone knows I'm the pushover dad. Maybe it would be easier to say no occasionally if we didn't have the best children in all of existence.

This will be the teeny triplets' first outing. Thank goodness again for wizard-kind and the germ-stopping bubble charm I can put on them or I definitely wouldn't be ready to bring two three week olds and a seven week preemie anywhere near the little petri dishes we call children. Between the bubble charm and the fact that they will be worn by you and I, I feel pretty confident that they'll be fine.

I can't believe Seph is already seven weeks old! I could still have easily been pregnant with her right now. I went past my due date with Ori and Siri, it's probably pretty likely she would be warm and toasty inside for a few weeks more. Ok, I have been working with Katja on this, I can't keep beating myself up. I made a mistake, yes she was a preemie but she is fine and thriving and following her modified preemie growth chart. I can't go back and change things, I have to take what we have. I am really trying to remind myself of that every time I feel guilty.

I'm so ready for Friday when everyone in our immediate family will be back home safe and sound. The Manor is going to be even noisier than it already is! We've us and our thirteen, Viper, Sirius, and Viper's four, your parents and their four youngest, and as soon as Colm is ready to deliver, we'll have Sammy staying with us for a few days while they're in St. Mungo's and settling in at home. Are you ready for the Malfoy-Potter circus?

Yay, you're finally ready! Yummmmm, and looking very fit. I think I might need a cozy blanket to snuggle under during the movie. And if it blocks my wandering hands from little eyes then so be it!

Love you!  
Harry

 

Wednesday June 9th  
Harry!

That movie! They had Dragons and they rode them!!! Flew them, whatever. I want a Toothless!!!

What do you suppose it would take to convince Charlie to let me have a dragon egg so I can hatch it and experiment on it with spells to keep it small... ish, and love it like Amala, rub it's belly like Bear, and fly on it's back like Toothless?

I wonder if he has an Antipodean Opaleye? Or rather, an egg. I'm going to have to go ask.

Like right now, actually.

The good news is that you just fell asleep. The babies are all asleep, and this shouldn't take me long at all. I'll either be told a flat no and sent home, or he'll tell me to come back for a serious discussion when it's not half ten at night.

Wise men say, only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you,  
Draco


	168. Chapter 168

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry puts his foot down.

Friday June 11, 2010

My ONLY Dragon,

No. No dragons. Isn't it bad enough you have a cheetah? A cheetah you were supposed to have sent back to Africa or to a cheetah sanctuary by now? Don't think I haven't noticed she's just a permanent member of the family at this point. But when we get back from Egypt we should totally talk to Charlie about touring the dragon sanctuary. I will admit, flying on a dragon is pretty darn cool.

I will stick with riding my own personal dragon though.

I have to assume Charlie said no anyway since there isn't a dragon egg at our house and you were awfully mopey yesterday. But nothing could keep our moods down today, our Hogwarts kids finally came home! I missed the little brothers and sisters like crazy. I know we've been a lovely distraction for your parents, but there was just nothing quite like having all their kids home for good at the same time. Your dad looked like he was walking on air today.

Even this morning before it was time to leave for King's Cross, the atmosphere in the Manor was festive. The house elves were making sure their bedrooms were aired out, fresh linens and all that. They certainly come home to visit from Hogwarts more than we ever did as children, but there's something soothing about making a space ready for the family members to come home. Similar to us making Viona her own bedroom well before she was ready for to leave our bed. Definitely before WE were ready for her to move to her own room.

Right after lunch, we all made our way to the station. I'm sure just your parents, or even just one of them, would have been enough to welcome them home. But where's the fun in that? So we made an utter spectacle of ourselves. Your parents, our entire family of fifteen (it would be more, but Miles and Sammy didn't feel like leaving Colm) and Del begged to come with as well to not miss a moment with Della, crowded next to the tracks waiting for four teenagers. We looked like those old photos you see of groups sitting at the dock welcoming home travelers from a long sea voyage.

Thankfully, the babes slept through the entire ordeal, snug as bugs in our wraps. Jaz was pretty much holding court from her Grampy Lulu's arms. Lainie had a solid hold on Siri and Zwei's shoulders. And River had Zaire tucked in his arms. The crowds would normally make Zaire a bit uncomfortable, but being a wizarding crowd, all eyes were definitely on us. He went from excited when we first got there in the anticipation of seeing "his" train, to practically trying to crawl inside River's shirt with him. I thought I was actually going to have to take him home before the train arrived, but our River certainly saved the day.

Z tugged on River's collar and stage whispered, "Why they all lookin'?"

Then River, without missing a beat, quoted you from that very first trek years ago when we took with him into wizarding public, "I'm quite good looking, it tends to distract people. You should get used to it, Zaire, since you're just as handsome." Of course that set Z off into giggles. He didn't ask to be put down, and he was certainly holding on to his big brother, but after that, he seemed able to look around and enjoy himself from his safe perch.

As the train arrived, your siblings made their way off the Express one by one. Della was the first off, she ran immediately to your mum and gave her a huge hug, and as soon as she'd given an equally exuberant hug to your dad, she squealed herself into Delphini's arms. They began talking a mile a minute, seemingly from the middle of a conversation. Like someone had just pressed pause mid-sentence the last time they spoke and they finally hit the play button.

Sebastian walked off slowly, giving our giant welcome crew a put-upon sigh, walking to your mum and seemed to "allow" her to hug him. He's not fooling me, I saw him just about melt into her arms. He likes to act like he's emotionless but he absolutely adores his family, even if he thinks most of us are much too loud and obnoxious. Once she released him, and gave him that mum once-over where she peers into their heads to make sure they're alright, he marched over to Lucius and shook his hand. Those two are so ridiculous. Why yes, manly handshake to you, manly handshake to you too.

Gavin seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Hugs all around, he doesn't pretend to be proper the way Sebastian does. If he wants to hug someone he will, and he did. Same with Eliza, she came off the train, trunk trailing behind her, hugging everyone in her path. And then settling into a little huddle with Eri, Viona, and Haz. I heard some mumbling about "only a week to finish planning" so I have a feeling we won't be seeing hide nor hair of the four of them until the fashion show.

When we got back home, it was a few hours of settling in. Lucius had to take the kids to the owlery to reacquaint them with the owls. Sebastian had to chat with Snape's portrait for a while. Gavin, River, and the Viper boys ran off for a few hours to get into Merlin only knows what kind of mischief. Eliza and Della were excited to show Jaz all the new signs they'd learned since the last time they saw her. They all played a fun game of pass around their new baby nieces and nephew.

Eventually we all sat down to a lovely dinner. It was that mixture of warmth and good conversation, while still being cultured and full of manners. Not quite the cold dinners of nothing more than "please pass the broccoli" but not exactly a Weasley free for all either. Just catching up and love.

There were a few surprises thrown in there. The Viper said that he thinks this upcoming year, he will be willing to let his kids go to Hogwarts. I guess they've had a good couple of months at Traditions and they've not dealt with any issues when he brings them out into public, he had a long talk with McGonagall, and he's hopeful that they'll be welcomed and safe. Which caused a bit of a ruckus because he hadn't actually mentioned this to any of the children. Del was thrilled as it meant she'll get to spend the entire school year with her best friend/pretend twin sister Della. Harrison was furious as it would mean he would be the only one of his siblings to be left behind. That fear was quickly dispelled when both Bel and Tommy mentioned that they weren't certain they wanted to go to Hogwarts and may want to stick with Traditions no matter what.

Gavin was teased mercilessly when his sisters tattled that he had been snogging girls again. His defense? "I haven't been caught since that first time so what's the issue?"

This caused your mother to exclaim, "You are only twelve years old Gavin! You are much too young to be fornicating. And it's quite unbecoming of a Malfoy to be snogging in public corridors."

Well, after that, every single person at the table started laughing and pointing at you and me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up, I get to snog my beautiful husband anywhere I please. A Malfoy takes what he wants and has no concern for if someone else doesn't like it!

After the laughter died down, Lucius decided to bring Sebastian into the mix, "Gavin, you could stand to be a bit more like your brother Sebastian; he's kept all his romances quiet, I've not heard a single peep about any inappropriate behavior." I could see Gavin give Sebastian the side-eye. They seemed to have an entire conversation with their eyes.

Gavin ended up looking quite relieved - at the same time, Sebastian seemed to brace himself. Pinching the bridge of his nose, a very Snape gesture if I've ever seen one, he started talking like he'd rehearsed this a million times. "Father, there have been no romances. There will be no romances. As I am Ace, I do not feel any need for physical or romantic relationships. I have everything I need with my family, my brewing, and the few friends I have that aren't utter imbeciles."

With the exception of the babes' squawking noises, the room fell silent. Lucius stuttered out a "Well, that's fine son, I don't know what this Ace thing is but it's definitely not a problem if you're not ready for relationships. You'll get there someday."

Merlin Bless Viona Skye who interjected with a, "Grampy Lulu! You *obviously* don't know what Ace is. It's not that he's not ready for relationships, he doesn't want them. He will never want them. Ace usually stands for Asexual. There are a lot of different ways to be Ace, some of them never want sex, some of them will for procreation, some want romantic relationships, and sometimes they will never feel any romantic feelings of any kind. It's not a phase any more than Hazel's going through a phase." She was utterly brilliant to compare it to Hazel since we all know Lucius is her biggest supporter.

Again, your father has come so far in recent years, "Oh... that's alright then, I just didn't know. As long as you're happy, you know I'm pleased for you."

And then our snarky Sebastian had to throw us under the bus, "and anyway, it's not like we're lacking for enough little Malfoys in the world. Draco and Harry are repopulating the world single-handedly."

Rude.

Mostly true, but still rude.

All in all it, was a lovely evening. And it's been quite a long day. It's time for some sleep before tomorrow begins a week's worth of nonstop event planning.

Love,  
Your Harry

 

Saturday June 12th  
Harry! Harry! Harry!

Charlie and I just had the best evening!

So it started off rather dull. You were home 'helping' with plans for the Hazeris fashion show. Neville was still at his shop. Apparently he usually likes to work the closing shift as Charlie tends to stay at the dragon sanctuary until sundown, when the dragons themselves settle down a bit. But it's that time of year when the dragons have plenty to hunt and are rather happy in general, and thus, don't make as much trouble as they do at other times of the year.

So I popped in on Charlie and he made us a cuppa.

There we were all alone.

I immediately gave him my flirtiest bedroom eyes...

"I already told you, I'm NOT giving you a dragon egg!" He started before I had a chance to say more than thanks for the tea.

I shook my head. "No, Harry put his foot down on that anyway. Spoilsport! But I had a better idea. … Ever had Polyjuice?"

"Well yeah..." he answered a bit warily.

I nodded because I can remember a time or two when Polyjuice was passed out during play parties. "One of the first things you learn is that Polyjuice is not meant for animal transformation because there's a separate branch of magic for that - Animagi."

"Yeah..." Charlie acknowledged curiously.

"Which is a branch of transfiguration. But I thought to myself, if there's a potion to Transfigure people temporarily into other people, and there's a SPELL that can Transfigure people into animals, then WHY isn't there a potion that can do so too. Oh sure, with the spell, it's a bit more permanent/at will, and actually, once mastered, isn't a spell so much as seriously focused intention - like with Apparation."

To my delight, Charlie was right there with me. "But what if a bloke only needs to Transfigure into a dog for an hour - or he's shite at Transfiguration?!"

"EXACTLY!!!" I cried out excitedly. "Even a master of Transfiguration can have a lot of trouble performing Animagus transformations. A potion could help with that too!"

Charlie leapt to his feet (note, his son was still at Molly's, so we weren't disturbing a nap or anything), and dragged me to his bedroom.

Erm, his half of the study? Both??? It was sort of a tight fit, but we basically held each other close to squeeze in just right. Charlie is actually pretty big, I keep forgetting this for some reason.

"You might not believe it, but I'd wondered this a while ago. I gathered all the books and things I came across that seemed even remotely related to the subject, but sadly for me, I'm just not very good at potions. I ended up basically forgetting about it at some point."

"Ooo…" I drooled as I rested my head against his chest and looked through rare manuscripts and obscure essays. Charlie was quite excited and ready to pop over the chance to show me what he's got. "OOO! Look! This is in Latin, but it seems to be very close to a success!"

"Keep reading," Charlie advised in amusement, absently stroking my hair, sort of like one might do to a dog, I suppose.

"Why what - oh! … Shite, this is how werewolves started. A wizard created a potion designed to transform a man into a wolf for... actually, he wasn't sure how long it would last. Parts of the potion needed to be added and brewed during the full moon, which resulted in it being finished - and presumably tested - on a full moon. Probably why that's still a factor to this day. FUCK! This is... *Where* did you get this???"

Charlie shrugged. "I made an unbreakable vow that I could never reveal that information."

"Fuck!" I blurted out in dismay since I was hoping that there'd be more where this came from. But then I returned to the document and reread it. It helped that I'd heard bit of the 'legend' before, and so, had a sort of big picture to fill in. (Since my latin is rusty and it was a difficult read.) Even so, I am not sure anyone has seen this document - aside from Charlie and whomever he got it from - in, possibly centuries.

My money is on Dumbledore for some reason. I would not put it past that old coot to have uncovered this at some point. He's also one of the few people that would trust a young man - as Charlie must have been at the time - with such valuable and potentially dangerous information.

THAT SAID potioneering has come a LONG way since this was written. Like a millenia practically. I bet it wouldn't take much at all to schmooze Sebastian into helping me fiddle with this potion, see what parts of it were good, what parts were incorrect, and where it went so wrong.

But better than even that, Charlie has a couple of other books of spells and potions that could be useful to know if we're to succeed. We spent HOURS in his bed, curled up and reading everything he had, uncovering things and just generally having fun.

But now I'm home and on a mission!

SO if you happen to need me, I'm probably going to be in Sebastian's super secret lab, provided he lets me enter it, haha. He's got it pretty well warded from what I remember of the last time I tried to find him while he was in it. That said, he's extremely paranoid that our parents will figure out that he has a secret lab and forbid him to use it unsupervised. Chances are that our parents do know about it and are choosing to pretend like they don't, but in any case, I'M not going to be the one to spill the secret!

Heh heh heh heh heh, off to - sigh... feed a child or three. I don't want achy and leaking mammary glands while I'm trying to focus on complicated stuff. But silver lining, my Latin is rusty, so this'll give me an incentive to refresh it in my mind. Probably while Sebastian heckles me atrociously for letting it slide.

But anyway, AFTER I feed our babies (whether they're freaking hungry or not!) I'm going to hunt down my brother and entice him with the actual potion that created werewolves. He might just give me his entire portion of his future inheritance for letting him have the chance, ahahahahahaha!

I'm joking, of course. Why would I need his money? I'll make him owe me something else.

I-I feel so light, this is all I want to feel tonight, I-I feel so light, tonight and the rest of my life (because of you),  
Draco  
P.S. Apparently Charlie was interested in this once upon a time ago because no matter how hard he tries, he can't become an Animagus, but I'll let you guess what he was hoping to turn into, haha.


	169. Chapter 169

Sunday June 13th  
Draco,

I don't really know how to respond to your last message. Do I respond to the barely veiled allusions to you and Charlie …. having the best evening? Do I make a big deal about the brilliance of my husband and how he's going to take the notes on what looks like the origins of werewolves and possibly make some huge advancement in potions? How about I mention the fact that you think I might be dumb enough to not know which animal Charlie had attempted to transfigure himself into at some point; obviously a koala. Oh of course not, it must have been a cow.

Instead, I think I am going to go full tantrum and say … I was 'helping' with the fashion show? Helping with quotation marks. Do you think I was actually not a helpful addition to the planning committee? I'd have your remember that I came up with some wonderful additions to Pansy's wedding prep, I planned a LOT of our wedding, I helped come up with amazing ideas for Hannah's, and while I did nothing to help with the choreography of our drag show I definitely helped plan the event. I can't believe you would insinuate that I wasn't any actual help!

I can promise you that I "helped" way more than Sebastian's lab is "super secret"! Does he actually think his parents are that naïve? I mean, he has his regular lab that they know about, and then the 'secret' one. He brews nothing even close to dangerous in his visible lab. Rookie mistake Sebastian, they know you're brilliant with potions, they know you are capable of brewing semi-dangerous potions, and they know you enjoy experimenting. But somehow everything you brew in your lab is one hundred percent safe? You have to mix it up a little, they know you're not sticking to first year potions with your mind. You need to be making mildly dangerous potions they can "catch" you with so they think they've stopped you. Amateur.

But honestly, it sounds like the notes Charlie showed you will possibly be groundbreaking in the potions world. I do wonder, and maybe I'm just getting my hopes up for no reason. And Remus is gone, so it wouldn't help him now anyway, but if you're able to look at the notes and figure out where they went wrong, do you think there's the slightest chance you could reverse engineer the original and potentially … cure lycanthropy? I can't even imagine the changes *that* could make to a werewolf's life. If they could find gainful employment, not be segregated and treated as monsters? Imagine the possibilities.

Alright Draco, you know that I love and adore you. You know I trust you with my life, my heart, my soul. So I have to ask, were you trying to make me jealous with talk of your evening with Charlie? It didn't work, it just made me curious. And even if I didn't trust you, Charlie or Neville would be the LAST people I would suspect of inappropriate behaviors.

But then again, I know nothing inappropriate happened, but I don't like that you gave my snuggles to Charlie. We've been so busy with the babes and the upcoming fashion show, the kids coming home from Hogwarts, that I feel as though I've barely seen you. And then I find out Charlie used up what little snuggle time you had available? Not cool Draco, not cool.

I wonder, it's been ages since I've gone through the Potter or Black vaults, do you think there might be some older books or manuscripts on potions that may be related to what you will be working on? I may not have inherited the skill, but it's not like the Potters were slouches when it comes to potions. I know I've seen journals where my Grandfather, or Great-Grandfather, or Great something or other documented the process to his invention of Sleakeazy's. If they were that meticulous then maybe they have partially finished research on other ideas.

Oh! Looks like Caelum is just about finished eating, time to rotate the babes!

Love You,  
Harry

 

Monday June 14th  
My heart,

First of all, the reason I put helping in quotation marks is NOT because I don't think you were helping. Helping implies doing little things as they ask you to. I think you were straight up planning it for or with them. As in they were helping YOU plan the thing, which is why I thought it was cute that you thought your were only helping them.

As for this potion, actually, I was a little hesitant to type it out, but I will admit that I thought that maybe we could 'fix' it so that it not only works the way it was intended to, but ALSO cured werewolves. BUT I can't promise that. Wizard kind has been trying to cure that for as long as it's existed. It would be cocky and arrogant to say I can totally cure it when no one else has been able to, and while I can definitely be cocky and arrogant, I'm not QUITE that bad, haha. Besides, Sebastian is more likely to do that - figure out a cure, that is.

As for trying to make you jealous, no I wasn't. I'm just flirty by nature, you know that. Yeah I was flirting with Charlie, but I think I made it sound worse than it really was. I didn't do that on purpose, but I guess I DID want to make sure that you knew I was being a bit flirty so that if it came up in conversation - say the next time we have a circle dinner - you couldn't misunderstand.

After all, if Charlie said something like: "Oi Draco! It's been a couple weeks since I had you in my bed! When are you planning to come back over?" I wouldn't want you to suddenly be like: "Wait, what? You were in his bed??? And you didn't tell me?! What exactly was going on, hmm?!?!"

But I understand being upset that you missed out on snuggles. So I have a plan. I'm currently giving Persephone her 2 am feeding. If history proves consistent, Lily and Caelum are going to wake up any minute now and demand to be fed as well. Which means that you'll be awake with them, and we'll get a chance to snuggle up on the sofa in front of the fire and chat about nothing as we feed them.

THEN - once they're all back asleep - I'm going to manhandle you to the play room for a bit of - heh heh, well, that's a surprise.

See you in a few!

There isn't an ocean too deep, a mountain so high it can keep, keep me away, away from his love,  
Draco


	170. Chapter 170

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's almost time for the fashion show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two in a row because I didn't want to wait, lol ^_^

Monday June 14th  
My Own,

Looking back at my most recent email before this one, I think there's a chance I was a bit moody. Still coming down from those pregnancy hormones almost two months later apparently. Or perhaps I'm just a bit grouchy since I've gotten very little sleep over that same time frame because we have needy newborns. The fact that I just don't feel as though I've had enough time with you is probably a factor as well. Maybe a mixture of all three.

But last night was exactly what I needed. I woke up to Lissa's hungry grumbles, saw Cael staring at me with those big beautiful eyes of his, and when we made our way to the sofa I saw you holding a sweetly sleeping Seph. We just snuggled and talked, a few gentle kisses, and stayed that way well after the babes had all drifted back to sleep. I didn't want to move and spoil the moment. I could have stayed leaning against your shoulder all night.

Until you mentioned that after we put them back in bed you had plans for me in the playroom. I'm surprised there wasn't a Harry-shaped hole in the door with how fast I went darting to the playroom. I had no idea what I was in for. Were we going to have a fairly vanilla shag? Were we going to make love for hours? A quickie so we could get back to sleep? Were you going to string me up from the ceiling and torture me all night? The possibilities were endless.

As always, you proved to me that not only did I make the best choice of husbands, the best other father for my children, but I have submitted myself to the best Master ever. The spanking bench. It has been months of a pain free arse for me. No time for spankings. I need my maintenance spanks! And you know that. You spent what felt like hours spanking, cropping, and flogging my backside. I didn't even come last night, but I didn't need to. You made me fly. Once I was sobbing my cathartic tears, you slid into me. Extending the pain on my arse, your hips slapping into the reddened flesh, your fingertips digging into the stripes.

I will be feeling you every time I shift today. Every time I sit down I will be reminded of my ownership and how well you care for what belongs to you. I had no idea how much I needed this until I started flying. I woke up safely wrapped in your arms. Just where I belong.

Today is going to be so productive. I fed the babes, got them settled in to play with the Manor's other early risers, went with Siri for an early morning run. I feel like I'm high. No drugs or potions, just adrenaline and love.

Oh! Even though we talked for a long time last night, I completely forgot to tell you some of my favorite plans for the fashion show this weekend. Wait, maybe I should just let you be surprised? No, I am terrible at keeping secrets and I don't wanna! Viona came up with a ridiculous idea and everyone but me immediately agreed. After a bit of lecture from the Princess, I gave in. And now that I think about it, it's going to be amazing.

Here's the deal, their fashions are going to be aimed at teens and preteens. Pretty much Hogwarts age plus a few years younger and a few years older. They are going to open the show with a few of their "models" coming out in Hogwarts uniform robes, and then at the end of the runway they are going to drop the robe and show off the outfits underneath. Kind of a "you have to wear the uniform but you can look fabulous underneath" and a transition into "as soon as classes are done for the day, you'll be ready to look your best." Which I think is a super cool idea.

Anyway, the plan I had to be talked into was this … they started discussing who would wear what house's robes, because we don't necessarily have all the houses represented evenly with the actual children but they want them represented evenly in the show. They mentioned that Rod and Bee should wear Gryffindor robes since they look so much like Ron and Hermione did when they were younger. And then I could practically see the light bulb going off over Viona's head. The kids that look like we did at that age are going to "play us."

Orion and Harrison are going to play you and I, at some point they're going to chase each other down the runway doing a pretend duel. Orion will be wearing a bit more formal wear, and Harrison will be dressed in some of their casual clothes. At least his will fit him unlike my overly large clothes from childhood! Rod, Bee, and Harrison are going to play the … barf barf golden trio. Orion, Pearl, and Veronica are going to be the silver counterpart. Ronnie is even going to cast a temporary glamour on her hair so it's short like Blaise's!

My argument for vetoing it was along the lines of "you already have to deal with so much just by being our kids, why draw attention to it?"

That's when Viona started laughing at me, "Mum-Dad," (oh she was pulling out all the stops wasn't she?) "our names have been known before we even knew our own names. People all over the wizarding world think they're entitled to our lives. We can't walk through Diagon without people stopping and staring. None of us would change a thing, because being in this family is worth every awkward stare, but we are sure as heck going to profit off of the fame!"

And who can argue with that?

Anyway, back to planning, the show day will be here before we know it!

Your Love is my Freedom,  
Harry

 

Saturday June 19th  
My love,

I'm strangely excited to see this fashion show our brilliant girls are putting on. I've heard snippets about the planning, not to mention what you've actually told me, but even so, I have a feeling that it's going to be better than I expect. I love the fact that Pippa managed to arrange a venue right in Diagon Alley and promote it by sending out fliers to everyone who uses (or is on file at) your hybrid post office.

Honestly, I truly believe that our brilliant daughters have enough talent that this show will get them plenty of business opportunities. They don't even need any sort of help from me. That said, just chatting during business calls with all my businesses (and insta owls) when I'm just checking in to see if they're doing fine, I have a couple of different boutiques and the like that will be willing to give the girls a chance even if no one else offers after the show.

Even so, as I said, I'm dead certain their clothes will be in demand and all the shops will clamor to carry them. Although, I think I heard Viona mention that they were going to do a sort of direct sales through the show and via mail order combo, so maybe they don't even want any shops to carry their fashions. Lucky for them they have a lot of house elves to help out IF they find themselves with more orders than they anticipated.

Actually, I'm not sure if you heard her, but Muffy was positively excited, telling her kids how she expects them all to help her help Hazeris sew and assemble as many outfits as they need with the highest quality expected of Malfoy elves. You might want to delicately ask all the elves if they've been taking sufficient breaks because Viona is a little bit ruthless when it comes to business. I would not be at all surprised if she told the elves to do whatever it takes to have a certain quantity ready to go before the show, without realizing that they'd work themselves night and day without sleep if needed in order to fulfill her order.

In any case, I'm all dressed up in some of my finest clothes - not that you can see it with the babies strapped to me in their respective wraps - and I'm ready to cheer on my girls - not to mention all the models - as they do their best to show the world that they have what it takes to run their own fashion design company.

Meanwhile, you're off helping out with last minute preparation. I hope you'll remember to come stand next to me and hold my hand when the show starts. After all, it's their show and you're *supposed* to be by my side cheering them on - rather than behind the curtain running it for them. I can already picture you carefully not squishing any of the babies as you lean against me, trying not to sob from pride and failing. Me kissing you every couple of seconds because somehow, we managed to create and raise some pretty unique and fabulous kids.

Every breath I take,  
Draco


	171. Chapter 171

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fashion show is a huge success!

Saturday June 19th  
My Everything,

Do we have the most utterly brilliant children of all time or what? We've been home from the fashion show for hours. The celebratory party afterwards has already finished and been cleaned up after. You'd think after such a long and full day that I would be just passed out, but I am still wired and cannot even think about sleeping yet.

The crowd was massive. I knew there would be a lot of people there, possibly just in the hopes of catching a glimpse of some of the famous members of our circle. But it's definitely a good job that it was an outdoor venue as the entire crowd certainly wouldn't have fit in most indoor spaces. And it really seemed like a wide variety of people. There were what I would call the target market, teens and preteens, and most of them had at least a parent with them. I know they need to appeal to the kids, but you have to get the parents on board as well since they're generally the ones spending the galleons!

I don't think anyone outside of our little planning committee knew what to expect. The people close to Hazel and Eris knew that at the very least the fashions were going to be awesome. But would they have enough variety? Would they go too far into couture and no one would buy extreme fashions?

When the first four models came out in Hogwarts robes, I could hear the embarrassed murmurs. I know most were thinking "we came here for a fashion show and they're coming out in robes every single Hogwarts student has worn for the last century?" They really wanted to showcase that their fashions were perfect for different ages, genders, and backgrounds. Each House was represented, our own already out of Hogwarts Elena was representing Ravenclaw, sixteen year old Mac in his Hufflepuff robes, Teddy the Gryffindor, and little Pearl stepping out for Slytherin.

A hush came over the crowd when they stopped at the end of the runway, and that was my cue. Hopefully I didn't upset your or the babes' ears with my wolf whistling! Pearl, the brave … Slytherin began to take off the robe, being super cheeky while playing up to the crowd, and sticking her tongue out at me! When they all had their robes off, the crowd seemed to burst into spontaneous cheers. The girls really wanted to show that their fashions worked for under robes, ready to go as soon as classes were over. The clothes were casual enough for an evening spent walking around the Black Lake, or sitting in the common rooms playing Exploding Snap, but unique enough that they didn't look like any old jeans and a jumper you can find anywhere.

The entire show was bold colors, fun patterns, smiles and cheers from the crowd as every outfit made them fall more and more in love with our children's designs. They did the silly charades I talked to you about earlier, representing the golden and silver trios. That went over with the crowd just as well as I thought it would, with roaring laughter and cheers.

**** ~~~~

**** ~~~~

Although they changed up "our" dueling bit without telling me. I can tell you were just as surprised. Harrison and Orion did their fake dueling down the runway, but when they hit the end, they held hands. The girls were focusing on teens and pre-teens, but apparently they've dabbled in young children's clothing as well, because as soon as the pretend you and I held hands, a veritable army of small children came toddling towards them, our Siri leading the charge with Jaz on his hip. They had to borrow some of their little cousins, but "we" ended up being followed by thirteen small children in a row like little ducklings.

My very favorite moment was the very end, all the models came out to do one final bow, and then finally our divas made their way out to take their moment. Eris in a beautiful, textured, black mini-dress with beautiful blue flowers bursting from the fabric.

Hazel in a floor length white dress with the same blue flowers covering the bodice of her dress.

Coordinating perfectly while each having their own look. Seeing the looks on our beautiful girls' faces when the part of the crowd that had been sitting (there weren't enough chairs for the amount of people who showed up!) gave them a standing ovation with applause that seemed to go on forever. And they couldn't go without recognizing their business partner and forced Viona to come out for her own round of applause. Viona, much more casual but just as beautiful, in a blue floral sundress. Obviously part of the team, but not out to steal the show.

The after party was obviously a success as well. It was mostly our circle, but we did widen the circle a bit and invite some business owners who may be interested in carrying their designs. And all the kids were told they could invite any of their friends they'd like. So, our circle, related businesses, and the target market. What? We want to celebrate but let's not ignore good business opportunities! Our daughters mingling and working the party like royalty. They must have been watching their Grandma Cissa for years because they were the perfect hostesses.

Whew, after getting all of this out, I might be tired enough to actually fall asleep. If not, I suppose I can just take sleeping advantage of you!

See you in my dreams,  
Harry

 

Sunday June 20th  
Oi mutt,

I love that our daughters were successful. I love that they're already reaping the results of their hard work. But those. bloody. owls!!!

Not ONLY did they wake me up FAR before I wanted to wake up, but then they just kept coming and hooting and KEEPING me awake! I want to order Melissande to eat them all, but then I realized that our girls might take a severe hit to their bottom line if their customers have to file for replacement owls. It's keeping me in check, but just barely...

I stayed in bed and fed babies in between trying to go back to sleep, but when it became obvious that THAT wasn't going to happen, I gave up and tried to peacefully finalize our plans for Glastofest. Well, we've gone every year since we were first married, and so, that is pretty much a well-oiled machine. There wasn't much for me to do except confirm that our tent was recently inspected and properly maintained - which it was. Pippa had the elves give it a thorough once over about a week ago - before they were busy with the fashion show.

At this point, all we really need to do is pack up and go, but of course, that'll have to wait until the actual day. Wednesday cannot come soon enough!

THOSE RUDDY OWLS!!!

That's it! I'm going to get out of bed and tell them to quiet down! It's a good thing we're not in a muggle neighborhood! Could you just imagine what the muggles would think if they looked out their windows and saw 2 or 3 dozen owls perched on everything they can find, just staring at our house and hooting and screeching to get our attention?

Well..... yelling didn't seem to do anything other than rile them up, but at least it accomplished Muffy popping out and magically accepting all the deliveries from them in a matter of seconds - a few of her children levitating treats to all of them so that they could leave as quickly as possible.

Are our girls still sleeping?

Why the fuck are our girls still sleeping at a time like this?! There's business to be done! Our little Princess should know better!

Heh! At least me roaring indignantly made them come running, still sleepy and rubbing their eyes, but all excited. You'd think that Christmas had come early or something!

And now they're making more noise than the buggering owls were! Especially since they've inadvertently recruited - with their excited squealing - most of the other kids in this house to come help them sort through their enormous pile of mail. It seems that most of it is mail orders, but some of it is formal requests from shops and the like to carry their line.

OI! How do you like that?! I *deigned* to give some very good advice to the girls and VIONA had the gall to snap at me that if I was just going to snarl and be a bitch, that I can just go back to bed, thankyouverymuch!

The only reason she's not grounded for a week is that it happens to be an excellent suggestion.

That said, I may have exchanged a few more snarls with her before complying. Probably a good thing that she's used to my occasional bad moods.

OH! AND NOW Pippa's herding me back to bed like I'm a stray sheep or something! If I didn't depend on her so damn much for just about everything, I'd fire her! The daft cow!

Fuck this! I'm going to take a nap! I'll be in bed if you need me!

Bloody fucking love you,  
Draco


	172. MASTER LIST

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the Master list of all the children in our fictional universe that have become official members of the family/circle.
> 
> If you are super dying to know about every child who has been through Unity House (the original one in Oi Malfoy), please leave a comment with your email address so that Chrissie can email you the spreadsheet, lol ^_^

 

Harry and Draco Malfoy:

Elena Rojas Malfoy

  * Birthday October 22, 1990

  * Adopted January 9, 2000

  * Muggleborn Orphan

  * Ravenclaw




River Lewis Malfoy

  * Birthday March 21, 1996

  * Arrived at the Manor September 3, 2000

  * Biological Parents Rosalie Lewis and Draco Malfoy

  * Hogwarts House unknown; assumed Hufflepuff




Viona Skye Malfoy

  * Birthday January 24, 1999

  * Adopted July 11, 1999

  * Biological Parents Vincent and Olivia Crabbe

  * Godparents Hermione and Greg




Eris Lyra Malfoy

  * Birthday April 9, 2000

  * Biologically Harry and Draco’s

  * Carried by Draco

  * Godparents Pansy and Luna




Orion Draco Malfoy

  * Birthday April 9, 2000

  * Biologically Harry and Draco’s

  * Carried by Harry

  * Godparents Ron and Blaise




Hazel Storm Malfoy

  * Birthday May 13, 2000

  * Arrived at the Manor October 16, 2000

  * Birth mother Fran Gorman, intended birth father Mark Hoogervorst, biological father Harry

  * Born Harrison, transitioned at 4 years old

  * Godparents Neville and Luna




Sirius James Malfoy

  * Birthday July 30, 2003

  * Biologically Harry and Draco’s

  * Carried by Harry




Draco Lucius Malfoy Jr – “Zwei”

  * Birthday July 30, 2004

  * Biologically Harry and Draco’s

  * Carried by Draco




Zaire Langa Malfoy

  * Birthday May 2, 2006

  * Adopted October 15, 2009

  * Biological father, abusive wizard, mother unknown




Jasmine Kamaria Malfoy

  * Birthday February 9, 2009

  * Adopted February 13, 2009

  * Biological Parents unknown, assumed magical




Persephone Hikari Malfoy

  * Birthday April 21, 2010

  * Biologically Harry and Draco’s

  * Carried by Harry




Lily Narcissa Malfoy

  * Birthday May 19, 2010

  * Biologically Harry and Draco’s

  * Carried by Draco




Caelum Arthur Malfoy

  * Birthday May 19, 2010

  * Biologically Harry and Draco’s

  * Carried by Draco




Pansy and Ivan St. Peter

Pearl St. Peter

  * January 10, 2001

  * Draco’s Goddaughter




Paige St. Peter

  * November 30, 2003




Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy

Eliza Lestrange Malfoy

  * October 10, 1995

  * Birth Parents Rodolphus Lestrange and Gina Mitchell

  * Adopted August 23, 2000

  * Slytherin




Sebastian Snape Malfoy

  * September 10, 1996

  * Birth Parents Severus Snape and Gina Mitchell

  * Adopted November 25, 1999

  * Slytherin




Gavin Mitchell Malfoy

  * January 30, 1998

  * Birth Parents Lucius Malfoy and Gina Mitchell

  * Came to the Manor July 25, 2000

  * Ravenclaw




Della Andromeda Malfoy

  * March 8, 1998

  * Birth Parents Bellatrix Lestrange and Rodolphus Lestrange

  * Adopted August 4, 1999

  * Slytherin




George and Angelina

Phillip Moss Weasley

  * August 4, 1990

  * Birth Parents Unknown

  * Adopted January 22, 2001




Mackenzie Campbell Weasley

  * February 1, 1994

  * Muggleborn Orphan

  * Adopted September 24, 1999

  * Hufflepuff




Fred Weasley II

  * November 12, 2005

  * Biologically George and Angelina’s




Roxanne Weasley

  * July 7, 2007

  * Biologically George and Angelina’s




Harry Potter’s – The Viper

Delphini Lestrange Riddle Potter

  * March 8, 1998

  * Biological Parents Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort




Tommy Riddle Potter

  * February 20, 1999

  * Biological Parents Harry Potter and Voldemort




Bellerophon Riddle Lestrange Potter

  * August 22, 1999

  * Biological Parents Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort




Harrison Riddle Potter

  * May 13, 2000

  * Biological Parents Harry Potter and Voldemort




Dudley and Donna Dursley

Daisy Dursley

  * February 28, 2000




Donald Dursley

  * September 23, 2003




Dustin Dursley

  * June 29, 2008




Percy and Audrey Weasley

Molly Weasley II

  * August 15, 2002




Lucy Weasley

  * March 4, 2008




Blaise Zabini – Hermione Granger – Ron Weasley – Kisa – The Quartet

Roderick Oliver Weasley

  * March 22, 2000

  * Assumed Ron’s biologically

  * Godparents Harry and Draco




Bianca Evangeline Weasley

  * March 22, 2000

  * Assumed Blaise’s biologically

  * Godparents Harry and Draco




Veronica Zabini

  * March 12, 2003

  * Assumed Blaise’s biologically




Anastacia Zabini

  * November 19, 2004

  * Assumed Ron’s biologically




Tristan Matteo Weasley

  * March 31, 2010




Misha Rurik Zabini

  * April 2, 2010

  * Biologically Blaise and Kisa’s




Bill and Fleur Weasley

Victoire Weasley

  * May 2, 1998




Dominique Weasley

  * August 26, 2002




Louis Weasley

  * December 24, 2006




Miles Meaney and Colm O’Brian

Samantha Meaney

  * June 7, 2001

  * Carried by Miles




Charlotte Meaney

  * July 1, 2010

  * Carried by Colm




Greg Goyle and Millicent Bulstrode

Mason Goyle

  * December 17, 2004




Greta Goyle

  * September 3, 2006




Remus and Tonks

Edward Remus Lupin

  * April 15, 1998

  * Raised by Grandma Andromeda

  * Godfather Harry

  * Gryffindor




Neville and Charlie

Frank Weasley-Longbottom

  * December 6, 2008




Ginny and Viktor

Keisha Krum

  * October 1, 2008




Finnigan and Beatrix

Blake Gerald Fawley

  * March 17, 2010




Yesenia

Diego Garcia

  * May 9, 2010




\- Older child/children who are adopted that we haven't named or decided on ages. Sorry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let us know if you think we missed anyone!


	173. Chapter 173

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GLASTOFEST!

Monday June 21, 2010

My Snarly B..... eautiful man,

You really had a rough day yesterday didn't you? I'm sorry it was so rough. I think maybe we were all up a bit too late Saturday night, the nonstop owls all day yesterday, and the ever-present exhaustion from having three newborns. It all adds up to short fuses that can end in some large explosions. I have set a silencing charm on our windows, instructed all of the children to not go anywhere near our room, and taken all five of our tiny bedmates out of our room before they had a chance to wake you. We've got a few busy (very very fun, but still busy) weeks ahead of us. So, get all the rest you can so we can just enjoy our trip to Glastofest!

Oh oh oh! You probably missed it yesterday, but apparently the Quartet is meeting us at the festival! I don't even remember what occasion it was, but Ron and you had a whole conversation about the festival and his fury at never having been invited. So, when I mentioned it was coming up, they all decided they were recovered enough from childbirth and having newborns and are quite excited about the whole thing.

I'm glad the plans for the festival are easy after all these years, I have a feeling it wouldn't go well if you were trying to plan things right now with all of the owls to contend with. They were an absolute menace yesterday. I could not stop laughing at your visual of dozens of birds staring at a muggle home. That was my life when my relatives kept ignoring my Hogwarts letters! You should ask Dudley sometime how he feels about owls. My journey into the wizarding world put the fear of owls, pigs, and umbrellas into my poor cousin's psyche!

I'm quite proud of our girls as well. Normally I am their biggest cheerleader and seem to think they will always be the best at everything they do, but even I didn't see this level of success coming. I'm sure the orders will level out after the first few weeks, but for now we are a bit over-run with orders. Which is why I told the girls yesterday that they needed to figure out some sort of business address for their post to go to. A PO box in our hybrid office wouldn't have enough room for their current level of orders, but they need to do something besides run our poor elves ragged with message collection and the subsequent clothing creation.

Our Persephone is exactly two months old today. I can't believe it. I know I've said this about each of our children, but I can't believe it's only been two months since I feel like she's just been here forever. But I also feel like she was born just yesterday. I have no idea how both of those can work at the same time, but they do. And our Lily and Caelum were exactly one month old this past Saturday. I can barely remember what it feels like for them to not be here, but I feel as though we just brought them home yesterday.

Then again, I still feel as though we brought Vivi home for the first time yesterday. We're actually only a few weeks away from the 11th anniversary of bringing her into our lives. Our first baby. We'll have been parents for eleven years. Again with the contradicting emotions, I still feel like a teenager and can't believe we have children old enough to be the ages ours are (some of them we literally couldn't have had but still!) and other times I feel as though I've lived three or four lifetimes and think I should be picking out my cane.

Eeek, I just heard some squealing babes, hold on.

Well, I had better go, apparently Zaire and Jaz had the brilliant idea to wake up their sleeping siblings by putting Bear and Venus in the bassinet with them.

Love You,  
Harry

 

My heart and soul,

Yes, I remember the conversation with Ron. It actually started WAAAAAAY back in our first or second year of marriage. I'd mentioned to Charlie and Neville - I think - that they should try going to Glastofest because it could teach them more about kink - but that it was technically a music festival. Ron overheard and wondered why we hadn't mentioned it to them. So I said something like we'd invite them the next year.

But then the next year, we were in Africa at the time and just went from there. Didn't even think to invite anyone else. I suppose that Ron must have forgot and never mentioned it to Hermione because she would have probably remembered. Then after that, even though WE have gone every year, we've almost always been out of the country when it's coming up, and so, probably just never mention it to others like we would if we saw them in person.

THIS YEAR, it was mentioned at one of the last circle dinners - if I'm not mistaken. But then the Quartet left the country, so I didn't think they'd want to come back for it. Apparently the kids were chatting about it during their recent visit with their babies, because Ron definitely demanded to come with us, and now that Hermione heard him say that, she took it upon herself to organize a little holiday while she's got a bit of free time. (Or Kisa probably told them that she was going with or without them, hahaha.)

Thus, they're coming with us this year!

I'm perversely looking forward to all the shenanigans I can get into with Ron, Blaise, and you. Not that Hermione and Kisa won't be getting into shenanigans, but I think I heard them planning a girl's thing with Elena, and so, it'll probably just be us blokes. Well, us and Sirius and the Viper.

And just like last year (and all the ones before), Saoirse and Rhys don't particularly want to do anything at nights, so they'll be in the tent with the elves looking after the kids while we're out partying. Pippa does her job of keeping us relatively close to the itinerary you like to set (you know, general outline for acts to catch), but also has the nights off, and so she and Leah will probably join the girls. Which is really too bad because this'll be the first time Leah has been with us for Glastofest and part of me was looking forward to her freaking out about how raucous it gets at night, buwahahahahahaha!

But oh, I guess I have to pause here for a bit because we're all ready to go!

…..

Ah... home sweet home! Glastofest, the only place in the world where I feel like I can truly be myself, no matter how I'm feeling. If I'm in the mood to be an absolute nutter, I can find at least a dozen people willing to be a nutter with me. And if I want to be posh and pretentious, I can find at least a hundred people willing to submit to my will and obey my every command. And during the day, there's excellent music to listen no matter where we go!

First up is just wandering around and seeing what's what. Probably some light shopping. Also, I'm dead certain that our Quartet will arrive sometime soon. Kisa's probably ready to murder them for not being here before us, but we've got years of planning out how to attend this under our belts and she's mostly just come with us, hahaha.

I'm looking forward to seeing Padfoots's reaction to this place, it seems right up his alley. I'm also certain that the Viper is going to love this place too, and his kids and our kids are... probably going to get into loads of trouble, actually. Sigh...

But since I'm already insane and a sucker to boot, I made the brilliantly BAD mistake of agreeing to bring all my siblings with this year. So... yeah... if everyone makes it home alive and no one has been arrested for brawling, I'm going to call that a win.

But it's definitely time to sign off, snog the bloody fuck out of you, take your hand in mine, and traipse all over this place taking in everything we love and spotting the things that have changed since last year.

My heart is full to burst, and it's all because of you,  
Draco


	174. Chapter 174

Wednesday June 23rd  
My Co-Captain on the S.S.Crazy,

Why did we bring our own miniature army to this festival? I swear, the first year we really bring anyone with us outside of our kids and Kisa, and we decide to bring everyone! It's one thing to bring our entire group of children (of which we have four more than we did last year already!) and our support staff who helps us wrangle them, but no, let's invite everyone we've ever met!

All four of your siblings came with, which they hadn't before, I'm not really sure why we never thought of inviting them. Maybe it's because the last time I invited your parents to something that eventually turns into a mass orgy you were less than pleased with me. If I hadn't invited them you would have gone your whole life never seeing your father in a white full-body gimp suit. Can you imagine?

But since we were bringing Sirius and the Viper, the Viper brought his own children. And lately wherever Del goes, Della follows. And obviously if Della gets to go, then why wouldn't Eliza, Sebastian, and Gavin get to go as well? I'm actually still a bit surprised at how well Del and Della get on with each other. I keep expecting them to start snarling the way Hazel and Harrison did when the Viper crew first got here. I'm so glad they aren't at each others throats anymore. They'll never be the best of friends, they're just too similarly different, but at this point they're more like bickering siblings than mortal enemies.

Obviously we'd bring Kisa with, I don't actually think she's missed a single year since the first time we brought her, so it probably shouldn't shock me that she's bringing her entire quartet. And I could very much use a bloke's night myself! Things have been so hectic that we haven't even made time for a circle dinner, let alone an evening to just relax and be (29 and) 30 year old men hanging out with our mates.

And if all of those people weren't enough, Elena decided her staff needed some incentive and inspiration for teaching. And I think they probably deserve the reward of a vacation for working underneath Dictator Malfoy. From what I've heard, the queen of ballet herself, Ekaterina, has added to their workload and is quite definitely Lainie's second in command. That poor staff, at least they're going to be creatively fulfilled while being worked to death by their mildly evil overlords.

I have already had the most amazing day so far. I am finally feeling back to normal after that pregnancy, I'm feeling fairly well rested. I got to walk around my favorite festival, hand in hand with the love of my life. I got to shop at the most unique booths and stands, finding little treasures, and giggle at some of the nonsense people are actually paying for. We could have gone home at the end of the day and I still would have had a blast, but that's not what we're doing! It's night time, which means sexy public fun times!!

Hurry up and finish getting ready, you fit prat!

Loving all of you,  
Harry

 

Thursday June 24th  
The best part of my life,

I'm impressed by the Viper. I thought that he'd ask for permission from his Draco to play around a bit, since he knew that playing was definitely going to happen here. But when I had a chance to ask him about it, he told me that he can't stand the thought of his Draco doing anything with anyone else - possibly ever but definitely until they've been together for a long time and he feels secure in their relationship.

Thus, he didn't even ask because he didn't think it would be right to ask for permission to do something he wouldn't want his Draco doing too. Thus, he basically watched the rest of us turn into utter slags as he held to his strict no playing rule. I admire that, and I suppose that it really doesn't surprise me because despite being a different person, he's got a lot of your same core beliefs and YOU wouldn't play around at all if it didn't fulfill some of the kinks and needs I have.

Such as my kink in which I not only share you, but watch every filthy thing your tongue does. And my kink in which I order you to do things you are not necessarily comfortable doing - but that end up being so hot! (Such as *giving* golden showers. I didn't think that would interest me, but ever since I first made you do it at Torture Garden, it actually does intrigue me. It's almost as if I am ordering you to mark others as part of your territory. I can't quite explain it.)

Anyway, as enjoyable as it was to do some light playing last night (the harder stuff doesn't really happen until Friday and Saturday nights), today was...

I'm going to go with interesting. I was struggling with my PPD a little this morning, and I didn't want it to ruin our entire time here (it's only Thursday, for Merlin's sake!), so I decided to just... let go. Our older kids (minus Elena, who hadn't yet returned from her night, and/or is staying with Kisa in the Quartet's tent) begged to be allowed to wander around on their own. Well, I couldn't really argue since I'd let Elena and Kisa wander around on their own at 10, and they're all at least that old now. So...

I let them. I said: "Stay safe, keep an eye on each other, and have fun," and just let them all go wander the place on their own. Thus, River, Viona, Eri, Ori, Hazel, Eliza, Sebastian, Gavin, Della, Del, Bel, Tommy and Harrison ALL... were let loose on the unsuspecting public. I'm more than a little terrified on behalf on anyone who might try messing with them! Not a single one of them has self control when it comes to NOT hexing, punching, or otherwise obliterating anyone who dares to insult or heckle them.

The only way that could be worse is if it was literally 13 Kisas!

Do NOT tell her I said that!!!

But... perhaps strangely, it DID help soothe my PPD. Now I simply have both of my twins strapped to my front with Jaz on my back while you have Persephone on your front and Zaire on your back. I'm holding Zwei's hand and you're holding Siri's. We've got a smaller and slightly more manageable group to keep track of, and when we get tired and need a break, we have plenty of elves and support staff to take over while we catch a nap or perhaps have a leisurely shag. Better yet! Just cuddle sleepily.

However, as usual, Siri and Zwei are besides themselves with excitement. They love this place almost more than we do! They're chomping at the bit to run around and do as much as humanly possible, and so, now that our lunch break is over (I absolutely adore how these wraps the twins are in allows them to nurse whenever they want, and no one can see what they are doing, so no one knows that we have quiet and well behaved babies because they are full and content), I should probably wrap this email up before our mischief twins get so impatient to get moving again already that they sneak off when we look away for half a second.

You're the one that I want, you are the one that, ooo ooo ooo, honey,  
Draco  
P.S. I was right, Padfoot reminds me of Elena when we first brought her and Kisa, how their eyes nearly bulged out of their heads trying to look at everything at the same time, and it seemed like they were having a million tiny heart attacks in their excitement. He almost reminds me of a young puppy, hahahahaha! And don't think I didn't notice him turn into his dog form so that he could get closer to certain things because it's easier for him to slip through the crowds that way. That said, I'm going to pretend I DIDN'T see him use his massive dog's tongue to make a few people REALLY happy last night...


	175. Chapter 175

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mischief twins scare their dads, and River is acting rather alarming.

Friday June 25th  
Draco,

Well, the good news is we eventually found the mischief twins. Those little monsters, they are lucky I love them so much. After an absolutely lovely afternoon walking around wearing the five littles, and holding hands with Siri and Zwei, I finally gave in to their insistence that they were old enough to not have to hold hands like babies. Once I calmed Zaire down - who was quite upset at being referred to as a baby by his big brothers - I thought about it and decided that maybe we were being a bit overprotective by making them have to be touching us at all times.

I thought wrong. Most of this weekend is going to be devoted to music, as it should, but I was very excited for the slam poetry event today. Siri and Zwei however, were not quite as interested. The babes were all sound asleep, Jaz and Zaire were sitting next to us coloring, and I thought the mischief twins were listening to the poetry with us. No, those two thought they could sneak off to the shopping area and find their older siblings. I swear, you and I turned our heads for all of thirty seconds and they were just gone. You called it!

Thankfully, we kept our cool and found them right away. Fine! I'm a big fat liar! I panicked. I went into hysterical mode. I began sobbing and basically spinning in circles hoping to spot them. You were doing your best to pack Jaz and Z back into their carriers so we wouldn't lose them as well while we searched for the lost boys. Thank you for keeping your head, you even thought to find a hidden corner where you could use a point me spell on them. We made our way out of the tent and hadn't gone very far before they found us.

Thank any deity who was listening that our little boys were dumb enough to find their sister and start bragging that they had been allowed to roam the festival on their own since they were so big. Lainie, being quite brilliant, thought they might be giant fibbers and came to find us. See if I let their little hands go for the rest of the time we are here! They'll be lucky if I don't go buy two more toddler carriers and just cram as much of them in as can fit. I'm in good shape, I can carry around a newborn and three small boys.

That was quite enough drama for my day so I decided to head back to the tent. You're still wandering around with Jaz, but the babes, Zaire, the naughty boys, and myself are just hanging out here where I can keep an eye on all of them. I can't wait until you get back. I think we should melt into a cuddle puddle and rest up for our bigger day tomorrow.

We are going to see Snoop Dogg! And Willie Nelson! That is what I love about this festival, on the same day I am going to see two different musicians that I love but whose music is completely unrelated. As far as I know, Snoop and Willie really just have the one hobby in common. And on Sunday, I am going to be able to hear, live and in person, the legend, Stevie Wonder. Stevie. Wonder. I could explode with excitement!

I'm just sitting here watching the kids like a hawk and writing to you, trying to get my mind off of the scare we just had. With my luck, I'm going to get a call telling me that some of my children have been arrested for brawling. No, wait, I see the group heading this way and not a member of law enforcement in sight …

\----

Yep, I was right, no arrests were made. There wasn't a single punch thrown. They didn't even have a verbal battle with anyone. Man, Kisa becomes an adult and all the brawls fade away. Maybe it was never us and it was always Kisa!!

Yeah, definitely not, we've been heckled often enough when Kisa wasn't even on the same continent. Maybe it's us!

Unrelated, I think it's great that Viper isn't playing around without his Draco. I like to pretend we're so very different, but you're right, we definitely have some similar core values. If you told me that you never wanted to play with anyone ever again, I would be absolutely fine with that. Playing does not fulfill anything for me kink wise. Doing sexy things for your pleasure is what does it for me. It's not like you make me do anything outside of my comfort zone, but I could happily go without sex with anyone else for the rest of my life if it wasn't something you enjoyed.

But I'm not sure if I wouldn't still have an exhibitionist kink. I can't see ever asking you if we could play with others, but if we stuck with just the two of us, I think I would still want to do things in places where we risk getting caught or literally shagging you on stage where everyone can see just how bloody fit my man is. Hmm, maybe I get off on showing YOU off.

I'm a bit calmer now, I think I am going to join in the football game that just sprang up in the area outside of our tent. See you when you get back.

Love You,  
Harry

 

Friday June 25th  
My love,

I came up with a compromise for our boys. Siri and Zwei don't want us to hold their hands constantly, and want a little bit of freedom to run around, but WE don't want them out of out sight for even a second. So, while I was out shopping today, I bought four leashes that I then spelled into those intangible leashes that I occasionally use on you.

Although not so much recently. We used to use it so that we couldn't get separated if we were playing on opposite sides of a room, or if one of us wandered off with someone, but since we've grown and evolved in our play style, we haven't really needed it.

Anyway, my point is that since the leashes are invisible and intangible, we can attach them to our boys and Zaire and Jaz, and just let them THINK we've suddenly decided that we're not going to freak out if they run off. In actuality, we can just tug on the leashes until we either find them, or they get physically pulled back to us, hahaha.

Tonight, the Quartet is taking advantage of the fact that they Apparated their kids to Molly and Arthur for the night and the rest of the weekend, by dressing up in slaggy costumes with us, Pippa, and Sirius, and dancing as pervertedly as possible for a few hours before we even consider actually playing. Basically, we all wanted a chance to just relax and have fun with no expectations. That said, since Blaise is going to be part of the group, chances are that it will end in an orgy at some point.

I was actually sort of thinking we might go on the pull, and rather than tie up a bunch of kinky buggers and torture them as a team, we would just invite a nice couple back to our tent for some slower and more sensual playing. FYI, just in case you somehow forgot, what I mean by that is the play room portion of our tent. Naturally, our tent - by necessity- needs to LOOK like it could feasibly house our entire entourage, so it's practically a small house on the outside with more than one entrance. To conserve space - so to speak - each entrance has separate undetectable extension charms on it so that there are different areas of the house depending on where you enter.

The main entrance leads to the parlor/sitting area, the kitchen/dining area, the loo, etc. The side entrances lead to the various bedrooms, and I honestly can't remember how many there are now, haha. But the BACK entrance leads to a play room that more or less looks like it's actually the size one would expect to see when entering a tent this size. There's a bed and a box with a couple of toys in it, but that's it. But the best part of the room is the silencing charmwork that keeps the noises we make out of the rest of the tent, keeps the noises from the rest of the tent out of our room, and makes it sound like we can still hear everything outside the tent, but they don't need to know that it's highly muffled so that it can't distract us. If they even notice that's it's much quieter than it should be, they'll probably just be jealous of how soundproof our tent is, hahaha.

Huh... I just described a potential play night, and the part I cared about most was the tent, haha. Perhaps I'm getting old and too tired to truly be excited by the prospect of shagging. Oh to be a teenager again!

Speaking of teens... I overheard this somewhat alarming conversation between Viona and River today. They were standing a bit off to the side of a table where the rest of them were eating lunch, and didn't know I was there because I was actually just rounding the corner of the food truck and I stopped when I heard Viona shriek.

"I should tell our dads!"

"I wasn't doing anything wrong!"

"OH!!! So sneaking away to snog some girl is what you were SUPPOSED to be doing???"

River growled in frustration. "I MEAN that it was just snogging, and it was only about 20 minutes! What's the problem?!"

"Do you even know that girl's name?!" Viona demanded fiercely.

"Can't say that I do," River replied in a tone that suggested he didn't particularly care.

"How would you feel if *I* snuck off to snog some nameless bloke?!" Viona snarled.

"Why would I care about that?!" River asked, clearly baffled. "You're my sister! It's NOT like we're dating!"

"WHY WOULD YOU CARE?!?!" Viona roared irately. "Because what if the bloke I chose tried to do things to me I didn't want?!"

"I'm certain you'd punch him in the nose!" River yelled, clearly still not understanding the point.

"FINE! I GUESS I JUST WON'T CARE IF YOU'RE KIDNAPPED OR MUGGED!!!"

"OH COME ON VIONA!!! THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!!"

Viona shoved River a little and stormed to the table so she could sit with the rest of our mob and fume. Meanwhile, River stomped away, came across a girl who looked about 15 that seemed concerned about why he was so upset, and presumably talked her into snogging him for a bit because they promptly disappeared.

I didn't say anything as I joined a queue to order some food, and then sat with the kids as they devoured a lot more food than one would expect people so small to be able to eat. About 20 or so minutes later, River reappeared looking rather dreamy, so A: I'm pretty sure he didn't have time (or the privacy, to be honest) to do anything more than snog, and B: He seems adamant that all he wants at the moment is simple snogging. Thus, even though it is alarming to realize that he must have snogged two completely different girls in less than an hour, I decided to pretend like I didn't know anything.

I DID ask a rather curious: "Where were you?" Just to see if he would outright lie, but he didn't. He grumbled an indistinct. "Around... a bit over there. Getting to know a new friend... a girl..."

Sighing, I once again chose to bite my tongue and NOT chastise him. Instead, I pulled him close for a quick hug and a kiss to his temple, murmuring something like: "Stop growing up so fast."

This made him harrumph a laugh and wander off to order an ice cream cone. About 15 seconds after he joined the queue, a girl who looked 14 or so bounded up behind him (her parents had just given her money and permission to get some ice cream and I could see them watching her from a table), and the two of them immediately started chatting like old friends. Except that they'd never met before so they had to talk about how many times they'd been here, where their tents were located, what their favorite bands were, and so on.

Harry, I'm telling you that it is downright WEIRD to watch any boy that age (our son or not, but more so that it IS our son) be so inherently charming and charismatic that he managed to chat up a girl without even trying... and caught the attention of at least two others while he was at it! I feel like I should create a potion to enhance his awkwardness and slip it to him at least twice a day!

I won't... but I think we might need to prepare ourselves to become *actual* grandfathers by the time he's 16.

However, the littles are officially asleep, and it sounds like the Quartet just arrived in full costume (I have mine all ready to cast a dressing spell on) so I should sign off now so that we can go dance the night away.

Now I've had the time of my life and I owe it all to you,  
Draco  
P.S. Do you want to talk about the nightmares you had last night? They sounded intense. I don't want to pry, but since I had to wake you up and hold you - and sooth and hum to you - at least three times, I think maybe you might NEED to talk about them?


	176. Chapter 176

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is UPSET and Draco tries to reassure him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter starts with some pretty strong language.

Monday June 28th  
Shite Fuck Dick Hell God-Damn Arsehole Mother-Fucking Cuntastic Bitching Whore Wanker Bloody-Buggering Bint Twat Knob

Not you, never you, I just had to get that all out. We just got home from our annual Glastofest. It was amazing. I wanted to sit down and gush over all the fun we had. It was so amazing that neither of us had a spare moment where we weren't either doing something or getting in a moment of sleep. We got to see Stevie Bloody Wonder, had a massively fun play time Friday and Saturday nights, I could write about that fit couple we brought back to ours, the glorious music, the delicious food, fun with my amazing family. Yes, that's what I wanted to talk about.

Or I suppose I could have talked about the less than fun parts of our trip. How frustrated I continue to be at River's behavior. He just keeps putting himself in danger. He keeps walking away from the group to snog random strangers. Not only do I hate the idea of him just spending all his days snogging, that's not even the worst part. He doesn't know these girls, they could be rapists, they could be murderers, they could be kidnap victims themselves who have been brainwashed into being the bait for the kidnapper to get more children. And he's just waltzing around, being a moron, thinking with his bits instead of his brain.

I think maybe we should talk with his grandparents, I wonder if they have Veela anywhere in their ancestry. Something about his ability to charm total strangers seems more than just a regular, charming, handsome boy. I get that he's one of the best young men on the planet, but the amount of girls who just fall for him almost immediately makes me wonder if it's more than just his regular charisma.

The other thing I would prefer to talk about is my horrible nightmares. Yeah, the topic I'm cleverly avoiding by babbling nonsense is so bad I would rather discuss my nightmares. It's not like the fear of losing my children is a new fear. It's actually probably the thing I talk about most in my sessions with Katja, even more than my chronically terrible self esteem due to a childhood of abuse and being used as a pawn. But those few minutes when I thought that Siri and Zwei were possibly lost to us? Released a flood of fear that was living underneath my normal parent level fear of losing a child. So, every night I have been front row at a show designed specifically for me where I lose our children in any number of horrifying ways.

Which is why today's development was even worse for its timing. I mentioned earlier this week how excited I am for our upcoming anniversary of getting our Princess. Well, in a few months we are coming up on the ten year anniversary of getting our Haz. What a momentous occasion! Ten years we've had our baby. Why is ten years such a magical number? Oh, because that's also the amount of time in Azkaban her birth mother received for her role in the black market sales of potions and stolen hair. The other bio father got a full twenty and it doesn't really matter since his genetic influence was stripped as well as his rights.

But Gorman is still genetically Haz's biological parent. Legally, she has no leg to stand on, her rights were stripped, "we" adopted Hazel. But she will be getting out soon. It would be ten years in October, but she's getting out a few months early for good behavior. And she's already put in a request to see "Harrison."

What in the hell are we going to do? If this were Olivia coming back trying to see Viona, I'd be less worried. Vivi has empathy for what her birth mother went through, and probably wouldn't be averse to meeting her once, but she's also detached enough that she wouldn't need or want a relationship with Olivia. Our sweet Haz is such a people pleaser, she wants to be loved and accepted. If we tell her about this, she might feel badly about Gorman's situation (that she thoroughly placed herself into!) and agree to meeting with her. But not only was Gorman a complete lunatic who had a Polyjuice baby with my stolen body, now she's spent the last decade in Azkaban! She wasn't in her right mind before!

I can't imagine not telling Haz about this, what if she finds out years from now that we kept this from her and she hates us? What if we let them meet and Gorman freaks out about Haz being trans and now we end up dealing with mental health issues with our daughter, her ending up with body dysmorphia or something like that?

I can't think about this a moment more. I am ignoring the owl for now, I'm going to drown myself in dreamless sleep, and maybe I will have woken up and this will have all been another one of my terrible nightmares.

You are my lighthouse when I feel adrift at sea,  
Harry

 

Tuesday June 29th  
Mi Amor,

I hope the dreamless sleep let you get some rest. I had Muffy help me with the five in our bed, making sure they were all fed, changed, and otherwise comfortable all night long so that there was no excuse to wake you. Now that you are hopefully well rested - and probably in the kitchen stress baking (I could go for some orange ginger biscuits) - I just wanted to say that this situation is not that bad.

I think we will simply invite Hazel's mind healer over for an informal session in which the four of us explain to Haz what is going on, and what complications might arise if she agrees to see her birth mother. Then - once we feel that she's got a good grasp on the situation - we let her make the decision. Who knows, maybe she has no desire whatsoever to meet the woman.

But if she does, we will of course be there for every second of the meeting so that we can protect our daughter from any of the vile bitterness Gorman is likely to be feeling after 10 years in Azkaban.

Besides, Haz is responding beautifully to her hormone potions. They are doing exactly as intended, helping her to grow up in a more feminine manner than she would otherwise. It seems she has your shortness going for her, so that's a plus.

So, erm… speaking of Olivia... Well, she sort of HAS, erm… contacted me. About a year or so after we adopted Viona, I got a letter asking if I knew whether Viona had been adopted by a nice family. I told her that yes, Viona was with an excellent family and rather happy. I left it at that. A few years passed and I received another owl wondering if I had actually seen Viona, and thus could verify that she actually was happy. I was rather terse, but replied that yes, I had seen her and know for certain that she's loved and happy.

A few more years passed, and the same thing. Basically, every two or so years, Olivia HAS owled asking about Viona, and I've simply assured her that she's fine.

But then you went on tour, and I had absolutely NO capacity to think about this at the time, but basically, since you had the kids with you and they even did a bit of publicity, well, Olivia saw Viona during at least one of the interviews. She wrote to me asking if it was the same Viona, and then went on to ramble that of course it was the same one since she looks a bit like a mini Olivia - only happier and more well cared for, thus prettier (her words, not mine). Olivia then wonders why I didn't just TELL her that we'd adopted Viona as that information would have put her mind at ease all of these years.

I replied with a simple message, basically telling her that I thought she'd actually be upset to know that a Malfoy was raising a Crabbe child, and that said child was living in the same house as my father. I haven't heard back from her since, and if history is any indication, it'll be a couple of years before I do. Thus, not anything to worry about, and the only reason I haven't mentioned it before was it wasn't really anything worth mentioning. Just a question and a terse answer.

But looking back, I can see how that might look like I was keeping it a secret. I wasn't, just one of those things where I honestly didn't think anything of it and so more or less forgot about it the moment I replied. If you are upset that I didn't feel this was important enough to tell you, I will submit to any punishment you deem necessary.

As for River being part Veela, I had honestly wondered that myself. That said, I grew up with Blaise, and so, feel I have a good grasp on the early warning signs. So far, I don't see anything truly Veela in River, just an inherent charm that I actually think he gets from you - somehow. BUT if he did have Veela in him, that would at least explain why he's SO interested in snogging and slightly more than snogging ALREADY. Merlin! I thought we'd have at least two more years before he realized that girls were a separate gender with differences that can be interesting. Sigh...

When you finally feel like you are a bit calmer and have a batch or twenty of biscuits ready, come find me in bed where I'm feeding Caelum - who's acting as if I've never fed him before in his life! - and lay your head upon my shoulder so we can talk more about your nightmares and maybe I can help you get through them. Or maybe we can invite Katja and Yesenia over for a joint session. After all, I have plenty to talk about with my PPD rearing it's ugly head again.

Take my breath away,  
Draco


	177. Chapter 177

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry stressed baked and Katja ordered him to take a relaxing bath.

Tuesday June 29th  
My Draco!

Ahh! Why did you let me sleep so long? I took about a gallon of dreamless sleep, woke up and wasn't quite finished stressing about Hazel's BM problem so I baked a gazillion biscuits (of course I made you orange ginger biscuits, I'm not a monster!), and then sat with you in bed to snuggle and help feed the babes.

We leave for Egypt in the morning! We haven't packed. We've not unpacked from Glastofest. I've not set up a time to meet with Haz's therapist, I haven't set up an appointment with the lawyers, why did I waste so much time sleeping? Wait! We have a Pippa and an army of house elves. Hold on a mo.

Ok, Pippa is going to set up all the mind healer appointments, mine, yours, ours with Haz, and any others she thinks to add, not sure which of the kids is due for a checkup. Muffy and Dibly laughed at me when I asked them to unpack our things from the festival. Apparently Muffy is not a dumb elf and her Master Harry should know better. Dibly just rolled his enormous eyes at me. I was too afraid of the both of them to ask if they had begun packing for the upcoming trip in the morning. Can you ask them?

Your note about Haz's potions doing so well made me remember to also ask Pippa to make sure we've enough refills of the potions before we leave. I agree, they really seem to be doing their job. I'm seeing subtle changes. Which is good that it's subtle, it would concern me if she went from little girl to pin-up model overnight or something. That drastic of a change couldn't be good on her little body. Oh! Pippa says we're good to go, plenty of potions for what we need until we get back.

Speaking of plenty of something, I may have made WAY too many biscuits. So, we'll take some for the trip obviously, I'll leave some here for whoever is staying at the Manor, and I've already sent some over to Unity House. And those that we're taking with, some will just be for us to snack on for the plane ride, but also enough to bring for the Unity Egypt Kids. I messaged their director, no allergies that would be an issue with what I've baked. I guess one child is sensitive to processed food dye, which is not an issue. And there is another child with a mild peanut allergy, but I even though I made ten different recipes, none of them had peanuts so we're in the clear.

I suppose I will forgive you for letting me sleep so long … FINE! I know it's not your job to make sure I am awake. FINE! I know it's probably a good thing I wasn't pacing around tearing my hair out. FINE! I should really stop telling you it was your responsibility. Anyway, I really do feel refreshed and much better. I think your plan of telling Haz in a controlled environment, letting her make the decision, and physically being there if she decides on meeting her are all logical steps to take. My thought was to hide our entire family on an unplottable tropical island. I think I will save that plan for when one of our brood does something that gets them an invitation to Azkaban.

It seems like Caelum really needed some extra feeding huh? Well, he is what, a little over five weeks now? 4-6 weeks is a huge growth spurt time. It's probably a good thing we're both nursing plus we have the stored milk or one of us would be very sore for the next few weeks. He's looking more and more like me every day isn't he? I was always told how much I looked like my dad but with my mum's eyes, well he seems as though he's going to look like my dad but with my mum's eyes AND hair. I can't go down the road of "what-ifs" but I do wonder if they hadn't died, would I have ended up with a little brother who looks just like our Cael?

I KNOW if your parents had had any more biologically together that there's a high likelihood that they would have looked like Lissa. Beautiful Narcissa's features with the Malfoy platinum hair? Yeah, you could have easily ended up with a sister that looks like our daughter.

And I think we're finally starting to see what Persephone truly looks like. When she was born, she had black hair and seemed to have your eyes and your pointy features. I think a lot of the pointiness was a result of how small she was. Now that she's put on a bit of weight I actually see a bit of myself in her rounded features. She still has your eyes, and yes I am pretty sure they will end up pure silver like yours without any hint of my green. But the strangest thing is that she's no longer a little raven haired princess. She started losing her hair a bit, I of course panicked and called Rowe, but apparently that's pretty common with preemies born with hair. She seems to have lost most of what she was born with and what's growing back is awfully light.

Okay, I should really stop being terrified of a two foot tall house elf and go check and see if she's started packing.

I'd say to wish me luck, but I used up all my luck finding you,  
Harry

P.S. Don't think we're not going to talk about the fact that you have never ONCE mentioned Olivia had contacted you!

 

Tuesday June 29th  
Mon Coeur de Lion

Ahahahahaha! Katja ordered you to take a relaxing bath! She gave you a potion to promote relaxation and sent you to lay in our nice warm tub. She thinks you won't be able to have any fun at all in Egypt if you're this stressed out, and I agree just a tiny bit.

Besides, our session with Hazel and her therapist went well. We explained what was happening, explained our concerns, and let her therapist reword and clarify everything to be absolutely certain Hazel understood our fears. Haz is understandably torn because she's always wanted to meet her mother just to see what sort of woman does what she did. However, she's half convinced that her birth mother (BM HAHAHAHA!) will reject her and try to shame her into being disgusted by herself.

So, she's going to think it over and hopefully make a decision by the time we come back from Egypt.

Then, our joint session with Katja and Yesenia also went well. We talked about your nightmares. We talked about the crazy PPD monster that has me half convinced my life isn't real and half ready to snarl and shout at the slightest provocation. Even more than usual!

After you reluctantly took your potion and went to take your bath, our therapists left and I fed the babies - who positively loved being passed around during our session - got them to sleep, and stopped in to check that Zaire and Jaz are doing fine at their sleepover with Zwei. It was adorable! Siri was insistent that they needed him to read them a bedtime story or ten. So they were curled up in Zwei's bed, sound asleep with Zwei raptly listening to Siri read. I'm dead certain Siri was already finished with the book and just making stuff up as he went.

He said something like: "Then he hopped on a cloud and flew away from the castle toward the evil dragon's lair."

"Was he a blue dragon?" Zwei asked with bated breath.

"Of course! And he breathed purple fire!"

I left them to it so that I could finish dictating this email (as the computer floats along behind me), sign off, and join you in the bath. I'm craving a little blood, but I'm also craving that other fluid I like to drink from you. If I'm lucky, maybe the potion will have you so relaxed that this will feel a bit like icing on a cake before making you drift off and have pleasant dreams.

But still I (game over) I, I, I! I would do it, push a button, pull a trigger, climb a mountain, jump off a cliff, 'cuz you know, baby, I love you, love you a little bit,  
Draco


	178. Chapter 178

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Egypt :-)

Wednesday June 30th  
Tell everybody I'm on my way!

Squeeee! We're on our way to Egypt. This will be one of our shorter flights, only five hours to get there. You're snuggled up with a group of the littles listening to some story Siri is making up. He really has such a huge imagination on him. He's so quiet and introverted that I seem to forget he's taking everything in. A good storyteller is inherently a people watcher, and that is our Siri to a T. Maybe he'll be a writer when he grows up!

I don't feel like I'm at one hundred percent, but I definitely feel better than I did a few days ago. I even managed to go without nightmares last night and I didn't even need to take dreamless sleep to do it. I wasn't going to leave you hanging two nights in a row taking care of all the children yourself. A solid night's sleep the night before, multiple mind healing sessions, a relaxing bath, and my gorgeous husband giving me my happy ending all combined to make me one blissed out wizard.

I was hoping to let you sleep all night last night like you did for me, but our babes are just too noisy and I wasn't able to keep them from waking you a bit. On the bright side, I don't think we need to worry about any of their lung development. Three completely hearty and healthy sets on them! I'm sorry I only have the two nipples Caelum! I really should have known better than to leave his feed for last, his sisters have a bit more patience than he does.

I missed our Zaire and Jaz in bed last night, but it was also really nice to have a bit more space in our bed. Although I can only say that because I know they were thrilled to get to sleep with one of their big brothers last night. If I thought they were scared, sad, or lonely in a bed of their own I probably would have felt much differently. Have you noticed how close Zaire and Zwei have gotten lately? I honestly wouldn't be surprised to find out they wanted to room together permanently. Siri and Zwei have always been so close, but Siri definitely needs his own space. He needs a place to go all his own to decompress. I really think Zwei only went to his own room so he could feel like a "big kid" and wasn't quite ready to be alone all night. I won't push it, but if they bring it up, I am all for it.

I feel like I say this every time we take a trip with just us, but I love that it's just us with the only extras being our child wrangling staff as well as Sirius, Teddy, and *Sammy.* Is that selfish of me? It's not that I don't love our friends and our additional family members, but sometimes it needs to just be us. I have a really hard time wrapping my head around loving our extended family unconditionally but also knowing that I love you and our kids more than the others. How does that even work? There are no conditions on my love for our nieces and nephews, but I also could rank people I love in order of most love and this family of ours would top my list.

Ugh, ok I need to get out of my own head, I'm starting to think in circles.

I'm so excited to be heading to Egypt. This might have been one of my favorite locations in our world tour of Unity House building. There really wasn't anything dramatic, the children were pretty much just orphans that would do better in a magical orphanage, very little in the way of abuse or neglect cases. The staff was all excited and hard working. It was a nice change of pace from some of the more stressful builds. It gave us time to spend a ton of time together outside of Unity, we got to sightsee, it felt the most like "home" of any other spot. Like we just put in a hard day's work and then spent the rest of our time like any other regular family.

Ok, enough rambling out of me, I am going to join storytime!

There's no place that I'd rather be,  
Harry

 

Wednesday June 30th  
Dearest Harry,

I HATE everything right now. Not you, never you. or our family. Just everything else.

I had a lovely plane ride, but I don't know, maybe my PPD just took offense to the enclosed space or something, but as I was holding Caelum, I slowly started to feel like I was ready to just quit life and crawl in a hole and never come out.

He was fussing a little, nothing too bad, but he didn't seem to want or need anything. He had just been fed and changed and burped and was being played with and didn't seem tired, so he should have been happy, but he was fussy. And that triggered something in me that almost made me see red. I had to hand him off to Viona after about 10 or 15 minutes and 'go to the loo' - which in this case, was code for hiding in a place I could reasonably expect to be on my own.

But in the loo, I felt extremely claustrophobic and maybe a little panicky. I started to feel like I couldn't quite breathe. But there wasn't really anywhere for me to go to be both alone and in a large and open space. So I stayed in there feeling like I was breaking into little pieces and like I couldn't handle ANYTHING! I didn't want to talk, or hear any noises - no matter how little - or (Merlin forbid) BE talked to and have to think.

Had anyone walked in on me just then, or even knocked on the door, I think I probably would have snapped, screamed and raged, and maybe even hexed the door. Thank Salazar that no one needed the loo for the hour or so I was in there before the plane landed. Or perhaps thank you? You might have intuitively realized that I was sucked into a PPD black hole and done whatever it took to keep everyone away.

Once we landed, I managed to pull myself together long enough for us to get to a place where I could be alone. But before I secluded myself, perhaps ironically, I needed to basically get lost in a crowd and - I don't even know how to explain it, sort of meditate while walking, not needing to interact with anyone, just try to organize my own head. Thus, I made a seriously flimsy excuse of needing something THAT SECOND so that I could escape to go shop for it.

But in actuality, after wandering around in a bit of a fog for I don't even know how long, I took out my Magi-mobile and wrote this email. I'm now headed back but I'm still not feeling 100 percent up to being around people. Just you. I want your arms around me. So I might just pop in - insist that you hug me for a minute or twenty, and then pop off to be alone. We'll see how it goes.

Love you like the desert sands love a bit of spit,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That storm is nigh...
> 
> Also, this ended up being WAY more subtle than we intended, so I'll point it out here. Harry had mentioned that Sammy would be coming to stay with them when Colm went into labor, and Sammy is with them, thus...  
> That said, we don't mention anything else about it until nearly a month later, and so, if y'all are wondering what's going on with Miles and Colm, they are at home, doing fine, and trying to figure out how to deal with a new baby all on their own ^_^


	179. Chapter 179

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> River makes a suggestion that helps Draco deal with his PPD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the calm before the storm.

Thursday July 1st  
My Love,

You are finally sound asleep in our bed, well what used to be our bed when we lived here, now OUR BED is back in Wiltshire where it belongs. It was obviously a very long and emotional day for you yesterday, and today you felt badly enough to not come with us to visit Unity today. I was worried that would mean you wouldn't be able to sleep, but you're thankfully getting some good rest. I've got the littles tonight, you just rest up and heal from that fucking PPD that won't let you out of its claws.

If you're still feeling it tomorrow I'd like you to try and have a magi-skype session with Yesenia. And I definitely don't want you to push yourself if you're in a bad place, so if you don't feel up to coming to Unity in the morning or spending the afternoon sightseeing with us then so be it. You are my number one priority so don't you dare risk your mental health if you're not ready for the crowd. We're here for roughly a week, I am sure you'll have plenty of time to visit and check in. And even if you don't get a single moment to shop, I will make sure to buy you something big and sparkly!

Today's Unity visit was lovely. There was not a single Kid living there that was living there when we left. That is amazing! Would it have been nice to see some of their Royalty? Of course, and they did put out the word so they may stop in and visit Saturday afternoon, but I am just beyond thrilled that they were able to find homes for so many children. In a perfect world I wouldn't have time to fall in love with a single Unity Kid because their real parents would show up and get them the moment they arrived.

Don't worry, I haven't fallen for any of their Kids. This is not one of those jinx things where I say "our family is complete" and then decide to adopt an entire quidditch team, I mean it. OUR FAMILY IS COMPLETE! Thirteen is enough! And perfect. I am so in love with our family. I can't believe how perfect they all are. How is this my life? My only negative right now is your PPD that won't go away, and you're the one who has to suffer with it. I just wish I could take it from you. You're so strong and amazing.

Oh, and you don't have to worry about River either, he hasn't fallen for any of their Kids either! It does help that the oldest Kid here is seven. You wouldn't believe how relieved I was to find that out when we got here this morning. "Where are all your older kids? This is it?!? Woohoo!"

Siri, Zwei, and Zaire are in heaven. The average aged Kid is five, so they have a huge group of playmates. And our Zaire was right there in the thick of things. I didn't have to pry him out of my arms, or warm him up to the group, he just saw a group of Kids his age and went running over to join in their play. It helps that they were playing football which is his favorite, but still! My eyes were awfully misty!

I'm pretty sleepy after the long day myself, but I have one last thing to say before I come snuggle up on you. I am so proud and pleased that you got Caelum to someone safe and then removed yourself when you knew you were feeling terrible on the plane ride. That could have ended so badly and you were able to put him in the arms of his sister and then find a place to take care of yourself. At the end of the day, I have a safe husband and a safe child, I love you so much.

I'll see you in my dreams,  
Harry

 

Tuesday July 1st  
The man of my dreams,

Don't kill me! But... I think I just fell in love...

Let me explain.

So my day started with me sitting in bed with Jaz and Persephone. Both of them are rather quiet, thus, I felt I could handle them. And I could. Persephone gave me a happy smile and some adorable cooing as Jaz knelt next to me with her head on my shoulder so she could watch her sister nurse.

Then there was a knock at the door. Lucky for me, Persephone was done eating and simply using me a bit like a pacifier. So, I pulled her off and closed my robe. Yes, the fact that I had anything at all on is probably a dead give away that I'm hiding something, but I'm going to pretend that the kids just think I'm being weird because of my PPD.

Anyway, River came in to talk to me. He WANTED to talk to you, but what he wanted, he figured that you would actually be too busy to do anyway and that he might have better luck with me. Especially since what he wanted would give me an excuse to get out of the house and more or less be alone. With River, of course.

You probably remember how amusing I found it when Aya showed up at Glastofest on Sunday - the day when there's still a lot of acts to be seen but the festival is starting to wind down. She had a mission in mind and it just so happened to be a bit of a Godsend to us. She offered her services to fest goers who had probably overdone it by then.

BUT she also had her apprentice Angella with her, and so, snagged River - in essence preventing him from snogging any more girls because he was too busy working in the tent Aya set up to do the massages in. They worked a good portion of Sunday, and then again Monday as people were packing up to go home and realized that they really needed a massage to help fix all the partying they'd done.

What I didn't know until today was that Aya had given River a table of his own and told him that since he literally CAN'T be with her at the moment, she expects him to practice his skills on anyone he could, so long as he took all necessary precautions and remained safe.

So, River explained all of this - doing his best to put me in a good mood by giving me a massage, and I can tell that he's had some lessons. He's obviously not knowledgeable enough to give a deep tissue massage or help heal an injury, but for a simple relaxation massage, he's really not half bad. Not to mention, Aya's was teaching him some Swedish techniques, so he's learned how to use his forearms and elbows to get a little deeper.

Anyway, he actually DID manage to put me in a MUCH better mood. That's when he told me that he really wanted an opportunity to take his table to one of the relatively nearby beaches - such as Gouna or Ain Al Sokhna. They're high end luxury/touristy beaches (for the most part) and he feels that there will be plenty of people willing to let him work on them. Plus, if I bring him, I can relax on the beach, soak up some sun, and keep an eye on him so that no one can do anything bad to him, and also, no one can accuse him of doing anything bad to them.

I actually didn't see a downside to this suggestion - aside from the fact that you probably wouldn't like it if I just took River and abandoned the rest of you for the rest of the day. So I decided to compromise. I'd take River, Viona, Eri, Ori, and Haz and let the rest of them play on the beach while I caught a bit of sunshine. Meanwhile, you and the littles would probably be more than happy playing at Unity Egypt. Plus, you'd have Leah AND Pippa - plus as many elves as you needed - to help you hold and entertain the babies, so I didn't feel too bad making you keep all three of them.

By now, you are probably glaring at the screen because I haven't gotten to the explanation yet. Alright fine, I'll come directly to the point. Sort of.

Oh Harry! She's THE most beautiful girl I've ever seen!

There I was, just minding my own business, trying to do a bit of meditation or even occlumency in an attempt to banish or just gain control over my PPD monster, when I saw her walk sensually along the beach. Here's the funny thing: Our girls were busy playing something very like volleyball - just the three of them - but Orion was sitting on the lounger next to me, and River had just finished up working on a boy about five years older than him. They ALSO noticed the girl walking by, and I know this for certain because River stood up straighter and looked a bit like a hunting dog just waiting for permission to go after some prey. Meanwhile, Orion dropped his book and sat up at full attention - his head turning slowly as he followed her movements.

"She's too old for you," I stated, chuckling in amusement because Orion responded by looking at me like he was a puppy and I had just kicked him for no reason.

"What? Who is? What are you talking about?" He tried to pretend like he hadn't been caught in the act.

Anyway, this gorgeous girl walked up and flirted with a man who looked a little older than me, and I can't be certain what exactly he said, but she pouted and walked away from him. She did this a few times before a man who barely looked old enough to be called an adult grinned at her and followed her to a tent.

I was now frowning in concern as I watched her, because what the one following her couldn't see was that there was another man behind the tent looking... rather menacing, actually.

Less than a minute passed. Suddenly, the young man stormed out of the tent angrily with the girl grabbing his arm and begging him not to go. Well, I wasn't actually close enough to hear them, but I am nearly certain that's what she was saying based on her actions. He shook her off and stormed emphatically away. The man behind the tent came around front, dragged her into the tent very roughly, and I could see him smacking her before the door to the tent finished falling shut.

Before I could leap to my feet to go rescue her, he whipped the door to the tent back open and tossed her out hard enough that she landed on the sand. He pointed toward the beach and ordered her to go, and she merely nodded before picking herself up and... doing something I've have actually done a million times when I was younger. Plaster a mask over my face (figuratively). The only difference is that my mask was designed to show no emotions at all, and hers was designed to look happy and cheerful.

She tried flirting with a few more men, glancing in my direction a couple of times but not coming over because I had Orion next to me, still watching her with a lot of interest. I know he's not stupid, so he'd probably noticed and understood the exchange too.

A quick look assured me that River was currently working on a middle aged woman, who was busy chatting with her daughter, who looked a little enamored with River, oi! In any case, he was busy and not likely to disappear with a girl for the next 40-50 minutes. So I turned to Orion.

"Hey Ori, would you mind going to the refreshment stand and ordering all of us something to drink and a few light snacks?"

"Only if I can get some teriyaki calamari," he bargained.

"Ooo! Get some for me too, and some caviar if you can find it," I added, handing him more than enough money to pay for anything he might buy.

The moment he was gone, I pretended to be absorbed in watching our girls - who were still having a blast with the ball. Sure enough, within about 2 minutes, the girl who was so beautiful that I think she could seriously win contests - perhaps even Miss Universe - sashayed over to me and delicately perched on the lounger Ori had just vacated.

"How are you today?" She purred.

"Surprisingly well," I answered, and it was true. Maybe it was the sun, or maybe it was the air, but I was feeling much better.

"Would you like to come back to my tent with me for a bit to... chat...?"

I pretended to be obtuse at first. "What would we have to chat about that we couldn't just say out here?"

"Oh... this and that... I could follow in that boy's footsteps and give you a lovely massage," she offered silkily.

"Yeah?" I asked with interest.

She pretended to brush some sand off her chest, but really, she was calling attention to the fact that she had more or less the PERFECT breasts. I'm not sure if they were a B or a C cup, but they were not too big or too small. I know you don't like squicky female parts, so you probably don't care either way.

"And the massage would make you *very* happy," she assured me confidently.

I pretended to think this over carefully. "Alright. I happen to love massages."

"Good!" She exclaimed with a joyous smile, which might be the moment I may have fallen in love with her. She's just... soft and fluffy and all around feminine like an angel from heaven. She has this long black hair that goes past her waist to about the back of her knees, and it floats behind her like a cloud. Her eyes are these bottomless black orbs that just glow with warmth and kindness.

But at the same time, I KNOW she's just faking it! I SAW her pull on the happy mask. I know that inside, she's... probably miserable, and I can relate. You know?

So, I followed her to her tent. She's tall for a girl, almost as tall as me, but like four or five inches shorter. The moment we were inside her tent, she ran her hands up my chest, over my shoulders, and down my arms.

"What's your name?" I asked her curiously.

"Does it matter? Call me Jewel, or Honey, or whatever you prefer," she replied with a flirty shrug.

"I genuinely want to know," I informed her.

She paused and looked into my eyes. I'm not entirely sure what she found, but it made her curious. Her curiosity melted into a slow smile. "Mahafsoun."

"Lovely. You are very beautiful, Mahafsoun," I told her even though she HAD to know this already.

"Thank you," she purred happily, resuming her task of seducing me. She shifted her hands to the buttons of the short sleeve white button up I was wearing.

I stopped her because despite being a nudist at heart, I'm feeling REALLY ugly with the bumps or swelling or whatever you want to call it from the milk I'm producing. "No."

She pouted unhappily. "But how am I going to massage you if you don't get naked?"

"You're not," I stated firmly.

She looked very afraid for a moment, her eyes unable to stop themselves from glancing toward the back of the tent. Then she forced a smile to her lips again. "Oh! I understand. You only want me to massage a certain part of you. With my mouth."

She dropped to her knees and quickly grabbed my zipper.

I shook my head. "Nope, sorry luv, I have a husband."

Now she looked almost terrified, once again glancing toward the back of the tent.

"How old are you, Mahafsoun?"

She hesitated, then practically leapt to her feet and threw her arms around me so that she could give me a desperate kiss. "Old enough to know how to make you feel good." One arm held me tight, quivering even as an indescribable scent filled the air. It's not actually a smell, more like an aura, but I knew that it was fear. Considering that she'd already been smacked around, I had to wonder what would happen if she was rejected again. Determined to NOT let that happen, she slid her other hand down to my groin, but I grabbed her so that she couldn't grind into me over my shorts.

"I said no."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Then why did you come in here with me?" She whispered in my ear.

I held up a finger asking her to wait a moment, then I pulled my wand out of its nearly invisible arm holster. Turning slowly, I pointed it at the man I knew was behind the tent. "Petrificus Totalis! … Accio arsehole!"

A moment later, the man was laying on his back at our feet, unable to move so much as a twitch.

"He can't hurt you now," I promised, giving him a good hard kick in the side to prove it.

"You have magic!" Mahafsoun breathed out in awe. "My... my mother had magic. She never told my father. She hoped I would too, but I don't. After she died, my father saw no reason to keep me around. After all, I was merely a love child of a mistress and nothing more than a burden and an extra mouth to feed. So, he sold me to..." she swept her hand out to indicate the man glaring at us with murder in his eyes.

"Come. Let's leave him here until someone finds him and rushes him to a hospital where the muggles won't be able to fix him," I suggested reasonably. "Let me bring you somewhere safe. Somewhere he will NEVER be able to find you. This I promise. He could literally be standing three feet from you in this place and he wouldn't be able to see or hear you curse his name as harshly as possible."

She stared at him a long moment, clearly not certain she'd be able to escape him for good. Then she looked at me, then back and forth between us several times.

"I... I don't know what to expect from you. What if you end up worse? You SAY you have a husband, but that doesn't mean that you aren't just trying to make me feel safe so I'll come home with you and be your little slave," she murmured, now looking at her hands.

I cupped her cheek and forced her to meet my eyes as I gave her a look of pure sympathy. "I have three of my daughters and two of my sons with me. They are going to know I'm bringing you with us. Believe me when I tell you that they'd take me to task if I did that and then you mysteriously disappeared. From the moment they meet you, they're going to want to do everything they can to make certain you're safe and happy." Then I smirked a bit evilly. "Besides... I have magic. If I wanted to make you my slave, you already would be."

She looked like she had a bit of an epiphany. "That makes sense!" Then she took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. I'd much rather come with you than stay with him. Even if you DID want me as your personal toy, you're at least good looking and bound to be loads better than servicing every man I can manage to talk into my tent."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "With how beautiful you are, I have a hard time believing that you are not extremely busy. I can only hope this means that most men are decent enough to NOT want sex with a girl as young as you."

"I'm NOT that young!" She protested with another (unconsciously) flirty pout.

"Oh?" I asked with a significant look.

She looked down and sighed. "I'm 16."

"Try again," I insisted with a snort of laughter.

"I am!"

I stared her down. She sighed again. "Fine! … 14..."

"My oldest son is 14, I really don't think you are," I told her. See the thing is that she really does look 16 or even 18 with the light hint of makeup and the soft feminine curves covered only by a bikini top and a lovely red and gold sarong. But I had this feeling that she was younger than she looked.

She shrugged. "Fine, don't believe me, but I really am 14."

I nodded in acceptance. "Alright then. So, Mahafsoun… ready to leave this terrible life behind for good?"

She studied my hand for a moment, and then placed her hand in it with a definite nod and a shy smile. "I am."

"Good." And with that, I gathered up our kids, apologized for cutting River's massage a bit short, and brought them all home. You were still at Unity, and the first thing you saw when you got home - popping directly into our room, alone - was me brushing the fabulously long and gorgeous black hair of a girl you didn't know, and I was probably making sounds like a cat as I did so, purring and humming.

It's really understandable that you'd misunderstand. I was brushing her hair because it had gotten tangled a bit when she was thrown to the ground, and as I did so, I was telling her a little about us and our family. She was still about 80 percent convinced that I planned to make her my mistress, and so, flirting fairly heavily with me. I swear I wasn't *trying* to flirt back, but I will admit that I'm a flirt and may have been doing so unconsciously.

"What's going on?!?!" You demanded a bit harsher than you intended, I'm sure. I intuitively knew that you weren't upset about me having an unknown female in our room, but rather, incredulous and probably more than a little irate that she was CLEARLY too young for me.

"Mahafsoun? Will you go ask Viona for... some biscuits and tea? Or whatever you're hungry for. And please, take your time eating," I suggested in a tone that was more of an order.

"Yes, certainly," she agreed, looking relieved that I remembered she was a human who needed to eat at some point. It probably didn't help that she kissed my cheek as she left the room.

"Harry..." I cajoled, trying to calm you down. But you held up a finger in a silent command for me to wait.

"I'm covered in sick. One of the Unity Kids apparently ate too many of the biscuits I brought and came over to me to tell me that he didn't feel so good. I no sooner than squatted down to talk to him eye to eye when he covered me in proof that he very much did not feel well. I NEED a shower. We will talk when I am clean," you stated.

I nodded in understanding. You practically ran to the bathroom, and I took the time to write this email - mostly to organize my thoughts and decide how to explain things to you, but you've been in there far longer than it usually takes you to take a shower, so I'm going to sign off now and go check on you.

When I breathe, I feel your fullness come alive, inside of me, you're the breath that I breathe,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another case where Chrissie surprised me. She was laying down subtle clues which I do catch (now) when I go back and reread/edit before posting, but she was biding her time until I posted something just right, and this was it ^_^


	180. Chapter 180

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is UPSET...

Thursday July 1st  
Gods Draco,

I'm trying so hard to keep it all together. I feel like I'm being held together by a really wonky sticking charm cast by a first year. I can feel myself starting to pull apart and there's nothing to keep me from just shattering into a million pieces.

I could hear you tapping away when finally got out of my shower, so I decided to hang out in the bathroom a bit longer and give you the chance to finish whatever you wanted to say. We really don't fight often, but when we do you tend to get all of your feelings out over email. Most of the time, when I have the whole story, I feel much better and our discussion can go much more smoothly. That way I'm not hysterical and you aren't so worried about my hysteria that you shove your foot in your mouth.

It didn't work, I read your email, and now I think I feel worse than I did. I summoned my computer so I could respond to you in the hopes that getting all my thoughts out would be cathartic and I would be able to have this conversation with you calmly and rationally. Sorry, I know you've tried to get into the bathroom to talk to me, but I am not ready yet.

Could you have opened your email in some other way than to tell me you've fallen in love? I managed to struggle my way past that description, kudos to you for managing to work my guilt by reminding me of your PPD and also mentioning that this child was sold into the sex slave trade. You really know which of my buttons to push to make me seem like the monster if I have any issue with the whole situation.

I know that you cared for the whole family while I was in St. Mungo's due to my own stupidity. My own stupid actions, I might add, that wouldn't have come up if you weren't hell bent on pretending to be an Auror while being pregnant with twins. I may have used up too much magic, but I wouldn't have been potentially killed if the raid went sideways. But no, I have to realize my own choices got me landed on hospital bedrest, my own choices forced me to be without my family for a month, my own choices caused me to be so sick I thought I was going to die and may have wished for it once or twice. I'll be gut wrenchingly honest with you and tell you if Persephone's life hadn't also been in my hands I probably would have ended it all.

I haven't felt suicidal for years. Honestly, not since right after the war. But that's what most of my private sessions with Katja have been about. I feel like I am a drain on this family. I feel like I cause problem after problem after problem. I am not at a place where I will do something about it, but it is a daily thought for me right now. Haven't you noticed that almost all of my emails include me going on and on and on about how in love with my family I am? I haven't been lying, you know I adore my family, but those long-winded tributes to our family have been part of my "daily affirmations" that Katja wants me to do; reminding myself of the beautiful parts of my life, reminding myself of the wonderful people in my life who would be devastated if something happened to me.

I am hanging on by a very thin thread right now. Trying to pretend everything is fine and normal. Going to music festivals and traveling like we promised ourselves we'd do this year. Trying not to stress over the fact that my baby girl is going to Hogwarts in less than three months. Trying to be a stern parent for River while you tell him "good job" and pat him on the back. Getting to a point where after a near decade of playing with others, it's no longer sexy for me, it's something that is slowly killing me because I will just never be enough for you. I'm not enough for anyone.

I'm not enough sexually for my husband, despite being ready and willing at all times. He barely wants to touch me right now, which I've been desperately putting the blame on the PPD, but since you can look at a woman and talk about how sensually she walks and her absolute beauty, maybe you are feeling sexual but not with me. I know I've not bounced back to my pre-pregnancy body as quickly this time, it just hasn't been a priority and I don't have as much time to work out as I have before. I'm sorry, I'll work harder I guess. It's bad enough you're stuck with me for life, do we have to add being stuck with someone you're no longer attracted to on top of it?

I damaged our family when I forced us to go to Iran, the children still have nightmares, it's still something you're dealing with, my nightmares won't go away. Every night I'm forced to watch in beautiful technicolor all of my loved ones dying in grotesque ways that I wouldn't have even been able to dream up before we were subjected to the realities of them in a war zone. I thought traveling and spending time together and giving everything I had to this family would help, but instead I feel even worse than I did the day we left Iran. At least then I had hope that things would get better.

And now I get guilt. I get to feel guilty that I am literally jealous of a child sex slave. I feel horrible that my immediate reaction wasn't to do everything in my power to fix her situation. My immediate reaction was to want her out of my room, out from under the tender loving care of my husband. I wanted my room to not smell like her perfume. I want to obliviate myself so I can't see how sweetly you were brushing her hair.

I'm sorry I had my hair cut off, I'm sorry I kept it short since then. I knew you missed the hair, but I didn't realize it was this big of a problem that you couldn't be attracted to me or want to touch me without it. I will grow it out again, I promise. You don't need to bring other people into my home so I can see how desperately you want me to look exactly the right way again. I suppose it was the best of both worlds for you, you had to stick with the terrible decision to marry me that you made when we were so young, but at least with the long hair you could pretend you'd gotten the wife you'd always wanted.

I know you've not been well, so I've tried to do everything. I've been up every night with the babies, trying to keep them quiet enough to not wake you. I've tried to keep every stress away from you because I know you don't need it right now. I've kept my own fears and worries and insecurities to myself. I haven't slept, besides the night I took all the dreamless sleep, in what feels like months. I've not been able to keep food down for a few weeks now. I've been living on nutrient potions, just enough to keep up my milk supply I suppose. I can't keep going like this, I have nothing left.

So, this didn't calm me down as well as I'd hoped. I think I may feel worse than I did before. I uh, I am going to apparate back to Unity, take the littles, and uh, go home. You and the big kids can stay as long as you'd like. Do whatever you'd like. I already magi-mobiled Kingsley, he's getting some emergency portkeys sent to Unity Egypt for me. Enjoy your vacation. Enjoy the beach. Enjoy all the beautiful women.

I'll see you when I see you,  
Harry

 

Thursday July 1st  
Harry, this is going to be a short and mostly pointless email, but I just had to write it down, more for myself as a way to think it over a bit and decide that I AM doing the right thing.

I just got an Insta-owl from one of the caregivers at Unity Egypt. It seems like you popped from the bathroom right back there, which explains why the magic keeping me out of the bathroom suddenly disappeared and you were gone.

Anyway, the message says that you are trying to take a portkey home with our babies, but because this isn't safe, they're doing their best to stop you.

So I have made a decision. I can't claim it's the best decision, but I hope it's the right one for us at the moment. I'm about to bring the rest of the kids to Unity House - along with our support staff and house elves - and I going to drop them ALL off there to stay while you and I go somewhere together. I have not quite decided on where, but that's really not important so long as it is the two of us alone together until we feel better again.

This will give us time to be mad at each other. To finish fighting. And to hopefully get through this and come back to a healthy place again, not just in our marriage but hopefully mentally. I will simply hold you the entire time if you want - silently until you are ready to talk - or I won't touch you at all if that's what you want. But I need you to understand that I made the commitment to marry you because I love YOU - that every other person in my life is second to you and I would give them all up if you needed me to.

I have nothing without you!

That said, I sincerely hope that we can get past your suicidal depression and my PPD, and come back together as a stable partnership. But I do recognize that it's going to take work because I seem to continually break your faith and trust in me, and I...

Well, I'm currently beyond pissed off that you mistook my declaration of love for a CHILD as any sort of romantic or sexual feeling!!! I do rationally understand why, I did go on and on about her beauty and sensuality, but I was doing that to illustrate the point that this is how she is because of what she was doing. NOT because I wanted her! If I had wanted that, I would have just let her do her job before rescuing her!

MERLIN AND SALAZAR! That's beyond perverted and twisted just to WRITE!!! ugh...

But anyway, now that I've gotten all of that out, I'm on my way to get you, and I will fight you to the death before I just let you leave me, so... Well, I really hope it doesn't come to that.

You are my everything,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This arc is actually shorter than it seems like it's going to be.
> 
> In the meantime, I'll link you to the youtube page for the woman I *loosely* based the character Mahafsoun after ^_^  
> https://www.youtube.com/user/Mahafsoun  
> And specifically, this video is my favorite of hers ^_^  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMdf1VaqaZI


	181. Chapter 181

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco have a pretty big argument and come to a resolution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Draco's" half of the email is a very unique situation. It's the first time I've ever written in that way. Basically, Chrissie and I both stepped into character and messaged each other, thus, it's in instant message rather than email format :-)

Friday July 2nd  
Draco,

Well, you got your way, I don't get to go home. I am not abandoning my babies to go home by myself, I can't portkey with them, and it's super weird that all of a sudden you've decided I can't leave and now Mr. Lott won't pick up his mobile. So I guess I'm here.

We're in a suite here in Cairo. I want to be mad and assume you got it because you can't imagine being in a "lesser" hotel room, but I am realistic enough to realize that you got the two bedroom suite in case we were here all night and the extra room would be there if I didn't want to sleep with you. Or maybe you got it for yourself because you can't imagine sleeping in the same bed as me.

You're just sitting there on the other chair staring at me like you're waiting for me to say something. Well I sure as hell wish I could. I can't. I tried. I open my mouth and nothing comes out except for my sobs escaping and a weird, shrill, noise. It certainly isn't English, and not parsel either. Hey, maybe I speak a new language, I can name it, I'm thinking "broken shell of a man"-ese.

Maybe if I get even more off my chest that I didn't let out in my last email my ability to speak a known language will come back to me. I suppose it's worth a try since my last email did such a lovely job of making you angry with me. For misconstruing your completely innocent remarks, how dare I assume you were attracted to the child. I get it, I am a crazy person, it's completely normal to go on and on about someone's beauty, say you are IN LOVE with them, mention their perfect breasts, and you said ALL of this before you mentioned how young she was. In fact, the first time you mentioned her age was you telling our child that she was too old for him. How was that supposed to make me think, hmm he's probably talking about another child?

Now that I know she's a child, and I know that you know she's a child, I am one hundred percent sure you would want nothing to do with her in any sort of a sexual manner. I may think I'm a disgusting, hideous freak, but I know you would kill yourself before you would touch a child.

First of all, most importantly, probably first, second, third, and fourth most important … I love you. I wasn't leaving you, I was just leaving. I wanted to be at home. I wanted to be somewhere safe. I wanted to be in our room looking at pictures of our happy life. I wanted to see if Molly would visit so I could have one of her mum hugs. I just wanted to be nowhere near here. I want to go home! Is that so terrible? Is it so wrong of me to not want to be in this room that smells of someone else, where I can perfectly picture you looking at someone else in adoration? Where if I allow there to be a moment of silence I can hear you purring in contentment while brushing her hair? Why can't I go home?

Gods, now you're asking me why I went from quiet tears to a flood of tears running down my face. I can't answer you Draco! I've lost my voice. I'm not allowed to leave and now I'm not allowed to cry?

Fuck you.

Ok, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I meant it a little, that's why I typed it and why I haven't deleted it, but I know that's the anger talking. I love you.

I love you, you stupid infuriatingly perfect man. Do you know how hard it is to be married to you sometimes? You're fucking perfect. You're beautiful, and brilliant, you are a master with finances, you organize businesses in a way I can't even organize my socks. You have an unending supply of love for our children, you're patient and loving. Every single person who lays eyes on you wants you, and here I am selfishly trying to keep all of that to myself. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be madly in love with someone who you feel inferior to in every way? I couldn't keep a singleton pregnancy long enough to have her full term, but you take care of our entire family while pregnant with twins. I couldn't handle a day of Auror training, and you're singlehandedly solving some of their hardest cases with no training whatsoever. Oh, and that's not enough, you have to solve muggle cases as well.

You're beautiful, loving, clever, and I will never measure up.

Yeah, you're gorgeous, but you know who else is gorgeous? Our daughters. I realize I'm not much to look at, so I understand you finding someone to be more beautiful than me, but do you know how heartbreaking it is to hear you go on about a child's beauty when you have seven daughters? A granddaughter? Goddaughters? I know that outer beauty is nowhere near as important as inner beauty, I know you would love our daughters even if they were hideous, but Gods-Damnit do you have to make me feel like even our daughters are inferior to your new love?

Seriously, "so beautiful that I think she could seriously win contests - perhaps even Miss Universe" that's just what a child sold into sexual slavery needs, to be groped by that disgusting pig of a thing that looks like Tupperware someone stained by storing spaghetti sauce in it.

Ugh, stop asking me to talk! I am allowed to glare at the computer while I type. Would you rather me glare at you. Here, I'll do that.

You did not appreciate that. Apparently that's the only thing I can do to get you to stop staring at me. It's been over an hour since you've taken your eyes off of me. That cannot be good for your vision. Don't ruin your beautiful eyes alright?

I keep thinking to myself that you should know how I feel. You should know how absolute garbage my self-esteem is right now. You should know that I've been having terrible thoughts about myself. You should know that every time you pull away from me, even though I logically know it's your PPD, it reminds me that I'm not enough for you. But how on Earth would you know if I don't tell you? I've not wanted to add to your problems, but in keeping my feelings hidden I've made everything worse.

Katja warned me that I shouldn't keep this from you. She told me that it's my right and my choice to not tell you everything, but that you should know that everything isn't all sunshine and rainbows shooting out of my arse either. I'm so stupid. She's a brilliant mind healer, she's a professional, but I thought I knew better than her. I thought keeping your mental health as the number one priority would be the best thing for us, but I ruined everything as usual. I am so …

Wait! I forgot, you and I both sign! The next time you chance looking at me, you're getting a message.

Well, there's the first time since we began fighting that I saw your eyes light up and your real smile. Apparently all it takes is signing "I love you my Dragon" and "I'm sorry we're fighting" to get that silvery shimmer back to your eyes.

Oh! You're coming over here, I think I will take some of those cuddles you promised.

-Harry

 

This half of the email brought to you by this image: 

**Harry** : Ok, I thought I could do this after seeing you smile at me, but I still can’t get the words out. I need to touch you, I need to know you’re here, but maybe this will be safer. We’ve always communicated best in writing

 **Draco** : This is weird, even for us, but if all you can stand is your back against mine as we sit on the sofa, then that's what we'll do. I'm sorry I made you feel like I loved someone more than you, and for that matter, I'm sorry I didn't realize how much you were starting to hate playing around with others. I never NEED others, I just like to have them on occasion because it sort of ironically makes me appreciate you more.

 **Harry** : I feel bad that I made you think playing was the issue. It’s not. It’s never been the issue. I’ve always known that you wanted me and that most of the fun in playing was us doing it together. I’m not sure when it started, but I just feel so unattractive, I feel so unlovable, I feel unfuckable. Playing works when the couple is on the same page and doing it for the right reasons. When I felt secure in who I was, and more importantly who I was to you, it was fun. My self-esteem is just so low right now that I know I’m looking at it through my depression fog.

 **Draco** : And see, at the same time, I've only been in the mood recently when we were at Glastofest BECAUSE it was something we were going to do together and really dress up and go all out. That gave me the excuse to use glamour charms to cover up all the bits of my body that I hate right now. Logically I know you still find me attractive, but emotionally, I can't stand the way I look. I don't feel sexy and when you want me, it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong if I don't at least try to want you back.

 **Harry** : I can’t understand why you would want me, so when I see you with others it just reenforces the “fact” that I am not good enough.

And when you talk about the parts of your body that are unattractive, those are all things I’m dealing with as well. If you can’t stand to see your chest slightly swollen with milk, it tells me you can’t stand looking at my chest either. When you complain that your stomach not being flat yet is unattractive I feel like you’re saying my squishy tummy is at least equally unattractive to you

 **Draco** : I... I don't know how to respond to that, because those parts of you are currently my favorite. I feel like I can really cuddle with you and feel comfortable and warm in your arms because there is just the slightest bit of cushioning. You don't LOOK any less in shape (in my eyes) than you ever did. Whereas, when *I* look in the mirror, I see a fat and ugly whale. I see... Almost the total opposite of the young and handsome man I was when we got married, and it has aggravated the usually suppressed feeling I've had all along that I am not good enough for you, and that you are eventually going to remember that I am an arsehole and an utter bastard who has done bad things, and would do them again if I had to. Or hell! Without even trying! I keep secrets I really don't need to, and then I break your trust in me practically the moment you get it back!

 **Harry** : You’re not good enough for me?! Have you lost your mind??? You are, without a doubt, the most wonderful man to have ever lived. You made stupid mistakes as a child due to poor choices and childhood indoctrination to beliefs that were unacceptable. You’ve saved so many lives, magical and Muggle, through your work with the police or Aurors. You’ve saved countless young lives by mentoring them and giving them a healthy outlet for their rage or grief. You run successful businesses that range from fiscally beneficial to socially remarkable. You push yourself to the point of exhaustion to be a man you’re proud of seeing in the mirror. I killed a bad guy years ago and now I spend most of my time baking or playing at a playground.

I feel inferior to you in every way.

 **Draco** : But... Maybe the only reason I do all those things is that I am trying to hide the real monster inside me. The monster that very few people ever see, but I do let you glimpse when I tie you up and torture you, or I rage at an idiot in public, or I stop giving a fuck for five minutes and transfigure someone into a stick. I still have all of the bad inside me, and it's exhausting to keep it under control. Meanwhile, you are a literal Angel on Earth. You personally do whatever it takes to make as many children around the world feel safe and loved. You don't try to or need to be a so-called hero who goes charging into danger to rescue them, instead, you do the much harder job of holding them and listening to them and teaching them to speak up and stand up for themselves. You literally love every child you have ever met. Some more than others - such as our kids - but I can only tolerate ours and maybe one or two others at a time. I start the healing process when they are full of anger, but then I hand them off to you or whoever the first chance I get.

 **Harry** : We have so many issues right now that we need to talk about, I don’t want to turn around and kiss you - ending the fight - before we can actually resolve things. But it’s really taking a lot of willpower to not turn around, put your head in my lap, and play with your hair while telling you every amazing thing about yourself. I’m reading you say all these differences between us; me being a caregiver, you putting out fires, me traveling the world trying to care for children, you following to care for me and the emergency cases. It’s the reminder I really needed right now. By assuring you of your worth, it reminded me that I don’t need to compare myself to you. We complement each other so well. It’s probably best that I’m a dreamer who dances from place to place in an attempt to help kids all over the world, because you’re my supportive foundation that gives me what I need to keep going. Every hug I give, every biscuit I bake, every child I comfort, that can only happen because I have your arms to hold me at the end of the day. We balance each other. I’m naïve and often take my empathy to dangerous levels, your willingness to rage at idiots in public keeps me from being taken advantage of. Me reminding you to apologize when you’ve gone too far softens your edges.

Fuck Draco, you smell so good. I miss you.

 **Draco** : Can I turn around and hold you now, or do you want to talk about Mahafsoun first?

 **Harry** : Hold me please! But as weird as you think it is, can we keep talking this way? I’m actually wondering if I broke my vocal cords or something because I’ve tried to talk a few times, mostly when you were responding a ton at once, and I’m still just squeaking and crying.

 **Draco** : Alright, let me just... That's better, not only are you in my arms but now you can read as I type. I hope we're reaching the end of the argument, but I really do think we should discuss the issues you brought up in reaction to Mahafsoun. For example, yes I cherished your hair when it was long, but I don't hate it short. I still put my hands in it and fondle it when I can, but I have to admit that if it WAS still as long as it was, I wouldn't have time to brush and play with it right now anyway. Not until our babies are older. Or the issue that I, erm... I really do feel something for her that can be called love at first sight, but in a fatherly way. I... I... Salazar! I don't even know!

It's also a tiny bit not...

 **Harry** : Oh Merlin. You want to adopt her. I, I just, Dragon, I can’t. I’m not there. I don’t know if I’ll ever be there. I know deep in my gut that our family is complete. Maybe that will change in the future, but even if I wanted more children with you suffering from PPD and the fact that my depression has been running unchecked for the last year, I shouldn’t be taking on any more children. I wouldn’t let my unity Kids be adopted by someone as unstable as myself.

And what do you mean a tiny bit not?!?!

 **Draco** : I understand that it's not a good time for us to have any more. I do agree, even if part of me just... Wants her permanently in my life. And don't panic, I don't mean I have any sort of sexual feeling for her, but take Elena or Viona. I have very different relationships with each of them, I might be a little softer on Elena and harder on Viona because I expect Viona to take over my Empire someday, whereas Elena has always walked her own path. When it comes to how I already interact with Mahafsoun, well, unconsciously or not, I was actually flirting with her - AGAIN NOT SEXUALLY - but I can't IMAGINE talking to Elena like: "wow you look beautiful today, that dress clings to you just right and I half wish I could watch you sashay in front of all the boys just to see you break their hearts!" It's borderline inappropriate, I know that, but it's not because I WANT her, it's because that's just sort of been our dynamic so far. I don't think I can explain this in a way that makes sense...

 **Harry** : You’ve half fallen for a wounded older child who’s had to grow up much too quickly. It’s not surprising. But yeah, little less “borderline inappropriate” and a bit more “inappropriate”. Although I know you don’t mean anything bad by it. But put her background into perspective, she’s been in the sexual slave trade, even if you never make a move on her (I know you won’t), because of her history, she’ll think she has to flirt with you to keep you as her safe haven. Like we had to tell River that a girl who’s been used for breeding had to be treated differently than any other random girl he’d want to date, your normally completely harmless flirting could be massively unhealthy for her. *sigh* Why don’t we call and get her a spot at Unity back home. She’ll be nearby, you can visit and help her heal they way you did for Antonio, but she won’t be “ours”

 **Draco** : I can live with that, and you are probably right, I would react to her flirting by flirting, and it's almost certainly the last thing she needs.

 **Harry** : I’m sorry I didn’t tell you my depression was flaring up. I’m such a hypocrite, demanding you not keep secrets from me and then keeping something this huge from you. It’s, it’s been really bad. Regular sessions with Katja haven’t been cutting it. I think I need to try the potions. Katja recommended them months ago but I felt like I should be able to handle this myself. I have an amazing life, how dare I be so ungrateful as to be depressed. I keep telling other people there’s no shame in seeking help, but I’m drowning in shame. I’m sorry.

 **Draco** : I... I was actually planning to brew a potion for me. It's not an official potion like you would be prescribed by Katja, but just a little mood helper to pull me out of my PPD hole when I fall in. I will support you in whatever you choose, and if potions are the right thing for you at the moment, I will be patient and understanding as they shift your mood all over until you find the right potion and dose.

 **Harry** : Thank you, I love you, I’ll support you through the same if you decide to do the mood booster. I feel so much better for having fought with you. Obviously we have things that need to be worked on, but I feel like we’re on the same page. I love you more than life Draco Lucius Malfoy.

 **Draco** : Well, looks like your lack of sleep just caught up with you because you just fell asleep in my arms. I'm going to kiss your face a dozen or so times, and then carry you to bed and tuck you in. Good night, my life


	182. Chapter 182

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm is over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the heavy arc that started when Harry went to the hospital. And while obviously, mental issues don't just go away, our boys are in a much healthier place now that everything is out in the open :-)

Sunday July 4, 2010

Good Morning My Love,

I'm sorry I fell asleep on you last night. I suppose that's not completely true, I think I really needed a full night's sleep. I just hope that I didn't cut you off in the middle of something you wanted to talk about last night. I wasn't bored or anything, but when the weight of fighting you and the weight of carrying this secret around was lifted off my shoulders, I felt more relaxed than I have in months. My body decided to exploit that weakness and get the sleep it's been craving.

Don't worry, I am not taking this morning's good feelings as a sign that I am just fine and can keep going as I have been. I actually already messaged Katja this morning and told her the moment we got home that I would start on the potion regimen she's been suggesting. I also took some time and sorted out Mahafsoun's transfer to our Unity House. She'll be flying back with us when we head home, and they already have her room sorted for her arrival.

Apparently there is no record of her at all, as the child of a mistress, her mother didn't get her a birth certificate. And when she was "sold" it's not like something they would have wanted a paper trail for. So, while I thought getting her transferred internationally would be a hardship, since she doesn't exist on any documentation, it will make things much easier. Our Ministry of Magic will just issue her a birth certificate when she arrives. I don't know all the technicalities to it, but there's some sort of coding where it will be known that she wasn't a natural born citizen, but it will allow her to be in the country legally, and when or if she gets adopted, they will deal with citizenship at that time.

Speaking of going home, I know we were going to spend more time here, but can we just go home? I want to go get our babies, get on that plane, and be home where we belong. If you're dead set on staying that's fine, I don't need to ruin everyone's vacation, but I will probably just hang out around the house while the rest of you do your visiting and sightseeing. I'm feeling better but I am certainly not fit for being out in public.

While you're still sleeping, I have a few things I want to expand on from last night. I re-read our conversation and I think I missed a few things because my brain was all jumbled and I was panicking over not being able to talk. Since you obviously didn't hear it, my morning shower serenade proved that my vocal chords are just fine. You can just sleep through anything can't you?

It wasn't that I couldn't stand anything but being back to back with you, but I couldn't keep looking at your sad face when I knew I'd been responsible for making it that way. I actually needed to be touching you, but couldn't talk, so back to back seemed the best option. Feeling the warmth of your back, feeling your heartbeat, smelling your perfect "Draco" smell, being able to rest my head on your shoulder blades … I needed all of that.

I don't want you to "try" to want me. I know this is a serious topic, but I do have to go Star Wars on you … Do or do not, there is no try. I mean it though, don't force yourself into anything. My right hand is enough until you're ready for more. If you don't feel as though you want to do anything that is absolutely fine. Take your time, you'll be ready when you're ready. But - and I know it sounds like I'm trying to bully you into something regarding your body - but I really wish you'd stop nursing. You hated how it felt at first, when it stopped being uncomfortable you still didn't like it, and the physical changes to your body are giving you body image issues. We have a lot of options for feeding these babies, I really wish you'd give yourself a break and stop doing something that doesn't seem good for you.

You aren't the young and handsome man I married eleven years ago. You are my gorgeous husband of eleven years. You are just as handsome, I actually think you've gotten more handsome as time has gone by. You smile more, you almost never wear your mask, you've become a man where a teenager used to be. Yes, you are older, but you certainly don't look old! But someday you will get older. Someday our hairlines will start receding and/or thinning and/or greying. We will get wrinkles, then those wrinkles will multiply and deepen. Our bodies will soften, we will be in not as great of shape. You have to find a way to be alright with no longer being nineteen. I'm in this with you for the long haul, you need to know that I will be as in love with you and as attracted to you when we're one hundred and nineteen as I was when we were nineteen.

I think I'll climb back into bed with you (thank you for knowing I wanted to sleep in the same bed with you and not making me wake alone) until it's time to go get our children.

Yours for now and for always,  
Harry James Malfoy

 

Sunday July 4th  
My beloved Harry,

You know… I think I need to be home too. Aside from - actually including - Glastofest, I'm not entirely sure either of us has truly enjoyed our last few trips. I think we both need to be home and stay home for a while. So, the moment you get back from the run you're on - at least I think you're probably out running yourself to a better, calmer frame of mind - since you weren't next to me when I woke up.

Anyway, I'm going to take a quick shower, and then if you're back when I'm done, I'll have Mr. Lott ready and waiting to leave the moment we get our kids.

Thank you so much for putting aside your feelings about Mahafsoun and helping her be able to come with us. Who knows? Maybe exposure to our girls will have helped her understand that she doesn't need to flirt with everyone to get what she needs to survive and be safe. Actually, if anyone could do that...

Maybe we should ask Kisa to mentor her for a little bit???

Although, that could be traumatizing to Mahafsoun in a completely different way, so forget I said that.

Anyway, I'm going to sign off now and go hop in the shower. I'm feeling in the mood for some long, slow, lazy kisses, so if I'm still in the shower when you get back, come kiss me?

What I need is a good defense, 'cuz I'm feeling like a criminal, and I need to be redeemed, to the one I've sinned against, because he's all I ever knew of love,  
Draco


	183. Chapter 183

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plane ride home is relatively calm after all the drama of the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is probably the last chapter for today, but I'm bored and Chrissie is taking a bit of time to reply to the big email I just sent her, so, post again it is, lol ^_^

Sunday July 4th  
My Dragon,

I must be a mind reader because I didn't read your email until just now on the plane, but I came back from my run ready to give you some long, slow, lazy kisses. I don't really need to be a mind reader, over a decade of marriage and I know what your "begging for smooches" face looks like. I was really happy to see that look to be honest. Even if you aren't in the mood to shag for a while, I need to touch you and kiss you and hold you. I think I've been simultaneously touched-out from how much skin on skin holding and nursing we've been doing with the five smallest, and touch-starved from not doing much kissing or holding of each other recently.

We're parents, we have three newborns, one of whom is still a bit fragile for her preemie status, but making ourselves and each other a priority is something we really need to work on. Their needs have to come before ours right now, that's just the reality of parenting. But it's not going to hurt the babes to be snuggled by their Grandma Cissa, Grampy Lulu, or any number of loving family members that live at our house instead of being constantly held or worn by one of us.

And neither of us are going to be able to do much good for our children if we don't get a handle on these depression monsters we're dealing with right now. These kids need healthy parents more than they need to have our complete and undivided attention twenty-four hours a day. Now let's just see if I can practice what I preach since I'm currently sitting on our little bed in the plane interspersing writing this message with staring at the babes while they sleep.

What? I missed them after you kidnapped me yesterday.

And don't think we don't still have a few minor arguments to hash out; telling Mr. Lott to not answer my phone calls and keeping messages from Olivia Crabbe topping that list!

I suppose I do have another few apologies for you ready to go; I'm sorry that I made you question whether or not I would want to give you kisses. It was so sad for me to read "if I'm still in the shower when you get back, come kiss me?" I'm also sorry that you think I have feelings towards Mahafsoun that needed to be set aside to see her get what she needs for her own health and safety. I did not have any hard feelings towards her, I was upset with your behavior concerning her, I didn't want to see her when she was reminding me of how upset I was, and I don't want to adopt her; but I had no ill will or feelings towards her at all. I really do want her to be able to heal and grow and live a beautiful life after her childhood hardships.

I know you think your suggestion about Kisa mentoring her was a bad one, but I actually don't think it's as bad as you think. Kisa is hard and brash. She has no patience for tact, preferring blunt honesty. She knows what she wants and will do anything to obtain it. But she is soft and squishy when it comes to people she feels have been wronged. Her squishiness might entail beating the tar out of someone and wounding them emotionally, but it's there.

Anyway, I am going to let these babes rest without the clacking of my computer keys, and I think I owe my big kids an apology for yesterday's drama. I'll see you in a few!

All of my love,  
Harry

 

Sunday July 4th  
Harry my love,

I've decided that as much as I REALLY want Mahafsoun directly in my life, I'm going to send her to Kisa. I'm sorry if emphasizing the word really makes it sound weird, but anyway, you're probably wondering WHY I made such a decision so quickly after thinking the mere suggestion was probably a bad idea. Well...

It's because at one point while you were in the bedroom putting the babies down for a nap, I looked around the plane and realized that River was nowhere to be found. My first reaction was to panic that we accidentally left him behind, but then I remembered that he had definitely been sitting near me during take off. So I figured that he was in the bedroom with you chatting about something.

But then I realized that Mahafsoun was missing too. I spent a good minute and a half contemplating the situation. Was she ALSO in the bedroom with you, perhaps holding one of the babies as you fed the others? Helping you out? Chatting with River to get to know him because they are both 14?

Yeah no, it really didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that River had sweet talked the prettiest girl he's ever seen into the tiny loo for a bit of REALLY scrunched together snogging and groping. That boy! sigh...

Sure enough, they were exactly where I thought they'd be. I tried to open the door to the loo, but it was locked, so I cleared my throat and said: "River, open the door before I blast it open and accidentally crash the plane."

Random side thought, I'm thinking it might be time to consider buying a bigger plane. Even with undetectable extension charms on it and loads of safety charms and whatnot, it really is a bit crowded these days. I probably should have bought a bigger one before we left Iran, to be honest.

But back to River. He unlocked the door and opened it a tiny crack. "Yeah dad?"

"If you and Mahafsoun are less than fully dressed, cast dressing spells this instant and get out here."

"I'm not with, er... sigh... yes dad..." River admitted with a sigh of defeat.

I waited and because it was a little more private than the main cabin, I confronted him once they were crowding the short hallway with me. River looked very put out that he'd been interrupted and Mahafsoun looked torn between being afraid that I would kick her off the plane and curious as to why I would stop them when they were the same age and clearly consensual.

Rubbing my forehead, I took a deep breath and did my best not to sound upset or... I dunno, too stern? "Listen, River. I KNOW we keep telling you to choose different girls. That there's something not quite right about the girls you keep choosing, but please try to understand, I JUST rescued Mahafsoun from being a sex slave. She is not mentally ready to consent to anything - even if she thinks she is. Also, sorry Mahafsoun for talking about you as if you weren't here. I want to make it clear that neither of you were technically doing anything wrong, but also, you can't do this. YOU cannot consent until you understand what it means to say yes OR no now that you have a choice, and for that, you need to talk to a Mind Healer. Once he or she is confident you know exactly what you are doing, have at it, but until then, please try practicing the word no when someone asks you for things like this."

"It was just kissing," Mahafsoun said with a sensual pout. You know, I honestly don't think she realizes that she's doing things like this. I ALSO don't think she was trained in it. I think it's inherent. Maybe she got the genes from or learned it from her mother, but what I'm saying is that if she had even an ounce of magic, I'd swear she was part Veela.

I gave her a stern look. "Mahafsoun, can you swear to me that at NO time during your time in the loo with my son, the thought of something like: If I kiss him and do whatever he wants, he will help me if I need it - or he will try to persuade his dad to keep me, rather than send me to some orphanage... Anything like that cross your mind?"

Mahafsoun looked down at her feet, her hands clenched at her sides.

"Ohhh...." River breathed out in enlightenment. "I didn't even think of it like that. I just..." he trailed off with a blush.

I smirked at him, chuckling ever so slightly. "You just saw a pretty girl and wanted to snog her like you have so many other girls?"

River shrugged, not meeting my eyes as he nodded.

Mahafsoun nearly blinded us with a brilliant and flirty smile. "It's not like that at all! You are simply the cutest boy I've ever seen. I've never gotten a chance to flirt with BOYS, because they can't afford me - although I bet you can-- erm… sorry, I don't mean that like that..."

I put a hand on each of their shoulders. "I need you both to promise me that you'll sit in full view of at least one person at all times, and DON'T try sneaking off together again."

"Yes dad... I promise," River said wearily, sounding upset with me again.

"Thank you," I expressed in relief.

They both slunk back to the main cabin. Well actually, River slunk, Mahafsoun sort of sashayed. Not important, sorry. Meanwhile, I rubbed my temples and debated whether or not I needed a headache potion.

But rereading this as I'm writing it, I'm reminded of one of the things I feel we need to talk about that came up during our argument. What do you MEAN I keep patting River on the back while you have to be stern with him? I will admit that I've had a HARD time trying to find the right balance of: "GODS DAMNIT KID! KEEP IT IN YOUR BLOODY PANTS!!!" And: "Erm, well, I guess you're that age and I have to give you the right information and advice and try not to cringe too much if you go out and do things I don't want you to." Maybe it sounds like I'm handling this better than I really am, but I'm nearly ready to lock him in a bloody tower guarded by a dragon and throw away the key until he's married. Or 25. Whichever comes first.

Why do you THINK I created a buggering potion to stop our other kids from aging?! I don't want to have to let them do things I'm not ready for! But those things are not my decision to make, so I can either try to guide them into making what I think are the right decisions while arming them for all possibilities, or I can forbid them to do anything and force them to hide it from me until they're 18, even if they end up in bad situations and don't tell me because they think I'll just get mad at them for disobeying me.

Sigh... I really can't handle teenagers. I REALLY can't handle teenagers! I want them all to stay tiny babies so that I can just hold them and hover over them and not have to worry about anything other than are they eating enough and why won't they bloody sleep when I'm exhausted?!

For example, I apparently made Elena feel that she couldn't admit to having lost her virginity, despite being 18 at the time. The only reason she admitted to it was that I overheard her telling Kisa and then talked to her about - or was it you that talked to her? I can't remember off hand, but the point is that she was afraid to tell us and we had to sort of confront her about it.

And suddenly I'm off on a tangent when all I wanted to do was ask a simple question. Sorry.

The other thing is that while yes, I currently hate my body, I'm actually growing fond of the nursing thing. I will admit that it's not my favorite thing, but I do like having the ability to hold a baby in my arms and snuggle and kiss him or her while nourishing them with my body. When I think of it that way, it becomes an extension of my desire to have them safe and warm inside me. The act itself still feels weird, but nothing I can't handle. If I didn't have PPD, I probably would be proud of doing it, but at the moment, the PPD monster rears its ugly head whenever I look in the mirror.

Which brings me to the topic of our respective depressions. I think you are right. We have gotten to a point in which we've let so many things come between us - well, that's not quite the right term, but it's the best I can come up with at the moment. Our babies are just one of those many things because they demand so much of our time and attention right now. So, yes, I agree. We really should give them to someone else to care for at least a couple of hours each day.

For example, maybe we give Monday and Tuesday afternoons to my parents. Then we keep Wednesday afternoons (and the weekends) and give Thursday and Friday afternoons to Molly and Arthur. During those four afternoons when all our kids are being occupied or watched by others, we just...

Go running. Or dancing. Or tangle up on a blanket in the grass and just hold each other. And if we're feeling ambitious, maybe we'll go out for lunch and stroll hand in hand through London.

What do you think?

Oh me I fall in love with you every single day,  
Draco  
P.S. Yes, I messaged Yesenia to make sure she'd come over for a session tomorrow.

P.P.S. I located the recipe for that mood potion I told you about. It's called Laudanum and I'm going to go start the brewing process before I hunt down Sebastian and see if he's made any progress on the wolf potion. I made him take an unbreakable vow that he would not ingest or otherwise administer the potion to himself or anyone else unless I was certain it would work. Thus, I *shouldn't* suddenly have a werewolf for a brother.

P.P.P.S. If I suddenly have a werewolf for a brother, please be ready to implement the: One of us has been sentenced to Azkaban and we need to go into hiding as a family - contingency plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Besides, I thought it was appropriate to end today on a funny note after all the recent drama ^_^


	184. Chapter 184

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian is not a werewolf and Draco is very relieved by this. Besides, the potions haven't had time to fully brew.

Tuesday July 6, 2010

My Draco,

Phew, last night was rough. I had my first in depth appointment with Katja where I admitted my depression was a bigger problem than I've been letting on, even to her. I told her all about our huge fight, don't worry I would never share our relationship woes with anyone other than my mind healer, I'm not running around telling Hermione and Ron all about our fights or anything crazy like that. And I told her I was ready to start the potions. So I took my first dose last night. I don't feel any different yet, unsurprisingly so since Katja told me it could take three weeks before I see any significant change.

I wanted to wake up this morning feeling like a new man! I did at least wake up and get in a solid run. So I may not be feeling one hundred percent, but I am high on adrenaline and endorphins right now. I took Siri, Zwei, AND Zaire! It was Zaire's first run. He didn't last very long, tired out after about a kilometer, but it was his very first run. I had Muffy come get him and the mischief twins and I kept going. I love that Zaire is wanting to join in our little tradition. I know she's so tiny and young, but it will feel like the blink of an eye I am sure and we can invite Jaz with us as well.

Romulus and Remus are getting huge! I will call them puppies forever, just like I call our children my babies no matter their age, but they are a year old now and so big. I thought they would drive me crazy running with them, but they just run along or run off and play ahead. I was worried they'd end up getting in front of me and I'd trip over them, or they'd get so tired that I had to carry them home. What? It could happen! It did happen actually, when they were just pups Siri brought them with and we got two kilometers away from the house when they both just dug in and laid down refusing to get up. So I had to carry home two squirming, panting, pups.

Anyway, I have a million thoughts running through my head, so apologies in advance if my rambling is hard to follow. First, I absolutely think we could get a bigger plane, or at least a plane that was outfitted originally to be a private plane and therefor doesn't need quite as many alterations to make it workable for our large brood. I adamantly refuse to get rid of Mr. Lott, however, so I think you should take him with when you start looking at planes so that we know he can fly whatever you pick out. Not that we need it any time soon since we're both in agreement that we need some significant time at home.

So, you want to know what you've said to make me believe you're "patting River on the back" for his exploits with girls? I have a small list. The first time you caught him snogging at all, shirtless with Ananda, you said "My first thought was: 'Lucky him.'" Yeah. At least that was only in your head and you didn't say anything backpatting. Oh wait. You told me that you said to him and Ananda, and I quote, "I'm sorry to ruin what looked like a fun diversion." You apologized for interrupting their "fun diversion"!!! And most recently, with Mahafsoun, while you were telling them to stop you said you smirked, chuckled a bit while saying "You just saw a pretty girl and wanted to snog her like you have so many other girls?" You don't think smirking and chuckling during the discussion is backpatting behavior?

And I think I'm doing alright with parenting the teenagers through the physical stuff since Lainie told me and not you when she shagged the first time. I am not trying to tell you you're wrong, just trying to point out that you're giving out approval vibes when you talk to River that you didn't give out when talking with Lainie at that age. I don't want to freak him out and make him hide things from us either, I've had the safe sex talk, but I also include "just because you know how to be safe doesn't mean you should be doing it" in the talks.

Sometimes I wonder if River looks enough like you that you can't quite separate yourself from him. Honestly, for someone so brilliant, I think you don't realize how manipulative our brilliant River can be. Remember even as a tiny guy he knew how to work the adults in the room to get what he wanted. Rosalie even reminded you in her goodbye letter that he was mischievous. Love, re-read your email. You said "It didn't take me long" to figure out where the two randy teenagers had gone, but also you "spent a good minute and a half" trying to figure out where they could both be? Having met River, it shouldn't have taken you more than ten seconds and instead you sat there wondering what could possibly be happening for ninety seconds? Oh Hunny.

Hopefully things are going well with your potion and I'm excited to hear about any advances Sebastian has made in the were potion. Don't worry, the contingency plan is always ready. No, seriously, I bought an island without telling you. Plausible deniability and all that jazz. Maybe I'll take you there for a getaway when the both of us are feeling up to a tiny bit of travel.

You know it's love when forever is not long enough,  
Harry

 

Tuesday July 6th  
My Harry,

Huh... I honestly didn't intend or even think that my smirking and chuckling at River was the equivalent of patting him on the back. I intended it to be more alone the lines of: "I know what you're thinking, and you're not thinking about this very deeply."

Although, I will admit that you might have a point about my unconsciously and unintentionally being slightly more accepting of River's antics because he reminds me of my own. But please try to understand that just because I am doing my best to not freak out, it doesn't mean that I'm not freaking out in my head. I was not joking when I said I want to lock him in a tower guarded by a dragon until he's married.

Whereas with Elena, at first, when she was only 14 or so, I probably gave off: "I'm not ready for this and you are not old enough, so just wait," vibes. And then as she got older, she was in Hogwarts, and so I wasn't confronted with it and didn't have to think about it. Aside from the rare wondering about what she was or was not doing because at that age, I was definitely doing things. I was able to push those wonderings away almost instantly.

THEN Iran happened, and I feel like any progress I may have made toward being a confident parent of teenagers was just stripped right from me. I still have a hard time with the fact that Elena is an ADULT and can do adult things and I can't ground her to her room because of them. I did my best to just accept this and move on, but the PPD monster has me wanting to lock them ALL in a dragon guarded tower - while wearing chastity devices AND impervious shields and the like so that they literally CAN'T be harmed by anything at all, not even their own potentially bad decisions.

And because Elena is not stupid, I'm dead certain she figured this out and that's why she hasn't talked to me about her love life AT ALL in... erm… since our cruise??? I don't even remember, sigh...

So... because this is probably the best way to reintroduce the topic of that aging potion, I'm just going to talk about it now. I DO recognize that it's not a good idea to give to our kids. I DO recognize that my extreme desire to keep them all little and NOT teenagers is my mental issues being aggravated by my PPD. That if I did it, I would risk damaging them mentally in ways I would hate myself for later.

That said, I really do think it could be a legitimate product, only... weakened? You know, so that it doesn't stop aging altogether, or make one immortal or anything like that. Simply... one of many anti-aging products that can help one look and feel younger longer. More of a beauty product than a health product.

So... I've actually sent the potion and all my notes on how I made it to Pansy. As you know, she's my researcher and a bit like a scientist. She tests and tweaks all my products if they don't seem quite right or if they present with side-effects. Anyway, she's taken this potion (not literally taken as in consumed, but as in worked with) and tested it on a bunch of mice. Baby mice because it's easier to measure the growth of something that's supposed to grow quite quickly, than measure something that's fully grown and can take years to make noticeable changes.

Early results show that...

I actually did it. I mean I was already reasonably certain I had, but she's proven it. My potion really does stop the aging process at the point it's taken. She still doesn't quite know how long the effects last, but she IS certain that the mice AREN'T immortal. They can be killed. And no, she didn't murder a bunch of baby mice. Her cats got them.

As for the potion that Sebastian has been working on, well, he and Sev are rather pleased. They've not made loads of progress, and that's actually why they're pleased. It's been quite the challenge. So far, they've brewed the - or rather, started it, it takes a few months to brew - potion, but they're doing several of them at once. The main potion is exactly as written in the instructions. Two or three of the variations are more or less the same, but with minor tweaks that just intuitively make sense once a person filters the recipe through modern potion making knowledge.

And then the rest of the variations are things they think MIGHT resolve or perhaps even fix the problem of turning into a werewolf once infected. Like a sort of anti-virus? Nothing is certain yet. That said.

I erm…

Well, let's just say that we can all agree that Sebastian and Severus are FAR more knowledgeable about potions than I am, but that I've managed throughout my life to make rather complex and seemingly impossible potions rather easily. It's as if I have a sort of intuition that kicks in from time to time that allows me to do things with a potion that neither of them in their fairly rigid methodology would ever think to do. So...

I *may* have actually done it. Erm, that is to say, make a potion that will allow a person to transform into an animal of their choice based on whatever bit of animal they add to the potion - like Polyjuice. I, er, well, it will need to be tested, but I think it's going to work. Once it's finished brewing. See, I was reading through all of my brother's notes on his theories and variances, and something just clicked.

At first, Sebastian laughed, assuming that I was joking when I said I might have figured it out, but then he realized that I was serious and got seriously pissed off at me for just sort of stumbling into it so quickly and easily. THEN he read over my notes and listened to me explain it, and now he's rather excited and can't wait to see how the potion turns out and if it works. He's actually handling the majority of the brewing for me so that I don't accidentally miss anything in my, erm… distraction...

Which brings me to the Laudanum. It's a super simple muggle potion, actually, and so, was absurdly easy to brew. I have some ready to go if I feel I need it, but it's intended to be more like a plaster than an underlying solution. It will give me a quick boost to my mood so that I can pull myself out of a black hole and then work on my occlumency and other techniques to strengthen my mind and mood before the next black hole hits. If that makes sense.

But now that I've babbled on excitedly about potions for far longer than you care to read, I'm going to sign off and hunt you down for some hungry kisses.

River deep, mountain high,  
Draco


	185. Chapter 185

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is a kept boy and Draco has a brilliant idea.

Wednesday Jul 7th  
My Own,

I feel as though so many of our discussions concerning our family's mental health begin and end with "then Iran happened." It's not like our lives have ever been particularly drama free (remember that time I had to murder a maniacal dark lord?), but that time in our lives really pushed us all into a world we weren't ready to handle. It's probably selfish of me to worry so much about how this affected our lives when these people were living this war firsthand. It just seems wrong when all we had to do was care for those who had been traumatized. Yeah, poor you Harry, you had to see a child grievously wounded, except the child had to live it.

I hate that I put our family through this, and I hate that we're all still grieving a bit even a year later. However, I can't wish it back and even if I could I wouldn't. If we hadn't gone we wouldn't have our Jaz. I can't imagine our lives without the sunshine she brings into it. That smile, the sheer determinedness she brings to everything, the gentle affection she gives everyone. And realistically we wouldn't have Seph, Lissa, or Cael if we hadn't gone there. With our battle to experience pregnancy as soon as we got back, we ended up with these three amazing little people who I'm getting to know more and more every day.

How can I simultaneously regret ever bringing our family to such terror while not being willing to change it for the world?

It doesn't really matter since we can't go back and change anything anyway, but it's going to be a long time, if ever, before I'd be willing to take on another Unity Creation. And no matter how happy I am that we have our Jaz, and how good I feel knowing that we really did make a difference, I will never bring any of us to another war-torn area of the world. Hopefully someone will carry on the torch if it is needed in the future, but it won't be us.

Ugh, I can't keep dwelling, it's not something I should bury and ignore and let fester, but I also don't need to keep constantly reminding myself, and you, of it either.

Your potions! You are truly brilliant. I am so proud that you have these amazing ideas and can bring them to fruition. I love the idea of altering or weakening your de-aging potion to promote youthful feelings or a beauty enhancement. But I wonder if it could be used, not necessarily to prolong life since we thankfully all finally agree that's a bad plan, but to extend the life of body parts that deteriorate. Say someone is in otherwise good health but their heart seems to be weakening, maybe there's something in your vitality potion that could get the heart back to healthy levels or at least slow down the weakening. Just a thought.

And the animal Polyjuice potion, so it's going to work similarly to the Animagus transformation but making the transformation accessible even if the witch or wizard can't figure out their form? Will it allow you to transform into any animal or just the one you would have as an Animagus? I love my fox form, and I know you and the kids all do as well, but I think it would be cool to try some other forms. Like I would love to turn into some great cat and romp around with Lainie in her panther form. And, sigh, I suppose I could play around with Amala as well.

Oh! Another thought for what your de-aging potion could accomplish; what about a modification of a stasis charm in the medical field. Like when I was in the healing coma, maybe something like this potion would have been a better option. Obviously not specifically me, since I was pregnant and trying to get Persephone to age as much in utero as she could before I had her, but non pregnant people in healing comas.

I think in another life, with a different potions professor, I would have liked to be a healer. I love the idea of coming up with new ideas to keep people healthy, save their lives, or physically enrich their lives.

I suppose I will have to settle for my current job of "kept boy" or "house husband"!

Yours,  
Harry

 

Friday, July 9th

Harry! I just came up with a brilliant idea!

I KNOW we decided to cut back on travel and just stay home for the foreseeable future, and I know that having others watch our littles for us 4 days a week has been helping us have more time together - just the two of us (side note, today's run was INTENSE!!!) - but I have a strong urge to do something to cheer the Viper up when he gets home from his extended week with his Draco. He's going to be at least a little depressed, and to that end, I feel that seeing his kids having fun will help him feel better.

Thus, I think that we should ALL (well, maybe not the babies. Maybe we have them stay with my parents in exchange for bringing my siblings too) spend the entire Sunday afternoon/evening at my Water Park. We haven't been there in ages and I tend to have more fun there for some reason than at Unity Park. We'll leave before the Viper comes home - because he never arrives at a set time - with a note for him to come meet us there ASAP. By the time he arrives, we'll probably all be in an excellent mood and it'll be contagious.

What do you think?

And..... Maybe it's time we had another official circle dinner? It's still summer hols, so even the Quartet should be able to attend if given enough notice. This would also give me and Pansy some time to sit down and discuss the other possibilities for the anti-aging potion.

Or is it still too soon because you're still in the first week of your Mind Healing Potion regimen?

Full disclosure, I've taken my Laudanum twice so far. For the most part, I've not needed it. If emotional stability was the equivalent of a percentage - 100 percent being completely emotionally stable - I feel I've been hovering between 60-70 percent. Stable enough to not need the potions, but not so stable that I'm in perfect emotional health.

The first time I took the potion was on Wednesday when we had the babies all day. I was more or less happy or at least content while we held them and played with them and just generally had a blast cooing at them. Until Caelum got fussy again. He'd been fed, changed, etc, so I think he was tired, but he was refusing to go to sleep. He just kept crying and nothing we did calmed him. I stayed by your side after you realized that I was hurting - emotionally - and took him from me, but then I just couldn't take anymore and excused myself to go to the loo. In the loo, I took a few drops of my potion, and that took effect after about a half an hour. I felt better, a little happier than usual actually, and was able to rejoin you.

Miracle of miracles, you'd managed to get him to sleep and so were the girls, which left us free to play with just Jaz and Zaire.

The second time I've taken my potion was upon waking up today. I'd had a nightmare that... well... that you'd... erm… died. And... I woke up feeling despair so deep that it was smothering me. So I took a few drops of my potion and waited for the panic and the helpless/hopeless feeling to go away. Now I'm feeling like I could take on the world, so what say you, my love? We've already gone running today, you're currently making a late lunch (and probably sneaking in some time with our babies even though you need time away from them too), and once we've eaten, we'll still have some time together without any kids. Let's go dancing!

Let me hold you in my arms and sway my body against yours. Let me kiss and caress you until... well, until our playroom calls our name. Sound good?

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, when you're not happy, my skies are grey, you'll never know just how much I love you, so don't take my sunshine away,  
Draco


	186. Chapter 186

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While getting ready for the Water Park, Draco sends for River to have a talk with him about appropriate behavior for the family outing.

Saturday July 10, 2010

Do you remember our old habit where we spent my lunch breaks either going for a run together or dancing together every other day? It was good exercise either way, it kept things even between my preferred activity and yours, and gave us time together no matter what else we were busy with.

Well, I think we should go back to that. I had that lovely intense run with you yesterday and then we danced as well, which was honestly so great. But during days that we don't have quite as much time, or that the babies are a bit needier, or even when we get to a point where we aren't leaving them with others so often, it will be nice to have a scheduled time every day to do something healthy for our bodies, our emotional state, and our relationship.

I don't need to wait for my potions to be at one hundred percent before planning fun activities. Even when I was at my least healthy levels mentally, I still could enjoy or get through fun things that needed to get done. Obviously, I'd rather enjoy them as opposed to just getting through. However, I'm sure there are going to be times I will need to push myself to do things my depression would like me to avoid while I'm getting to that healthier place.

I have most definitely been enjoying our time as a couple, our time with the kids, our dancing or running times, and certainly enjoying our visits to the playroom. Again, I know I'm not where I need to be, but I am already feeling so much better than I was even just a few days ago.

And speaking of feeling better, you mentioned that you had only taken the laudanum twice; during Caelum's fit and when you woke up to that horrible dream. Did you seriously not need a hit of that potion when you dropped Mahafsoun off with Kisa? I'm surprised you were able to do it at all, let alone without some sort of potion-based courage.

I should probably head to bed though, my depression tends to be at its worst when I am tired and I am so looking forward to our water park fun tomorrow! I'm going to be well rested and fingers crossed that I won't have any horrible nightmares like yours. I can't think of a worse way to spend my dreams than to lose you in them.

I am yours, alive, and loving you with all of my heart,  
Harry

 

Sunday July 11th  
The dearest part of my heart,

Before I recap today, let me just answer your roundabout question: I actually did take a few drops of potion when I dropped Mahafsoun off. Or rather, after I dropped her off and was on my way home again. I'd actually forgotten about that, sorry. I suppose that I tried to forget the whole day, and thus, pushed taking the potion out of my mind. I also didn't want to upset you, so I haven't talked about how sad I was to Portkey to my cousin's house, introduce them (I held it together and kept a cheerful face for them), explain why I think Kisa would be good for Mahafsoun, and then just... leave...

It was harder than I thought it would be. I honestly felt like I was leaving one of my actual children for an indeterminate amount of time. That said, I'd trust Kisa with any and all of our children, so that part was a bit of a comfort.

And don't worry, Kisa stated that the first thing she was going to teach Mahafsoun is Krav Maga. And Hermione's on board, planning to teach her how to think for herself. She is going to be properly scary in no time!

So today didn't exactly go according to plan. We were going to go to the Water Park and get all happy before Viper joined us, but he arrived home early. You were there for most of it, so you already know everything, thus this is just a recap for me to sort it all out.

The first thing that happened was me managing to choose an outfit to wear in record time. I was rather chuffed with myself and exited our closet to find River curiously looking around our sitting room - I presumed in response to me asking him to come see me before we left.

"River, thank you for coming as called. I just wanted to remind you that this is a FAMILY outing and I expect you to refrain from sneaking off to snog every girl you see," I stated sternly.

He paled and looked almost green or gray. "WHAT???"

"I mean it!" I insisted firmly.

"But! But!" River protested, looking like he wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

I noticed Viona standing off to the side of him, closely inspecting our wall of photos. "Sweet Merlin Viona! Is THAT what you really plan to wear?!"

She turned and gave me a highly affronted look.

You laughed a deep belly laugh. "Morning Draco. Afternoon, whatever. Wrong River. And Viona."

"Harry!" I cried out joyfully because even though you were only in the bath with the babies for about 20 minutes, it felt like ages since I last saw you. And then it hit me. "Oh wait, it's just YOU..."

The Viper laughed again. "Good to see you too."

"What's this about River snogging every girl he sees?" Rosalie asked with mischievous interest, making me spin around a little and gape at her in shock.

"Er....." I droned, feeling rather faint.

Viper was still thoroughly enjoying this. "Ha! You didn't even look this flustered when you first saw me and my kids!"

I pointed at Rosalie. "But! But!"

"As I understand it, the Rosalie from this world is dead. I am sorry to hear it," Rosalie murmured respectfully.

"And your River lives with you and has done since he was 5," OTHER Draco added. I had been too busy looking first at River and Viona on the one side of the room, and then sort of half turning to glance at the Viper to notice him prior to this, and then Rosalie naturally preoccupied my full attention, so to turn my head and suddenly see myself standing there looking like he just came straight from an appointment at a law firm, well... it was a bit discombobulating.

"Hey dad! Why in Merlin's fluffy poots did you want to see me?!" River roared as he headed toward the door of our room.

"And you had better freakin' be dressed already, dad!" Viona added. "YOU'RE the one who wanted to go SWIMMING! There's no need to look like you're - WHAT THE BLOODY HE-- er... ck...?!"

At this point, they had most definitely entered the room and spotted themselves.

I took advantage of their speechlessness to say what I wanted to say before the chaos erupted. "Yes Viona, I'm dressed, and River, I expect you to remember that this is a FAMILY outing and refrain from snogging every girl you see!"

"BUT DAD!!!" He wailed in protest, prompting Rosalie to giggle. He spun to glare at what he assumed was a sister sniggering at him, only to almost fall off his feet in shock. "Mum...…." To MY shock, he promptly burst out in tears and threw his arms around her so that he could sob into her neck.

"Oh, oh, my love," she crooned soothingly.

Meanwhile, the two Vionas were sizing each other up. Our Viona had her Magimobile in hand and was somehow sending out a group text without even looking at it. Barely a moment passed when Elena popped into the room.

"WHAT?!" Elena blurted out.

"Viper brought his River and Viona!" Our Viona stated, pointing out the obvious. OTHER Viona was looking Elena over warily.

"DAD'S HOME!!!" Viper's kids roared gleefully as they ran into the room and swamped him in a group hug.

"Dad, Della bought me a new bikini and I look so hot in it!"

"WHAT?!?!" Viper asked in dismay, but then immediately got distracted when Delphini pushed Harrison toward the middle of the group hug. "Harrison! What happened to your face?!"

"Hazel PUNCHED me again!!!" Harrison growled unhappily.

Hazel harrumphed and crossed her arms over her chest as she walked into the room. "If you don't like being punched, then STOP SAYING stupid things!!!"

"I ONLY told you that even girls wear trousers from time to time! I think you'd look good in jeans, what's wrong with that?!"

"Have you EVER seen me wear anything less than a couture dress?!" Hazel demanded crossly.

"Well yeah, when we're naked," Harrison muttered.

Viper chuckled. "Probably shouldn't say it like that. Gives the wrong impression."

"Well how else am I supposed to say it???" Harrison asked in clear bafflement.

"Try... When we're all in a family bath, sounds less... iffy..."

"Or when you're in a swim cozzie," Eris added merrily, giving her sister a kiss on the cheek. "Which..." she gestured to the open door as if giving Pippa a cue.

"Oi! Boss! The vehicles you rented to haul us all to the Water Park have arrived!" Pippa called out as she entered the room.

"They can bloody wait!" I yelled in return, to ensure that she heard me over all the noise. Then I turned toward the bathroom. "Oi Harry! You're taking longer to get ready than *I* am!!!"

"That's rare!" Viper snickered.

"You're bloody buggering lucky that there are silencing charms on the crib because I JUST got the babies to sleep!!!" You shouted as you exited the bedroom portion of our suite to join the rest of us. You were holding Jaz on a your right hip and holding Zaire's hand in your left.

Jaz flung her hands out happily when she saw me and popped into my arms.

"Hi there love!" I said as I kissed her. Then I rubbed noses with her. I held my other hand up in a vain attempt to ask for a bit of silence so I could count. "Elena, River, Viona, Eris, Hazel, Zaire, and Jaz. The babies are sleeping, so where are Ori, Siri, and Zwei?"

"Ori took Siri and Zwei out for a bit of a run before we left - so that Remus and Romulus could expend some energy," Eri informed me.

"AND AMALA!" Zwei called out gleefully as he and his brothers jogged into the room. "I told Amala to chase me, and wow is she ever FAST!"

"Well she IS a cheetah," I reminded him. "The fastest cat on the planet."

Amala came over and 'stood up' so that she could put her paws on my shoulders and give me and Jaz kisses. This naturally made Bear bark jealously and try to jump up and claim kisses too. I KNEW there'd be chaos! As usual, Bear's excitement got Remus and Romulus riled up too.

"MUFFY!!!" I cried out.

"Master calls?" Muffy asked as she popped into the room.

"Take Remus, Romulus, Amala, AND BEAR out to the impossible to escape enclosure!" I commanded, starting to feel just a tiny bit out of sorts.

"Yes Master," Muffy murmured obediently as she grabbed a magical tether from all of them and Apparated away.

This SHOULD have reduced the noise a tiny little bit, right? That would be a no, because Sebastian and Eliza were close to brawling.

"Why do ***I*** have to go?! I HATE swimming!!!" Sebastian whinged.

"Because MUM AND DAD said you have to!" Eliza reminded him gleefully.

"I can't wait to see Bastian looking like a drowned rat!" Bellerophon heckled.

"BEL!" Viper chided. "I can only stand one of my sons having a black eye at one time!"

Bel flapped his hand and made a pfft sound. "Bassie is *way* more likely to slip me poison than punch me! That's why Draco gave us all Bezoars!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!!!!!!!" Sebastian snarled irately.

Other Draco sidled up to me and pointed at Sebastian. "Did our Godfather shrink???"

"THAT'S WHAT I ASKED?!" The Viper roared in glee, curling an arm around his Draco and giving him a happy kiss.

Jaz tugged on my sleeve, pointed at other Draco, and signed: "Why two daddy?"

I thrust her into other Draco's arms so that my hands were free to talk to her. I signed: "Not two daddies. Look same but different. Like Daddy Harry and the Viper."

"Oi!" Viper protested, sounding not really upset, more like just a tiny bit offended, but also sort of amused. "You even taught HER to call me Viper via Sign?"

We both shrugged. "What else were we supposed to have her call you?"

He thought this over for a moment, and then sort of nodded and bobbed his head at the same time. "Fair point," he admitted.

I held up my hands and demanded quite this time. "Oi! Shut it! Everyone stop talking at once and listen to Pippa!"

But before Pippa could make use of the drastic reduction in the noise level, you spoke up. You were rubbing River - OUR River - on the back and humming soothingly as he still cried (fairly quietly now) on Rosalie's shoulder. "Maybe we should cancel the Water Park. River doesn't seem capable of swimming at the moment."

This prompted him to try to protest. "No! I can - I can..." He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, but when that didn't work, buried his face in Rosalie's neck again.

"I don't think it's a good idea to cancel for everyone," I reasoned. "River can stay here and help keep an eye on the babies."

He nodded vigorously. "Yeah, go..."

You didn't seem convinced. "Riv...?"

"Go!" He insisted, pulling free from Rosalie and pushing her toward you. "I... I need to talk to Wendy..."

"Oh..." You murmured in understanding. "Well alright. Do you want me to stay home with you?"

"DAAAAD!" River groaned, rolling his eyes. "I'm perfectly capable of talking with my Mind Healer on my own, ta ever so!"

"Alright, if you say so," you agreed, looking like you quite wanted to ground him for his attitude, but also wanted to be sympathetic to his turbulent emotions.

I caught him as he stomped past me toward the door. "You call or insta-owl either of us if you feel the need to talk, or maybe even cheer up enough to join us, yeah?"

"Yeah alright," he grumbled, suffering through a quick hug before pushing himself free of me and resuming his dramatic exit.

"Right!" Pippa called out briskly. "We're taking four vehicles, and even they've been expanded a bit. Eliza, Sebastian, Other River, Delphini, and Della will be in with Rhys. Viona, other Viona, Orion, Eris, Hazel, and Harrison will be in with Saoirse. Gavin, Tommy, Bellerophon, Siri, and Zwei will be in with me and Leah - who's planning to look after Jaz if you want, boss."

I sort of rolled my eyes slowly from one side to the other as I thought this over. "So... that leaves the fourth car for MY Harry, the Viper, HIS Draco, Rosalie, Zaire, and me?"

"Exactly!" She exclaimed in confirmation.

You gave her a bit of a side eye look. "You DO realize that you put practically all the troublemakers in the same car as you... right?"

Pippa snorted. "WHO'S a troublemaker when I'M in the car?"

"Not me! NO MA'AM!" The boys assigned to her car (even our mischief twins) blurted out as they fervently shook their heads.

After a minor argument in which I ended up duplicating my swim cozzie for my doppelgänger, because he was outright REFUSING to go swimming with the rest of us (until the Viper whispered a filthy promise into his ear, I'm sure), we FINALLY made an exodus to the waiting cars. The only minor emergency from that point was when other Draco nearly fainted because my parents had come out to wave us off.

"Have fun!" My mother called out.

"And don't drown each other!" My father added with a light glare.

My brothers and sisters grumbled something along the lines of: "Yes dad," but you and all the other kids sang out: "See you later, Grammy Cissa, Grampy Lulu!"

The mere sight of my father had nearly caused other me to faint, but hearing that and seeing my father do nothing but roll his eyes in response to that, nearly murdered him on the spot, ahahahaha! The Viper had to hold his hand and comfort him (covertly, or... subtly, I suppose) the entire trip to the Water Park.

Which was without a doubt one of the MOST awkward car rides of my life!

But now I'm too tired to finish this recap - or think of a poetic valediction, so...

Love you,  
Draco


	187. Chapter 187

Sunday July 11th  
My Draco,

So I think I have figured out why you so much prefer the Water Park to Unity Park. It's the closest you can get to being nude in public without actually being nude in public. Water parks, beaches, and especially nude beaches, they're your happy place! And as someone whose happy place generally includes seeing as much of your beautiful skin as possible, I also enjoy those places!

I kept thinking I would eventually become used to it, but it's been years and I still think it's hilarious that you are simultaneously a nudist and the biggest clothing snob I know. How do you know what looks good and the most up to date fashion when you'd prefer to be wearing nothing but a smirk? Maybe it's just genetic, other Draco doesn't appear to be a nudist and he knows how to put together a power suit like nobody's business. Hell, Viper gets on my nerves quite a bit, but other Draco is definitely fit. Those Malfoy genes run true don't they?

But even being essentially identical to you, minus your tattoos obviously, you're so much handsomer. Similarly to the Viper, he's hard. His eyes are constantly narrowed, he has pinched frown lines around the corners of his mouth, and his eyes seem like a cynical fog grey instead of your loving shiny silver. Then add the tattoos, which are not only hot but so many of them represent our life, and he doesn't hold a candle to you. It makes me want to lay you down while I lick and worship every inch of your skin. Flirt with your dragons a bit.

Must distract myself from constant horniness …

What was other Viona wearing that had you so confused? Was it just that she wasn't in swim gear yet? I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary but we all know I'm a bit oblivious to fashion and my surroundings. And then I was very distracted by my sweet River having such a hard time seeing his mum/not mum alive without any warning. My poor, sweet little buddy. I know his crying shocked you, you see him as this dark haired miniature version of yourself. But he is probably the most sensitive of all of our children. I think he knows you see him as tough and tries to put on a strong face to you. I was not shocked in any way seeing him sob.

It seems like his session with Wendy went well. I didn't ask him specifics, and he never joined us at the water park but he did spend time with us when we all got back. He was more reserved than usual, but didn't break out into tears or anything.

I wonder if our children play to our personalities and preferences. For the most part I see Hazel as this sweet as pie little hunny who is brilliant and fashionable, but when she's upset just gets sassy. Then every once in a while her little temper tantruming diva comes out and she decks someone for telling her to wear jeans. I'll let you guess which personality is aimed towards which dad. And our River is almost always soft with me, but he gives you a hell of an attitude.

And Viona has always seen you as her good friend, confidant, and partner. Sometimes I think she sees me as a naïve child she has to pat on the head. It's probably because of the fact that she is much more clever than I am! It would be embarrassing to admit my child is smarter than I am, but our kids are bloody brilliant so it's not really an insult!

Ok, this whole other Draco, other Viona, other River, etcetera, is getting annoying. I need to come up with nicknames for everyone. Maybe we can call our Viona 'Skye' since it's the part of her name we chose and other Viona can go by HER middle name, which I don't actually know! It wasn't information we were ever able to find. And again, maybe middle names for the Rivers? Just call them Malfoy and Lewis since our River ended up changing his name. Not sure about other Draco though. You can come up with that one since I named MY doppelganger!

Oh, and why was other Viona side-eyeing our Elena? Is there an other Elena over there that other Viona has met?

My brain hurts, this is all too confusing. I feel like I need a chart. I'm going to start making them all wear nametags. I think I'm going to go get a drink!

You are my reward for surviving my own stupidity,  
Harry

P.S. Don't avoid telling me things, like you being upset about dropping off Mahafsoun, it's unhealthy for you to bottle up your feelings. I can handle it, I want to be who you go to when things are upsetting to you.

 

Monday July 12th  
My adoration,

It's currently about 2 AM, and since I'm awake feeding Caelum, I figured I'd type up the rest of my recap.

We spent several lovely hours at the Water Park. I had a blast, and I *didn't* need to take my mood boosting potion at any point. Yes I am rather proud of that because it means that I'm not such a mess that I can't genuinely enjoy a fun activity without taking a few drops of Laudanum every hour or so.

To ease some of Other Draco's concerns (I'm still working on a nickname for him), I called ahead and let the staff know that we were coming and that I'd appreciate it if they claimed maintenance issues and give out free passes so that everyone would leave without too much protest. The physical owners and managers of the park took this as an incentive to declare the day family only - meaning that the only other people at the park were employees and their family members.

Shockingly, this only added a little more than double our number - which was still a small enough crowd that Other Draco didn't feel quite so overwhelmed. As I understand it, he's never taken a holiday of any sort since the summer just before Fifth Year. He works long hours each day, and has to be bullied by his Pippa into taking a break when he clearly needs it. In that context, I suppose not only taking an entire week off to visit another world - with the risk that they might get stuck here permanently (the risk is so small at this point that I honestly don't think it's an issue) - but ALSO immediately thrusting him into a situation in which he expected to relax and have fun, well... It probably felt so overwhelming that I'm surprised he didn't start panicking and throw a furious strop.

Anyway, since the entire Park was more or less closed, the normal rules about limiting magic to safe things was bent so hard that it might have just been called broken for the day. Our family picked the largest pool - some of us stripping off entirely (did you see other River's eyes bulge practically out of his head when Elena stripped off her tiny bikini? Judging by the way his mum pressed her lips together disapprovingly, I daresay that she's definitely NOT a nudist, hahaha!) - and formed teams to see if it was possible to play a sort of water dodge ball.

Naturally, OUR kids had the advantage because they had practice with wandless magic AND surfing, so we split them up fairly evenly, making sure to avoid letting dream teams such as Eris and Hazel dominate the game. With our kids split evenly between us and my siblings and the Viper's kids each picking sides too - the Viper on your side and Rosalie gamely giving it a go on my side - we manipulated the water to not only control our surfboards but ALSO create and lob balls of water at each other with the sole goal of knocking each other off their boards. (Pippa and Saoirse were also on my side, while you had Leah and Rhys.)

My doppelgänger was the only one of our party sitting on the sidelines - as he had volunteered to be a sort of referee if needed - but he wasn't the only one just watching the game. Others drifted in and out of the main pool area to watch us as they swam in the other pools or took breaks to get refreshments. I will say that other Draco was the only one who kept looking around at all the chaos with an expression that suggested he quite believed that he was not only dreaming, but having hands down THE weirdest dream of his life, hahaha!

But as dinner time approached, we were all definitely getting hungry. So after your team won two games and my team won two games, we called it a day. I was in high spirits and I'm dead certain I was not the only one. It seemed that everyone except Doppel (no, that's not intended to be his official nickname, I'm just trying it out) was in an excellent mood.

We returned home for dinner, my parents nearly overwhelmed as everyone tried to tell them what they'd missed at the same time. Even Sebastian deigned to admit that he'd had fun (which probably means that he'd had a blast, haha!), meanwhile, Zaire was sitting in my mother's lap telling her how he sat in his carrier on your back as you flung water balls at everyone. He's quite proud that his daddy is so powerful.

Persephone was so happy to see you that you'd think we'd been gone days rather than hours. She cooed adorably as you nursed her, patting your face or perhaps poking you in the eye. Lily was also cooing, snug in her carrier on my chest. I fed her with a bottle, but it was milk I had expressed at some point. I know I'm probably not fooling anyone at this point, but I consider nursing a private thing between the babies and me (and you, obviously), and so, I only do it when I'm alone with them. Such as now.

Were you as surprised as I was when other me - who is quite good looking. Maybe I should nickname him Gorgeous. Or Blondie, no... hmm... He's sleek and powerful. We call The Viper that because he's very much like a venomous version of you - ABLE to spit poison at you if he wants but generally self-controlled enough not to. So maybe we should call my lookalike an animal as well. In which case, Dragon would be the obvious choice, but I have a feeling that you would adamantly refuse to call him that until the end of time. So... Tiger? An animal that is sleek and powerful - as I just said - but also regal and sneaky when desired?

Yeah... I think I like it. Now all we have to do is TRY to not let him know what we're calling him while he's here. I have a feeling that he'd take offense to being called something other than his actual name or Dragon, hahaha.

Anyway, as I was saying, were you as surprised as I was when the Tiger volunteered to hold/feed Caelum? He wasn't bullied or guilted into it either. He simply saw that I had a baby strapped to each side of my chest - and thus my hands were full of bottles, which made it hard for me to feed myself - and said: "Watching a version of myself being some sort of superdad is just plain WEIRD! But watching said superdad feed two babies at the same time while trying to feed himself with wandless charmwork is... rather impressive actually. I've never had time to try learning wandless magic in addition to nonverbal magic, so good job on that. But as I was saying, I think it's only fair if you have at least one hand to eat with, so hand the boy over."

I gave him a suspicious look. "If I wanted to have one less child strapped to me, I'd just pass one over to Saoirse. Or Pippa. Why should I give my son to YOU...?"

He rolled his eyes, clearly finding this both expected AND amusing. "I'm YOU - in essence. WHY would I harm your son? Hand him over," he commanded expectantly, which let me know that he was only 'offering' to help because he deeply wished to hold one of our babies - perhaps to reassure himself that they were real. I handed Caelum over with Muffy's help, and then watched the Tiger stare at our son with a carefully shuttered expression.

The sheer fact that he was so utterly composed and blank-faced tells me that he was probably an emotional mess on the inside. I'm going to even go out on a limb and say that he was probably feeling a powerful longing as he fed Caelum from a bottle. If the furtive glances he kept sneaking at the Viper are any indication, he might just be ready to consider such an option. I'm going to go just a tiny bit crazy and suggest that maybe this visit is doing him a world of good by forcing him to reevaluate his priorities.

After practically every moment of our time at the Water Park was rehashed for my parents' enjoyment, the conversation turned to various interests. Orion reported that his Macadamias were selling very well, that demand continued to be rather high. Viona and her sisters spent at least twenty minutes giving us all a detailed report of Hazeris' continued smashing success. Elena waxed nearly poetic about her school and how she already had a core group of students that were serious enough that they'd probably stay with the school for the next few years at least.

Delphini and Della took an opportunity to pitch a business idea to my father - I was busy burping and fussing over Lily and so didn't pay them much attention - but it was something along the lines of opening a shop with the Viper's other kids as slave labor - I mean minions. Della has been trained - much like Viona - to understand business, and so, she'd prepared an entire business plan and had answers for every one of my father's questions. So, he had no real choice but to approve the funding they needed. I find it ironic that I'd already promised to help Viper's kids start up any business they wanted, and yet they chose to risk rejection by pitching to my father instead. Probably because Della was able to coach them extremely well.

River (Our River) ended the business portion of the conversation by letting us know that Aya was insisting that he and Angella accompany her to an old folks retreat (his words, not mine) to offer massages. I'd already received a message from Aya letting me know that the youngest 'girl' at the retreat was likely to be over 50, and thus, River should be able to focus on his training rather than how pretty a girl might be. He leaves tomorrow and even admitted that he plans to have one more session with Wendy before going.

This prompted Pippa to remind our kids that they ALL had Mind Healing appointments tomorrow. This made OTHER Viona snort in amusement. Derisive amusement.

"You're all bloody rich kids! What can YOU possibly have to talk to a Mind Healer about?" She sneered in a tone I used to use all the time at her age.

"Iran," Viona, Eris, Orion, Hazel, Siri, and Zwei all stated as if this was a fact written in stone. Meanwhile, River glanced at his not mum and shrugged.

Other Viona frowned in confusion. "What about Iran?"

Our Viona reached out and took hold of her 'twin's' hand. "Look, I get it, you were abandoned by your mother and left to be raised in a boarding school of some sort, so you probably have a LOT you need to talk to a Mind Healer about. But our lives haven't been all rainbows, sunshine, and unicorns either. We spent ten years having all these AMAZING opportunities to help kids who... were orphans, abandoned, muggleborn, or just plain suffering. My mother abandoned me too, and sometimes I wonder why I wasn't lovable enough for her - despite knowing that it was her circumstances and not me that made her abandon me. Hazel's mother is a criminal who had her rights stripped from her. River's mother died right in his scared little arms. We've had our share of hard things to cope with. BUT Iran..."

Eris nodded in agreement. "Iran was one of the hardest and most amazing experiences anyone could ever have. It's right on the border of an active war. The orphans we saw... the CHILDREN we helped - they WEREN'T just abandoned, or born to idiots who didn't know how to recognize special when they saw it - they were SURVIVORS of a terrible war. Some were missing limbs. Some were burned so badly it's a miracle they were still alive."

"Others looked physically whole, but were mentally shattered," Orion murmured. "Every single one of them was in pain in one way or another, and all we could do was hold them, comfort them, sing to them, and play games with them when they felt up to it."

Our River smiled. "It was always *amazing* to see a kid missing a foot or an arm just let loose and play like he didn't have a care in the world. Or see a toddler who had burns all over her body 'forget' she was suffering long enough to slide down the slide a dozen or so times."

"Iran was one of the best experiences of our lives," Viona explained to her other self. "But maybe you can see how the experience was also a bit traumatic and that we're NOT just being spoiled rich kids when we say we need to see Mind Healers. Because for all the kids we helped save and nurse back to health, there was at least one other child who didn't quite make it, and..."

"And sometimes it's hard to stop thinking about how sad THAT made us long enough to remember how magical and blessed the rest of the time was," Hazel finished. Our kids all looked around at one another before joining hands in a circle around their portion of the table.

Elena had missed most of our time in Iran, only Portkeying in to visit once in a while whilst she was in Hogwarts, but even she had witnessed some things. She brushed a tear from her eye did something that surprised no one - except possibly other River, the Tiger, and especially other Viona.

She burst into song. "'Cuz it makes me that much stronger."

"Makes me work a little bit harder," our Viona added.

"It makes me that much wiser," River sang.

"Made me learn a little bit faster," Eris went next.

"Made my skin a little bit thicker," Hazel crooned like a true Diva.

"Made me that much smarter," Orion sang before all of them finished with:

"So thanks for making me a, fighter!"

Well, I say finished, but I really mean finished the chorus. They all skipped to the next lead up to the chorus (I am a fighter and I, I ain't gonna stop, there is no turning back, 'cuz I've had enough), and then sang the chorus one more time before Elena practically leapt to her feet and held up one hand as if testifying.

"I say we spend the rest of the evening singing Karaoke!"

"You certainly don't have to twist my arm," I replied with an amused smirk.

"It's so WEIRD to see YOU all happy and SINGING!" Other Viona blurted out as she gave Elena a look of mildly freaked out disbelief.

Elena tilted her head curiously. "Why?"

Other Viona looked down, blushing in mild embarrassment. "Just that... you're SO STRICT! You went from being Head Girl of my boarding school to being one of the strictest Professors there in the time it took you to graduate and apply for the post. I... I just CAN'T wrap my head around..." she gestured to indicate all of Elena - who was looking positively gorgeous in a Spanish style red dress with her hair all slicked back and up in a bun with a fully blooming rose behind her ear.

Elena sighed. "As far as I can tell, YOUR world suffered at the hands of Voldemort (gasps) for two whole years AFTER he'd been killed in our world. That made a lot of drastic differences, one of the most common ones being that the versions of us from your world are all the survivors of an extremely bad past. It's made you all harder and..." she shrugged helplessly.

"Unable to realize just how much of the joy of life we're missing out on," the Viper said for her. He had the most intimate perspective on the matter of all of them. Elena nodded in agreement. "That's why I kept pouting and insisting until my Draco relented and consented to coming here for a visit. I think he needs to see what he's missing out on, but also, the rest of them - aside from River - need to see that the world doesn't HAVE to be such a hard place. That sometimes, there are better - more subtle - ways to make it better."

Other Draco must have been swept away by the moment because he made a very overt public gesture of affection by kissing his Harry's hand. "I thank Merlin and Salazar every single day that my River had a happy childhood with his mum. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I was suddenly presented with a son who'd spent years in a careless orphanage so that he was a hardened shell over a hardened heart."

I smiled at him warmly. "Is that why you insisted that everyone come with you? We're you afraid that you might get stuck here without them?"

He shrugged. "In essence. Yes. I just thought that if I got stuck, then we'd ALL be stuck, and then I wouldn't feel so anguished about not being able to get back."

I smirked at him. "Well, I don't know about YOUR Hermione, but OURS is utterly brilliant! She managed to create a multitude of spells that should keep the 'doorway' between worlds stable for Harry - as it is anchored to his blood and magic - and that of his kids. So long as he is the one 'opening the door,' there should be nearly zero risk of getting stuck."

He gave me a sardonic look. "It's the 'should' and the 'nearly zero' part that has me worried."

Before anyone else could say a word, Elena held out her hand to him. "If you're anything at all like my dad, you should know how to dance."

"Er..." the Tiger droned hesitantly.

"And if not, then it's about time you learned. Come!" Elena insisted.

"I KNOW how to dance!" The Tiger protested even as Elena took Caelum from him and handed him off to Leah.

"Oh? And when was the last time you did so?" Elena challenged, which not only made the Tiger stop and think, but ALSO activated his inherent inability to back down from a challenge.

"Alright fine, so it's been a while. Even so, I bet I can dance circles around you!"

"HA!" She scoffed. "I seriously doubt that! After all, I've dedicated a good portion of my life to learning all forms of dance, and currently run a school with famous dancers from all around the world. I'm not only going to dance you into exhaustion, but I'm going to kick your arse in the process!"

"We'll see about that!" The Tiger harrumphed.

She did. And she sang Karaoke as she did it. It was GLORIOUS to watch!

That was actually one of the most fun nights I can recall having. It's no wonder that I dropped from exhaustion despite mostly watching everyone else and only lightly dancing (with our babies and you).

But now I'm ready to go back to sleep, and all our babies have been fed. For the moment. YOU get the next feeding! Love you!

Some say love, it is a hunger, and endless aching need, I say love, it is a flower, and you its only seed,  
Draco  
P.S. It's still weird seeing a version of Viona wearing a rather unfashionable outfit like one might wear at a school when the actual uniform isn't required. Sort of one step removed from a school uniform. When I thought she was our Viona, I was baffled as to when I'd even bought her any of that.


	188. Chapter 188

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie night and a quarterly meeting.

Wednesday July 14, 2010  
My Own,

I'm not sure if our activities for the day were the best choice or not, but I'm feeling alright about them.

As much fun as the Tiger (I'm not sure about that choice but it's definitely better than typing out "other Draco" constantly) had at the water park seeing our crazy group, seeing his River and Viona acting like children, and truly being able to see the good in our world, he was definitely still overwhelmed at that point. The dinner with all of our families afterwards included him sitting down to eat with your father who definitely still freaks him out. And he also held a beautifully perfect infant that showed him just what he and the Viper could theoretically have.

I'm a bit shocked to be honest that he didn't say a word about the fact that our Caelum has red hair. Either he's terrified that you would murder him for saying anything remotely negative about your son, he's so in love with Cael that he didn't even notice, or both you and he are secretly in love with red hair and have to actively pretend you hate it.

Getting his arse handed to him in both dance and song by Lainie couldn't have been good on his ego either! Although that's probably when I saw a bit of him come out that came the closest to seeing a glimpse of you in his face. Even when he gave his OVERT hand kiss to the Viper he didn't have that same sense of freedom in his face. I suppose you and I should have known the key to his relaxation is dance and competition.

Overt hand kissing! You and I have shagged on pretty much every surface we've ever come across but they act like a little hand smooching is scandalous. Can you even imagine the Tiger at one of our play parties? He'd probably have a heart attack. Although he'd look awfully pretty before the heart attack. I am just picturing two naked Dracos, skin to skin, yanking each other's pale blonde locks, and then you ….

Nope, must stop myself. I can't go down that path. It's just about bedtime and I have to get at least a third of the babes to sleep, I don't have time to fantasize about hot, naked, twin Dracos.

Sleeping babies, sleeping babies, soft and gentle thoughts, wholesome things.

Alright, much better.

In case you were wondering, no you are fooling no one by pretending you don't nurse. I am pretty sure everyone is quite aware, but they are certainly nice enough to pretend they don't know anything about it since it makes you uncomfortable. I do think it's a bit funny that you seem to think it's this private thing between you and the babes … and me. Uh, Jaz and Zaire are with us most evenings when we're putting the babes to sleep, and they are definitely with us when we wake in the middle of the night for feedings. As well as in the morning when they wake up and want to nurse immediately. I think you're also forgetting the few times Siri and Zwei have barged in while you happened to be nursing.

But yeah, no one knows.

Remember when we first found out there was another River that grew up with Rosalie and didn't have us in his life? I was so upset at the idea of there being a River that wasn't ours. And then when I found out there was a Viona as well who didn't grow up with her Daddies, but instead grew up in a boarding school? I was so upset. But they are so different from our River and Viona that they just seem like separate people with similar faces. I feel like I am more the Viper than either of them are our babies.

Don't get me wrong, if they needed a place to live I would absolutely take them in, but that's not really saying much when it comes to me. I can't think of a child I wouldn't take in!

Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it that way. Forgive me? I really truly didn't mean to be an arse about that. You know that if you had really pushed the issue, I wouldn't have said no to taking on Mahafsoun. I just don't think she deserves a mildly unhealthy father with ppd and a very mentally unhealthy second father with … getting better … but still fairly debilitating depression. I don't even care if taking my potions every day makes me "such a mess that I can't genuinely enjoy a fun activity without taking a few drops of" them. I feel so much better since beginning this regimen. I'm so glad there's a solution for people like me whose brain chemicals are just not doing what they're supposed to do.

Wow, I just rambled on and seem to have completely lost my train of thought. I might be full of rambling nonsense, but it seems to come with a much happier disposition and a healthier outlook on life. I think I can handle this.

Anyway, that longwinded stuff basically was getting me to today's activities with the Tiger and his crew. I remember when the Viper first came into our lives, the moment that had us going from antagonistic to coexisting was his first visit to Unity House. I thought “this could be a similar experience for his Tiger.” And “I'm not antagonistic with him so this could go even better.” I get along quite well with the Viper now, knowing what he was willing to do to keep our pregnancies healthy definitely endeared him to me. He will always have a special place in my heart for helping keep our babies safe.

After lunch today, I brought the Tiger by myself to Unity. Did the usual tour, introduced him to the Kids, talked a bit about some of the greatest Unity Royalty success stories, and he seemed to take it all in with his carefully plastered Malfoy Mask. I've learned to see through those, but I am sure he would have convinced other people he wasn't affected. Until the rest of you joined us for Movie night.

We got the snacks and the popcorn. All the Kids grabbed their usual spots, many of them perched on the laps of our children. I grabbed my favorite spot of snuggled in your arms with our laps full of babies. And I saw the Viper push the Tiger onto a cozy wide chair and climb into his lap. The Tiger got so stiff I thought he was going to bolt, he seemed so uncomfortable over such a crazy display of affection. And then the lights were dimmed, and the magic and music of Fantasia carried us all away.

I tried to be very subtle about it, but I kept my eye on those two. They were melted into a gooey cuddle puddle within five minutes. And since he thought it was dark enough that no one would see, I definitely saw the Tiger kissing the crown of Viper's head, seemingly breathing in his scent. He's so in looooooooove!

I am also madly in love with my guy, but I am also a parent of newborns and exhausted, so I will sign off, come find you, and let's go put these babes to sleep so I can catch a few Z's myself!

In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine,  
Harry

 

Thursday July 15th  
My passion,

So my wake up was rather interesting. It's Thursday, thus one of Molly and Arthur's days to watch the babies. Naturally, all my plans are set for after noon, and so, I was still in bed sleeping at half 10.

As I understand it, you had been chatting with the Viper and Tiger over tea in the sunroom, so when Jaz (who must have woken up a bit early for her, as she usually stays in bed a couple of hours after you and Zaire get up, but not as long as me), anyway, when she started getting tired, you decided to put her down for a nap. This meant that you carried her into our suite and nursed her to sleep in the sitting area while you continued chat with the Viper and Tiger.

That's when the Tiger checked his watch and started growling in disapproval. Apparently, my habit of sleeping in offends his sense of order, and so, he marched into our bedroom to wake my arse up and lecture me on the many reasons I should attempt to keep a reasonable schedule. But he didn't have a chance, hahaha!

The moment he put his hand on my shoulder to shake me awake, I snatched him into bed with me. I was having a rather naughty dream featuring you, bound helplessly in black leather, and squirming as I tortured you in front of an audience. In my dream fogged state, I assumed the person touching me was you.

So I seized a demanding kiss and groped my way into his clothes rather atrociously. I didn't really think anything of it when he stiffened and made a sound of protest at first, because you often do that. You come in our room for random things - such as searching for something in particular - get snatched into bed with me if I happen to be awake enough to register your presence, and you protest a bit until you decide that playing with me is more important than whatever it is that you were doing.

Also just like you, he melted rather quickly, probably thinking that it would be interesting and an extremely unique experience to literally shag himself. Even so, he wasn't quite actively participating, just laying there, probably curious as to what I planned to do next.

Well, *maybe* two minutes passed like this before the Viper got suspicious that he couldn't hear what he assumed would be a rather heated argument between us. So he came to investigate, and since Jaz was asleep by this time, you followed so you could lay her down.

I'm fairly certain you were enjoying the show - and I was still half asleep with my eyes closed, but quite determined to strip my bedpartner off. The Viper - on the other hand - immediately snarled.

"OH HELL NO! GET YOUR HANDS OFF *MY* DRACO!!!"

This sort of penetrated the fog of lust I was lost in. Enough to make me crack open an eye and look around. When I realized that I was in fact in bed with myself and that you were watching me with an amused grin, I flashed a quick grin at you in return and resumed snogging the bloody hell out of the Tiger. He made a soft noise of pleasure and you moaned rather lustily.

Unfortunately, the Viper was NOT having it. He yanked his Draco out of my arms and snarled: "MINE!"

I'm fairly certain the Tiger melted a bit at that display of possessiveness as he responded by giving Viper a shockingly aggressive kiss. Perhaps other versions of themselves do not count as having an audience because the Tiger seemed quite willing to take things to the next level in our bed, but the Viper was not having that either - as it probably ran a high risk that we'd hand Jaz over to Muffy and try to join in on the fun.

In fact, you must have actually handed Jaz to Muffy because I don't recall her being in the room by that point. All I registered was you climbing into bed with me to take full advantage of my ready to go state of arousal. I promptly rolled you under me and attacked your neck, but not a vampire attack, a regular love bite attack.

The Viper was growling softly and trying his best to yank his beloved out of our bed, but I think Tiger was extremely curious to watch what was going on. After a few insistent tugs, he relented to the Viper's silent but unyielding demand that they go finish what had been started in his room.

Which left us all alone and quite happy to be together. I shagged you until Pippa came in to remind me that I had a full couple of days planned, and that she would not be shy in telling everyone - in exact detail - what I was doing if I didn't finish up in the next two minutes and get something to eat so I could get dressed and ready to go before the start of my quarterly business meeting.

Lucky for her that I was actually ready to finish, and her mild nagging seemed to set you off as well. Thus we both made obscene noises as we climaxed, which made her fall silent, probably wondering if she should thank me for complying so quickly, or if she should complain that we didn't at least wait for her to finish up her threat and leave the room. However, her presence in the room has NEVER deterred us, and so, she probably didn't even consider complaining for longer than half a second.

In any case, I'm now ready to go. And surprise surprise, the Tiger has volunteered to come with me and Viona. And Orion. And Pippa, of course. The other surprise is that Delphini wants to come too, since she is now a business owner and wants to learn everything she can about running a business. I've also decided to bring Jaz (who is already awake again) because I really believe that she is trying to learn how to read lips lately, and this will give her a ton of practice if I'm right. Besides, Viona was already a business meeting professional at her age, hahaha.

Everything I do, I do it for you,  
Draco


	189. Chapter 189

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is bored and Draco and the Tiger come up with an idea.

Thursday July 15th  
Ugh,

I am bored. B.O.R.E.D. Bored.

Molly has the babes, you have Jaz, Zaire is dirt biking with his brothers, and the older kids are having lessons with Saoirse. I'm so glad you're such a brilliant businessman. I love that you're starting another one of our children on their path to being a business mogul at a young age. I just miss you like crazy.

I wouldn't be surprised if Jaz ends up another one of your business partners. I don't know if it's her natural charm or some sort of ability to read people that's developed from not being able to hear, but she has always been able to draw people to her. When she first came home to us, at some point all of her siblings mentioned that she came into our lives for "them". She seems to have the ability to make every single person feel like the most important person in her world. She has some serious charisma for sure.

I tried flooing the Burrow and telling Molly and Arthur they could have a Thursday off from baby duty. I thought since they've been so wonderful about giving the two of us time together and watching three needy babies so often that I would be equally nice and give them the time off. No, Molly accused me of not trusting her with the children. At this point does she actually think I don't trust her? Does she think I believe her indignation? She has to know that it's the card she can play to get what she wants with me. I'm such a sucker.

I went for a run, that was lovely. I'm thinking about training for another marathon in a few months. My body isn't quite back to marathon shape after my pregnancy, but it shouldn't take too much longer. Honestly, the pregnancy wasn't the issue, two months of bedrest where I did nothing but sit was what turned my muscles to goo.

I think it's a bit funny that the Tiger thinks he has room to talk, giving you a hard time about sleeping in. Uh, we have three tiny babies. Does he think you're just being a lazy layabout? Even with you generally staying up until their first middle of the night feed and me getting up early enough to take care of their last night feed, they are all still up at least once more in the middle of the night, usually twice, occasionally three times. As much as it can be stressful when they all wake at once, at least that gives us a solid window of time where they have all fallen back to sleep. The nights where they take turns and seemingly wake one right after the other? We get no sleep on those nights. Thank Merlin for involved grandparents and pepper-up potions.

Speaking of the Tiger, maybe I will go give the Viper a hard time. I cannot believe he's going to sit there all sanctimoniously declaring no one can touch his Draco (who was not attempting to stop you I might add) when he was all over you when he first came to our world. He kept hitting on you, I kept shutting it down, and he'd try again. I even let him shag you for crying out loud! "MINE!" Ugh, who does he think he is? Yeah, I think messing with the Viper is a great cure for my boredom.

Hopefully see you businesspeople before bedtime tonight!

All of my love,  
Harry

P.S. You think Pippa's nagging set off my orgasm? What kind of perverted weirdo do you think I am?

 

Thursday July 15th  
My dearest Harry,

I'm going to ask a sensitive question, and I will respect your decision either way, but just know that I did hear you and DO understand your issues and concerns. During our big fight, you said quite clearly that you are slowly feeling like playing around is killing you a little at a time. So I made a vow to myself that I would NEVER ask you to play around again.

But THEN you said you were picturing two Dracos together and loving the image, which - FYI - is the only reason I continued to kiss him once I woke up enough to realize who was in bed with me. I glanced at you, saw the approval in your eyes, and decided to push my luck just a little bit. I was also fairly sure that the Viper was going to put a stop to my shenanigans.

So that said, here's my question: The Tiger and I had a chance to chat in private during one of our breaks. He mentioned that he was a little disappointed that his Harry has had a chance to play with us, but expects HIM to be perfectly chaste and faithful. I immediately suggested a plan that he REALLY liked. See, in his world, the Tiger occasionally used to go out to clubs and make contracts for the night - the sort that outline in detail what kinky things each person is willing to do to the other - or have done to them - but he was usually the dominant partner.

We can all agree that the Viper is very dominant. I think it's overcompensation for what the Dark Lord did to him, but until he can work through it, it's best NOT to make him submit to anyone. So my other self is willing to learn to be properly submissive for him. Yet, at the same time, the Viper is hesitant to actually be dominant - probably because he's afraid he'll hurt his Draco.

So... do you consider our doppelgängers enough like ourselves that playing with them is NOT playing with others? Or do you consider them to be others and therefore don't really want to play with them? I want to know either way - and please don't tell me what you think I want to hear. Because if you are interested, you can help Tiger and me with our goal to drive the Viper into agreeing before Sunday. If not, I'll drop the subject and never bring it up again. 

On a related subject, how was your mission to antagonize the Viper?

My business meeting was much the same as ever, only more interesting because we had Orion and Delphini bringing a fresh new energy to the meeting. Also, the Tiger was amazed at how similar the meeting was to some of the larger conferences he's had with clients, other parties, and their legal representation. As in, it was highly organized and professional. And yet, fun and relaxed. I think he was most impressed by the kids there. None of them acted childish and all of them were genuinely interested in business.

Well, Jaz was actually acting like a baby, but since she's a very quiet baby, no one noticed unless she fussed a little bit, but even her fussing is so adorable that everyone was sympathetic. For large amounts of time, I had her sitting on my lap in a way that allowed her to see my hands as I translated everything for her, but had my hands low enough that she could try to read lips if that's what she's trying to do. When I needed my hands and lap free to give an explanation or demonstration, Viona and Orion took turns holding and/or signing to her.

All in all, it was a productive day, and I had Pippa space it out more evenly than in the past, so that I will definitely have a 'full' day of meeting again tomorrow to finish up my businesses, but then I won't have YOUR business meeting until Monday. Maybe you'll be in the mood to join me so we can hold hands and be disgustingly lovey dovey during all the reports, haha.

The only other thing I wanted to mention before joining the rest of you in the oblivion of sleep, is that Aya messaged me today to let me know that River is doing beautifully in his training. He truly does have a genuine interest in and gift for massage. If he was just doing it for nefarious purposes, he would have balked and tried to get out of massaging a bunch of old people, but he didn't. He went and has thus far showed them a good deal of compassion and empathy. So...

He might have actually found his calling in life. Good on him!

But now I have officially nursed Lily to sleep, and so I'm going to take the opportunity to sleep while I can.

It's amazing how you, can speak right to my heart, without saying a word, you can light up the dark, try as I may, I could never explain, what I hear when you don't say a thing, the smile on your face lets me know that you need me, there's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me, the touch of your hand says you'll catch me if I ever fall, you say it best, when you say nothing at all,  
Draco  
I think you're MY kind of perverted weirdo!


	190. Chapter 190

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco and the Tiger have a plan and Harry is willing to play along.

Friday July 16, 2010

My Dragon,

Good morning! Wow, a big nap yesterday and only two night feedings last night, and I am ready to take on the world! I've already gone for a run, showered, and you are still sleeping. Don't worry, I'm not like the Tiger, I am just fine with you sleeping as long as you'd like.

Or at least as long as Pippa is willing to let you sleep before you take off for today's meetings. You do have more meetings today right? I suppose I could go find Pippa and ask her, but that would require moving out of this cozy chair and out from under my Molly blanket, so I guess I will just have to wait for that information.

Uh, so, I'm not completely sure how I am feeling about beginning to play again. I actually think I would be just fine, but I would obviously reserve the right to change my mind at any moment. I don't care if someone is half a second away from their le petit mort, if I say stop everything stops. But I really do think I would be fine if you, the Tiger, and the Viper are alright with it.

Basically, I realized that I wasn't slowly emotionally dying from playing, but from forcing myself to play when I didn't want to. It made everything worse. No one else was forcing me, but I was pushing myself. Looking back from a healthier place, that was probably the worst thing I could have done. It was terrible for my self esteem, which was practically nonexistent at that point. And because my brain was all jumbled up it was leading me to resent you for "making" me do something I didn't like. You've never once forced me into anything I didn't want, but depression is a horrible liar and had me convinced of it.

Seriously, my depression often lies to me; telling me my family would be better off without me, telling me you deserve so much better than me, reminding me constantly of every single thing I hate about myself. Now that my potion regimen is working and depression's voice is muffled, I can realize the lies behind all of those statements. I think I want to try playing with the Tiger/Viper duo, I just worry that it may sound sexy until clothes start hitting the floor and then I will panic.

So, I have a thought. You said Tiger wants to learn to submit for his Harry. I may be patting myself on the back but I think I'm a fairly good sub if I do say so myself. And while Viper is dominant, I think dominating someone you are in love with, especially someone without natural submissive tendencies or a raging case of masochism, can be hard to get the right mixture of dominance tempered with love. So, what if we do something similar to when we first started playing with Neville and Charlie, scene side by side? If it evolves into more, great, if not, oh well we get a really hot show and I get my being watched kink scratched.

We start with me on my knees, you can do a tutorial, showing how to be strict and loving, showing off your amazing tying skills. I will take everything you can give me in perfect submission. I will be your good mutt. And eventually you can start mentoring Viper while he practices on his Tiger, he can even practice things on me since we know I can take a lot. And if it delves into foursome sexy times? So be it.

Oooh, you're up!

Love you baby,  
Harry

 

Sunday July 18th  
The reason I exist,

Friday was normal enough. I finished up my meeting and those of our kids that were with me had an excellent learning experience. Both Ori and Delphini took full advantage of the situation by picking the brains of nearly 2 dozen successful business owners. The Tiger ventured his opinion whenever he felt it was warranted, and he even confessed that it was refreshing to wear a glamour for the two days so he could just be a nobody - introduced as a friend of mine interested in business.

After the meeting, we had a normal family dinner. The topic of your upcoming birthday was discussed, but you weren't certain you wanted to do anything special. I can't blame you as all I wanted this year was a bit of alone time with you. But I have a feeling you'll change your mind and want a family dinner or something at the very least.

We went to bed as normal, putting our babies to sleep before snuggling up and using our hands - while kissing constantly - to give each other a lovely little climax, which naturally put us both to sleep.

Yesterday, on the other hand, was rather interesting. Elena, Hazel, and Eris insisted on watching the babies for us - really, they just wanted an excuse to bring Zaire and Jaz out to our private playground/park and spend time with them all. They had Siri and Zwei 'helping' them too.

The other older kids were having a bit of a party in the entertainment room. Sebastian had called them all morons and so they challenged him to a muggle game called Trivial Pursuit, which apparently is a sort of knowledge test about muggle culture. OUR kids are rather in the know on muggle culture because we travel so much, so they planned for this to knock their uncle's ego down a notch or two - which it did. But it ALSO motivated him and Gavin to create a wizarding version of the game so that they'd be on a fair playing field the next time. The Slytherin definition of fair.

With some unexpected alone time, I pulled you into my arms for a thorough kiss, and then invited the Tiger and Viper up to our playroom to watch me tie you up. The Tiger merely shrugged, knowing that A: this was part of his and my secret plan, and B: he couldn't seem too interested lest the Viper take this as a reason to get jealous and possessive.

Meanwhile, the Viper was extremely interested because he actually IS well-versed in tying techniques and wondered if he had a chance to practice them in a place he trusted to be safe - because *I* would be on hand to keep an eye on him - would he be able to keep control of himself? Which is not to say that he trusts me more than his Draco, simply that he has seen me host a party and knows that I am committed to keeping everyone safe.

So, once in our playroom, I began as you suggested, by simply tying you up in several of our favorite ways. The Viper practiced one of his favorite ties on you before the Tiger gave him a filthily suggestive kiss and wondered why a perfectly willing subject was being left out of the fun. As he said this, he sank beautifully to his knees, and FUCK!!! I can now completely understand why you think it's so bloody gorgeous when I'm in the mood to submit.

I was hit by a powerful urge to shag myself, but kept all traces of it in check so that I didn't pose any sort of threat to the Viper. Very surprisingly, Viper suggested that he whip you and I whip his Draco. We all looked at him in near shock until he explained that he knew what *he* - and thus you - could take, and I knew what *I* - and thus the Tiger - could withstand. This would not only give the Tiger an opportunity to see some of the things Viper wanted to do to him, but also give the Viper a better idea of what his beloved could endure.

But most importantly of all, he felt he wouldn't get emotional and possibly go out of control if he focused on you.

So, once the two of you were tied up nice and tight to slightly reclined whipping Xs, we started on the torture. You sounded a little disappointed at first, but not for long as the Viper shook out his shoulders and threw himself into the task. Meanwhile, I was taking my time warming my other self up. He had a look on his face like he wasn't quite sure the whipping was doing it for him.

With a smirk, I asked: "Crucio?"

With something that sounded very close to a gasp of relief, he exclaimed: "Yes please!"

The Viper paused to narrow his eyes at me. "That is NOT something I am comfortable with! Why would you even suggest casting the unforgivable pain curse on my lover?!"

You were panting - possibly happy to have a tiny break as the Viper was now doing a rather good job reddening your entire back from your neck on down to your thighs. Even so, you managed to calmly say: "I know it SOUNDS alarming, but my Draco has crucio'd himself several times over the years. He can take it - and even likes it. If YOUR Draco is half begging for it, he's probably done the same, and so, you should trust him."

The Viper didn't look particularly happy about it, but he sighed. "Fine... I'll allow it, but I'm going to take a break and watch closely to make sure that it doesn't go too far."

"Fine by me," I murmured as I centered myself and mentally prepared to cast the Cruciatus Curse on someone else for the first time since that undercover fiasco I don't want to remind you of. Interestingly enough, it wasn't... a conflict for my conscious. I half expected to be queasy about it because I was causing this sort of pain to someone who didn't really deserve it. That said, I ALSO felt like I do when I cast it on myself, meaning... strangely at peace. Or I suppose that when I'm doing it to myself, I know that I *will* be at peace when I'm done, so I sort of relax into it and let my mind float free.

It's hard to explain.

The first curse made the Tiger gasp slightly because even when expected, the first hit is always a bit like a punch to the gut. Then he pressed his lips together and focused on his breathing so that he would make absolutely no sound except for some light panting. This must have reassured the Viper, who looked like a snake coiled and ready to spring into action if necessary. You looked sympathetic and understanding to both of them. You were probably also at least a little surprised that the Tiger was letting me do this to him in front of the both of you. After all, we've been married 11 years and I STILL don't like letting you see me when I'm so completely vulnerable and in pain.

Voluntary and wanted pain, yes, but pain nonetheless. I HATE the mere thought of you seeing me in pain. Of making you witness me suffering - even for a short few minutes. You hate it when I Crucio myself alone, and so I have promised not to do so, but even though I have had you literally beat me half to death, even though I have submitted to you and asked you to whip me or cause me other pain, this just seems like the one step too far. The one step that crosses a bit of harmless masochism into something too awful for you to bear witness to.

I was certain the Tiger would feel the same, and perhaps he did, but he let the two of you witness the event anyway. Probably because he sensed that the Viper NEEDED to see with his own eyes that he could take something that is normally so cruel, and turn it into a source of power and strength. And even healing.

Eventually, the Tiger couldn't hold back his gasps any longer. One tore free and triggered a response from the Viper, who used 'accidental' magic to tear the ropes off his Draco so he could carry him to the bed and ravage him. And I do mean ravage in the most brutal sense of the word. As promised, I stood by and kept an eye on them, stroking your head as you knelt next to me.

When it became apparent that the Viper COULD give his inner beast free reign AND still control himself enough to NOT go too far, you looked up at me and pouted. "Do that to me, my dragon?"

No need to ask me twice!

And so, that was how our long and exhausting play session with our other selves started. By the time we were all too worn out to go again, every possible combination of the four of us had been tried. I think the Viper's favorite part was when I submitted to him while the Tiger dominated you. It was rather hot all around because as we were doing our own thing, we could pause and look over at the two of you. I ALWAYS love watching you be played with - seeing your face infused with pleasure. It's my happiest view. Meanwhile, the Viper got to see what it would look like if he submitted to his Draco. He doesn't seem actually interested in doing so, but the sight is glorious nonetheless.

MY favorite part was snuggling up to you in the aftermath of everything, pressing kisses to your face and shoulder as we drifted off to sleep. I'm so glad you felt comfortable enough that you never looked hesitant or ready to call things off, but I also know that this is patently different than playing with anyone else would be. Honestly, I don't think I'M ready to do so. Not after my struggle with PPD - or should I say DURING my struggle - and not so soon after our big fight. Hearing you say (or rather, reading it) that you were having issues with playing, and even your most recent email in which you explained that it wasn't the playing itself but your state of mind at the time, well, it made me realize that I'm not exactly in the healthiest state of mind either, and so, playing should be reserved for when we are BOTH in the right frame of mind at the right moment. Like we were last night - which I really do believe is ONLY because we were basically playing with ourselves.

I'm overexplaining this again, aren't I? Sorry.

So, moving on. It's currently Sunday and River is due home from his old folks retreat any minute now. We're going to have a circle dinner and - shite! I think the guests are starting to arrive and I haven't finished dressing yet! I got so involved in dictating this email that I've basically stood here holding my newest favorite waistcoat for the last half an hour!

See you in a few!  
Draco


	191. Chapter 191

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Circle dinner is rather interesting.

Sunday July 18, 2010  
Dragon,

Since you were late to our circle dinner from being distracted while getting dressed, and now that the guests have gone home you're seeing off the Tiger and his crew, I thought I would recap the night and possibly fill you in on a few things you missed. I'm snuggled up in our bed with a snoring Zaire, a slightly drooling Jaz, a Lissa and Cael who are nursing, and her majesty Persephone is looking at me like she is quite put out that I don't have three nipples. Hopefully it doesn't take too long seeing off the crowds and you can come take care of the unamused baby.

You missed some hilarity while you were finishing up getting ready, but it wouldn't have happened if you'd been there in the first place. I can put it in the pensieve if you'd like, it was great. The Tiger was quite buttoned up and so it wasn't immediately apparent that he wasn't you. None of your tattoos would have shown in the outfit he had picked, and no one else has made such a study of your face that they could recognize your subtle differences the way I can. Which is the reason we all got to watch Ron hit on the Tiger and then see him freak out.

I thought the Viper had told Tiger about us having played with the former Trio in the past, but he either didn't tell him or he just wasn't believed. Ron came up behind "you," grabbing Tiger's hips and rubbing his erection into the cleft of Tiger's arse. I heard a very high pitched squeaking noise, and looked over just in time to see Tiger slapping Ron's hands away shouting, and this is a direct quote, "Unhand me you ruffian!"

Oh my fucking hell, "unhand me you ruffian!" I almost wet my pants I was laughing so hard. Eventually I calmed down and introduced the two of them. I had Tiger almost settled down when Blaise came up to our group asking, "what's given our Harry the giggles this time?" and then turning to Ron saying, "hello my love" and then trying to inhale Ron's tonsils.

When the shock wore off enough that the Tiger began breathing again, he asked Blaise, "Do you know you were just snogging Weasley? Aren't you worried Granger will Avada Kedavra you? Or something worse?"

Blaise must not have realized it wasn't you either (seriously, does no one notice your eyes are much warmer or that they sparkle a bit?) because he got the most confused look on his face, answering in a similarly confused tone, "No mate, we're all free to snog or shag anyone in our relationship, you know this. She'd only be upset if we were snogging while leaving her on baby duty. And let me tell you, I just took care of one of Tristan's nappies, I have earned this snog! Earned myself a grope too if I do say so myself." Followed by getting himself a handful of Ron's … bits.

Tiger looked over to where Blaise had gestured towards 'Mione, and if anything, looked even more confused.

This is when Mac walked up, took a long look at Tiger and sighed, "Uncle Ron, Uncle Blaise, this isn't our Draco," and then went up to Tiger, put his arm around his shoulder, "Draco, you're so close, once you decide to stop torturing yourself, you'll be just as happy as my Uncles Harry and Draco are. It won't be too much longer." Then he just walked away to grab himself some hors d'oeuvres.

That was the final thing that seemed to get the Tiger his voice back, "Every one of you is certifiable, you know this, yeah? Absolute nutters, the lot of you. Am I just in a very long dream? Perhaps I've suffered some head trauma."

I laughed at him and told him to get used to it because he was family now and things never got less strange around here. He harrumphed at me, "fine, I will accept all of this, because even if it's a crazy dream, I seem to be stuck in it, so I may as well enjoy myself. But what I really need to know is … when did Granger become black?"

"Oh my god, Nephew, you can't just ask people why they're black!" Kisa heckled him in a feigned scandalized tone.

And that my love, is why the other Draco was already three drinks in by the time you got to dinner.

The reason I was a few drinks in? Our sweet, wonderful son River. The little boy who thinks it's funny to mess with his Dad. I hadn't seen him since he had gotten back from his massage getaway. I gave him a huge embarrassing dad hug. When he finally wriggled his way out of my arms, I asked him about his trip. That sneaky little Malfoy kid got a smirk on his face and told me he'd developed a newfound appreciation for older women and then asked me how old he had to be before I'd let him … date.a.cougar. How does he even know that term? I maintained a soft tone and told him very calmly that he must be an adult before he would be allowed to date an adult.

What? You don't believe I could be calm or quiet? Fine! I screeched it so high-pitched that I had to repeat it since, as River so nicely put it, "we don't have a dog's hearing Dad, can you repeat that in a tone human ears can hear?" Not funny River! And apparently he was having me on and did not fall for any fifty year old ladies.

You eventually joined us and we did really have a lovely dinner. It's been a while since we've had a full circle dinner. Everyone ooh'ed and ahh'ed over our three babies and the other two newbies from the quartet. Luckily our three were distracted enough to not notice me loving on Tristan and Misha. They are fine with me holding their siblings but the few times we've been at Unity and I've held other babies, Seph and Lissa in particular do NOT like it. Cael doesn't really seem to get genuinely upset about anything except having an empty tummy. And not being paid attention to.

I did have a talk with Ron that I don't think you were there for, he mentioned that he, Hermione, and Blaise would be in the mood to stay and play tonight. I told him it wasn't something we were doing right now. Which of course led to a long talk about me being such an idiot for letting my depression spiral so far out of control. He definitely wasn't upset about the lack of playing, but he was not happy that I refused healer-recommended potions, hid the severity of my condition from you, and that I didn't think to come to him when I was having such a hard time coming to terms with all of it.

I love Ron, and aside from you, he and 'Mione are my best friends. But they have their own things to deal with, they live in another country, and I just don't always think to bring my problems to them. Obviously I am full of shite and trying to make excuses. Is it working?

I should probably go looking for you, I have the three babes and the two littles sound asleep and you're still not back yet. Oh, wait, one more thing. I know what I want to do for my birthday. No, I don't want to do any sort of party, and yes, I would like to have a family dinner. But on my actual birthday, I want to go get a tattoo! I couldn't get any while I was pregnant and we have some new names to the family that need to be added to my field of lilies. I at the very least need them added, but I may also get a completely unrelated tattoo as well.

What do you think? Want to do a full date night and tattoo appointment with me?

Yours,  
Harry

 

Monday July 19th (just after midnight)  
Amas Veritas,

First of all, I would LOVE to go on a tattoo date with you! I know I plan to wait until Zaire is just a little older before getting a dragon representing him - not to mention a few more years for Jaz and the babies - but I can definitely get a non family related tattoo. I just can't think of what off hand. I already have a snitch for my Opaleye to play with, and everything else I have is a dragon, so...

A snake? The little snake on the Slytherin Crest? I actually sort of like that idea. A sort of cutesy little thing, although I'm not sure if I should have it move or remain stationary.

Anyway, your hilarity was definitely a case of the Tiger NOT believing what he was told as the Viper had told me a while ago that he's told his Draco everything he can think of, and his Draco seems to feel that some things are so impossible that the Viper simply MUST be making them up to fuck with him. Plus, logically knowing something is vastly different from seeing it in person. That said, apparently the Viper didn't even think to mention that Hermione is black, so that really did throw the Tiger for a loop, hahahahaha!

But speaking of our son, I overheard this conversation with him: (side note, I must still inherently have all of my lurking skills because I never TRY to spy on our kids, but I always seem to overhear the things they don't want me to, meaning that they don't realize I've come up behind them, or nearby them, as the case may be.)

Other River: "Have you REALLY snogged a bunch of girls???"

Our River: "Of course! Haven't you?"

Other River, looking quite red: "NO!!! Merlin! The only girls I even have a chance to snog are my Housemates, more specifically, my Yearmates, and none of them particularly interest me."

"At all???" Our River asked in bafflement.

Other River shrugged. "Well... I have thought random girls were cute, but I've never thought about snogging ANYONE..."

Our River sighed blissfully. "Snogging is so much fun! Especially when we both have our shirts off and her soft skin is pressed up against my chest."

Other River spluttered in shock. "W-w-w-w-w-what?!?!?! You've DONE that?!?!?!"

Our River grinned rather smugly. "Oh hell yeah. It feels AMAZING!"

"But! But!" Other River protested, looking redder than ever. "But that's... *sex* stuff!" The way he said sex was so timid and almost afraid that if I could use a different size font for the word here, it would be a size 2 while the rest is a size 12.

Our River shook his head. "No. I mean if I intended it to go that far, it COULD be, but I'm not ready for that yet."

Other River sighed in relief. "I was beginning to think that something might be wrong with me for not being ready for any of that."

Our River shrugged. "I'm not lying about that. I'm not ready, but I like making people happy. Giving someone a massage is not just good for them, but it makes me feel zen and at peace. The same thing with making a girl feel good. When I give a girl pleasure, I feel like I'm doing something to make the world a better place."

I nearly burst in on the conversation to demand he explain that statement, but other River did exactly that before I had a chance. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN GIVE A GIRL PLEASURE?!?!?!"

Our River put a hand over his mouth and shushed him before looking around to see if they'd attracted attention, but since they were in a private alcove in one of the corridors relatively outside the dinning room (and I was actually now tucked around a corner so that I could learn everything before deciding whether or not to intrude and possibly lock our son up in a dragon guarded tower), there was no one around to disturb with such loud shrieking.

"Oi, not so loud! The LAST thing I need is for one of my dads to hear you and come running. They're both cool, you know, trying their best to be supportive of my choices, but I can tell that they're really not okay with the things I want to do. My dad Harry keeps telling me directly that just because I know how to be safe, doesn't mean I should be doing anything in the first place. And my dad Draco... well, he seems a bit torn between..." he trailed off with a sigh and a shrug. Then continued. "Anyway, yeah, I've managed to find a bit of alone time with a girl or two - long enough to practice a few things on her. It's makes me happy to make HER happy, you know?"

"BUT! BUT!! AH!!!" Other River was clearly freaking out. "EWWWWWW!!!!!!"

"Ew???" Our River asked in confusion.

"How could you TOUCH those things?!?! Blech!" Other River was now shuddering in horror.

Our River tilted his head to the side and gave him a curious look. "Erm... Does the idea of touching anyone at all - ever - make you grossed out, or just girls?"

"GIRLS!" Other River blurted out, and looked horrified to have done so.

Our River smirked at him. "I have two happily married dads. Do you really think I'd be shocked to hear that girls just don't do it for you?"

Other River now looked utterly mortified. "I... I didn't... I didn't realize... I had no idea!"

Our River put a hand on other River's shoulder. "It's not the end of the world. My dads keep getting mad at me for snogging girls, so I snog boys too because they don't say anything about it, and boys can be just as fun - so long as they are into it and NOT feeling guilty, ashamed, or scared of anyone finding out."

Other River glared at him. "So... you not ONLY snog girls, but you ALSO just faff about snogging BOYS?"

I think our River understood that this upset the other one for some reason, because he frowned in concern. "Well... yeah... why not?"

Other River was rubbing his temples and cheeks and making a noise like he was trying to refrain from punching our River. "What do you MEAN why not??? How can you just play around like that?! Don't you WANT a girlfriend? Or Boyfriend?"

"Mahafsoun…" Our River exhaled so reverently that I nearly snarled.

"Huh?" Other River asked in confusion.

Our River shook his 'twin' giddily. "Oh man! You should have SEEN her! She is THE PRETTIEST girl in the world! I think even a 100 percent gay man would want her! Aside from my dad Harry, apparently. From the first moment I saw her, it's like my whole world faded and nothing else existed! So, after my dad Draco rescued her from literal sex slavery, we decided to bring her home with us. I was SO HAPPY! I had visions of being with her forever!" Then he sighed so morosely that I'm not sure I've ever heard him sound so sad. "BUT - and I have no idea why - my dads decided that we weren't going to keep her - like they kept Miles. Dad brought her to stay with his Aunt in Russia, and they DIDN'T bring her with them when they came to visit, so I haven't seen her in FOREVER!!!"

Other River looked skeptical. "So you're saying you love her, even though you don't even know her?"

Our River sighed again. "I WANT to know her! But we barely got to talk. I had to promise not to sneak off and be alone with her again."

"AGAIN?!?!" Other River blurted out, and then sighed and rubbed his temples again. "Why am I surprised...?"

Our River chuckled. "Don't be too squicked. Nothing much happened. I just barely got her in the loo with me long enough to strip off before my dad realized what we were doing and interrupted us. I sincerely hope he didn't cast a spying spell on us, because my mouth had just finished kissing a path down to the place that makes her happy. I didn't have a CHANCE to make her happy."

"Blech!" Other River retched. "EWWW!"

Our River laughed and I decided that I had to interrupt them before I found out anything else I sincerely DID NOT want to know! So I cast a spell to make it sound like my voice was coming from much farther down the corridor than I actually was.

"River! Where are you?! Your dad wants to take a few pictures of everyone as a group! Salazar blast it! I should just send him an Insta-owl..." I then did exactly that.

Our River laughed when he heard the jingle that let him know that he had a new message. "I'm over here dad - just chatting with other River. We'll be right there!"

I walked around the corner and eyed them both suspiciously. Then I shrugged and turned to walk away. "Don't keep your dad waiting! You know how serious he is about pictures."

But as I walked away, I felt alternating senses wash over me. There was a strange feeling of panic - like I was failing as a dad somehow. A feeling of, erm… overprotectiveness, I suppose. I DEFINITELY wanted to lock him in a tower again. But then I'd feel utterly stupid, reminding myself that the panic and overprotectiveness are just bits of the PPD monster that's trying to control me.

In any case, I had to Apparate to our loo for a few minutes so that I could take a few drops of Laudanum and wait for it to take effect. Once I felt better, I Apparated to you and gave you a thorough kiss for no reason at all. Flushed and happy, you chided me for taking so long to come back for pictures, but then everyone was ready and we got some really good group shots.

As for why it took me so long to see the Tiger, his River, Viona, and Rosalie off is that it actually didn't take long at all. The Viper closed his eyes, activated the spell, brought them home, presumably kissed his Draco goodbye for now, and came home around 10 seconds later. Then he bade me goodnight and Apparated to his room.

Which left me alone with my thoughts. I am once again not quite sure what to think, or feel. Or do. I feel like I should go hide in my closet until all our kids are adults and I don't have to deal with teenagers, but I also recognize that that would be more or less impossible. So I went to the ballroom where I could dance and hopefully let my mind go blank. It... sort of worked. I think.

But then you came in and gave me a look that was a LOT more interesting than the spiral my thoughts were swirling in. So I followed you to our playroom and gave you those maintenance spanks you begged for.

Once I ran from you (I ran), now I run to you, this tainted love you've given, I give you all a boy could give, take my tears and that's not nearly all, oh! tainted love, tainted love,  
Draco  
P.S. Sigh... you keep telling me not to bottle up my feelings and that YOU want to be the one I go to, but I keep hesitating on this matter because I'm afraid you'll misconstrue something I can't even understand myself. But... Hearing what River said about Mahafsoun made me see red a little. I... MERLIN DAMNIT! I just WISH I knew what it is about her that makes me so damn crazy!!! I swear on everything I hold dear that I do not WANT her like that, but I also don't want River to want her like that either! It made me nearly snarl and breathe fire at him! I've talked to Yesenia about her, and it makes no sense to her either. The closest she can figure is that I feel protective toward Mahafsoun because I see a bit of myself when I was younger in her (obviously not everything, but something), and I desperately want to save her from the things I went through. Alright, that makes sense, but... sigh.. I don't know...

P.P.S. Did you tell the Quartet to leave her behind on purpose? Keep temptation away from your stupid boys? That's probably smart, actually...


	192. Chapter 192

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena's school has its Grand Opening.

Monday July 19, 2010

My fellow ridiculously proud parent,

Can you believe the brilliance of our Lainie-Girl? I was so anxious for the big debut of her school, but I definitely didn't need to be. She's a massive success just like we always knew she'd be.

I wondered why she would have actually already opened the school but waited until it had been running for a while before planning an official grand opening. I am certain you remember me questioning the choice of having a big event on a Monday. But it turns out I should have trusted her instincts because it was nothing short of perfection. By opening early, she was able to have classes ready to go for people to see the dancers in action. And doing it on a regular school day meant the people coming for the grand opening would get to see how classes would truly happen.

The intangible wall charms, similar to muggle two-way mirrors, were a really good choice. It would give spectators, usually parents or other dancers, the ability to watch a rehearsal without being a distraction to the dancers. As I understand it, the charms won't be up for every rehearsal but can be for occasions like this or for when they're doing any sort of auditions. It would be nice to view the dancers at all times, but Lainie was right when she explained completely open rehearsals lead to "dance mom syndrome" and she wants to avoid that as much as possible within her school.

She picked the perfect mixture of classes to highlight; a highly skilled group that would show off to even the most practiced dancers that they could still learn a thing or two at this school, a group of very young children who didn't do much more than shake their little booties and were unbelievably adorable, and a mid-level group working very hard on perfecting their basic technique.

I, of course, took a million pictures. We all know "how serious I am" about pictures. Seriously, you act like I'm a lunatic, but you would be heartbroken without our memory wall. You talk a big game Mr. Malfoy, but you love me being obsessed with chronicling our lives. Is there a single picture hanging on our walls that you can look at and think, "I wish Harry hadn't forced us to take that picture"?

That's what I thought.

You know, when it comes to our Lainie, I often think she's just so much like you. For the fact that she didn't come into our lives until she was eight, almost nine, she really seems like she could have been raised by you from day one. She is brilliant and driven, a natural leader, and has a squishy heart of gold under her dictator exterior. It's probably why she and I have always gotten along so well, I loved your personality enough to marry you, it's no surprise that I love seeing that personality reflected in our children. But with the exception of a soft spot for children and being an early riser, I don't often see much of myself in Elena. But today, as we were all congregating right before the Grand Opening officially began, I saw her Harry side come out. She was a neurotic mess, wailing about the whole thing being a flop, will we have enough refreshments? What if one of the dancers is injured in the middle of the party and no one ever wants to send their children here?! Oh, you ARE my daughter!

It was probably best that we had our circle dinner last night because it meant everyone was still here to attend the Grand Opening. Well, everyone but Tiger's group. And Mahafsoun.

I can't believe you would ask me if I specifically asked the quartet to keep her at home. I may not have wanted to adopt her but I certainly don't dislike the child! I'm not even the one who said "send her to Kisa" I simply said that I thought Kisa would be a good mentor for a child who has spent her life attempting to be whatever the John wanted her to be. I think being around strong women like Kisa and Hermione would help give her the strength to be who SHE needs to be, not who Draco wants her to be, and definitely not who River wants her to be.

And River! Telling other River that "we weren't going to keep her"! This is exactly my point! She's not a pet. She's not a person to be kept. She is a young woman who deserves to learn about herself before she molds herself into who some men want her to be. And that's what she would have done here, she was so stuck on wanting to please you and River that she would have become what she thought would make the both of you keep her. Don't you want more for her than that?

I do.

Anyway, I talked with Hermione, they left her back home because Oleg (he moved back to Russia a few years ago) had Sunday free to really work on Krav Maga with her and she didn't want to pass up the opportunity. I guess he is doing something where he will be out of the country for a few weeks and Mahafsoun wanted one solid session in before he left. I'm sure she'll come to the next circle dinner we plan.

Ooooh! Or if we don't do a session before then, we can definitely invite her to come for the babies' naming ceremonies. We have five to bless/name/welcome. With the craziness of coming home, healing, traveling, pregnancies, etcetera, we didn't do Jasmine or Zaire's and now we have three new babes to celebrate.

I know we haven't spoken about this much, which is funny because with the first few kids we seemed to negotiate names and godparents ad nauseum, but we still have to pick out Godparents for these children. Luckily we have had some new people come into our lives so we've increased our pool of people to pick from. I'd like Sirius and the Viper to be two of the Godfathers if you don't mind. And I think Eliza, Sebastian, Phil, or Mac are finally old enough if we wanted to choose any of them.

I set up an appointment this coming Thursday to do our tattoos. I know it's a week and two days before my birthday and the whole point was to get tattoos for my birthday, but I figured this way they would be all healed up by the time my actual birthday rolled around. Especially if Siri and Zwei end up choosing the water park as their birthday activity. That's all I've heard about for a week now so my guess is we'll be spending my birthday (a Saturday) soaking wet. If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll call Neil to reschedule, otherwise you'll get your (absolutely adorable sounding!) snake in three days!

Love is a magic ray emitting from the burning core of the soul and illuminating the surrounding earth. It enables us to perceive life as a beautiful dream between one awakening and another,  
Your Harry

 

Tuesday July 20th  
The love of my life,

I love you, I really do, I'm just having a bad day, I suppose. I SHOULD be doing great. Yesterday made me SO PROUD of our girl. There's nothing really noteworthy to complain about. No nightmares or anything like that. Even so, I am NOT feeling up to doing anything more complicated than breathing at the moment.

I quit life!

If you need me, I'll probably be in bed moaning to Yesenia until she hexes me for being pathetic.

But try not to need me because I can't stand the thought of moving so much as my hand to hold yours at the moment, ugh...

The breath I breathe,  
Draco


	193. Chapter 193

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is definitely interested, Harry is *upset,* and Yesenia is relieved.

Tuesday July 20th  
My Everything,

You know as well as I do that when the depression hits it's almost worse when there's not anything noteworthy to complain about. My depression was easier to deal with when we first got home from Iran and everyone else was dealing with the trauma. We were all so raw that feeling terrible was understandable. For me, it was harder to deal with when things were going well and I had no real reason to feel so negative.

We all have up days and down days. Sometimes when we have such a high day, like yesterday celebrating our girl's success, a low day is going to hit fast and hard. I wish there was something I could do to help you. Hopefully talking with Yesenia will help. I would offer to come in and hold you, I wouldn't even require you to move enough to hold hands. But I worry that me coming in would only upset you further.

I know you love me, but when you're feeling down and I see you showing emotions you tend to lash out at me. I logically know that it's just you protecting yourself from the "embarrassment" of me seeing you looking vulnerable. I can't help that it hurts my feelings when you freak out and scream at me until I leave. So I am going to avoid all of this by just staying out of your way. I'll take care of the kids, you take your time with your session. But if you do want me with you, even if all you can do is lie your head in my lap and let me run my fingers through your hair, I'm just a summons away.

Yours,  
Harry

P.S. I know you were just being dramatic, but please don't say you quit life. I've been there and I can't think of anything worse than losing you.

 

Tuesday July 20th  
My rock and foundation,

Well... it seems that my most recent bout of depression wasn't actually mine.

So, there I was, moping in bed and whinging to Yesenia about life being the worst thing ever. BOTH of us were confused because this is the first time I've sounded almost suicidal - hating life in general rather than panicking about specific things. Such as the other day when I panicked about River and needed to take some Laudanum.

Even weirder, I did NOT want to take anything to improve my mood. I didn't even remember that I could until Yesenia asked me why I hadn't. She normally would heavily recommend officially prescribed potions over wonky muggle creations, but since I've only taken them as I feel I need them - on a somewhat rare occasion - she's tolerating it and trying things my way.

Anyway, I was moping about worse than Moaning Myrtle - side note, I haven't seen her since I talked you into actually going to our ten year class reunion. I still can't believe you didn't want to go! Sure, you had a valid point about not actually finishing school, or even attending Seventh Year, but since you were busy surviving and defeating an insane megalomaniac, I'd say you were definitely entitled to go. Plus, I was Head Boy Seventh Year. I was basically obligated to go.

But as I was saying, I was moping worse than a moody and depressed teenage girl. Or ghost of one, anyway. Yesenia was nearing her wit's end. I really think she might legitimately be considering it might be time to make a career change. But I digress.

Suddenly, I could hear you shouting rather irately from the sitting room part of our suite. This temporarily invoked my curiosity and sort of banished my mood. I leapt up to go investigate. To my surprise, you were shouting at Kingsley and Robards.

"OH HELL FUCKING NO!!! DRACO IS **NOT*** GOING TO HELP YOU WITH SHIT AT THE MOMENT!!!"

"What's going on?" I asked with interest.

Kingsley and Robards looked a bit sheepish while you looked like you were halfway through a transformation into an actual dragon.

"Erm..." Kingsley droned hesitantly, but didn't get a chance to finish before you were snarling.

"THESE TWO BLOODY WANKERS WANT **YOUR*** HELP WITH A CASE!!!"

I was definitely intrigued. "What sort of case???"

You gave me a flat look. "You are in NO condition to be solving Auror cases, and if they so much as HINT that they want you to go on a raid, I'm going to MURDER them both in cold blood!!!"

I sidled up to Robards. "Can I see the file?"

He looked wary. "Well, according to DI Giles, it works better for you if we don't show the file and instead, give you something to focus on."

I straightened up a bit, and then tilted my head in confusion. "You want me to solve a cold case? Why in Merlin's warty bollocks would the HEAD AUROR and the MINISTER FOR MAGIC themselves come ask me to solve a cold case???"

They shook their heads solemnly.

"Not a cold case," Robards murmured.

"A missing girl," Kingsley added. "We think she actually ran away, but we can't be certain. It's been nearly three days since she went missing, and her mother is right frantic."

"Why do you think she did a runner?" I wondered.

Robards shrugged. "Wizarding home with full ward protection. There were no signs of tampering, which means that at the very least, the girl would have had to leave the house of her own free will. Whether she was nabbed at that point is up for debate."

"For all we know, she could have planned to sneak out with friends - although none of them are coming forward," Kingsley informed me. "Or she could have used some sort of covert communication to make plans to meet up with a person of ill intent. All we know for certain is that her mother went to wake her Saturday morning and she was gone."

"She immediately flooed the Auror Department, but we had to tell her that with no signs of criminal activity, we had to assume that she'd run away, and that... unfortunately... is not usually a high priority," Robards confessed wearily.

"How old is the girl?" I asked in confusion, because a young missing girl would usually be a very high priority.

"16," Robards stated grimly. I'm sure he was thinking about all the things that become more likely when a person turns 15 or 16. For example, perhaps she was out drinking with friends and ended up overdosing on muggle drugs while she was at it.

I looked over at you, and you had a look on your face like you sincerely wanted to tear your hair out in frustration, but also, knew that I was going to do it no matter what you said. You sighed and gestured for me to get on with it. Yesenia smiled in encouragement, probably happy that I was no longer wallowing and had an actual goal to work toward.

I held out my hand to Robards. He gave Kingsley a look as if he couldn't quite believe that you'd calmed down so easily. I don't believe for a second that you were calm. I fully expect that I will suffer the consequences later, but at that moment, I NEEDED to help them. Or at least try. I think I would have spiraled into loathing and self-hate if I hadn't at least tried.

After that look, Robards handed me the missing girl's hair brush. The *moment* it was in my hand, I was hit by the WORST mood I've ever felt!

Placing the back of my right hand against my forehead, I burst out in a dramatic moan: "Life has no meaning! Everything is pointless! Why do I even exist?! I hate it!"

I flung myself on our divan, clutching the brush in my left hand. "No one loves me! No one would even miss me if I was gone!!!"

Yesenia held you back from your natural urge to throw your arms around me and assure me that that wasn't true. "THIS isn't him. I think he's channeling her."

I continued on in a disgusting woe-is-me tone for quite some time. I wasn't really paying attention, but once you realized that I was basically doing my thing, you interfered with Kingsley and Robards when they tried to get my attention and get me back on task.

"Wait, just trust him," you murmured as I rolled onto my back and held a cushion to my chest.

My tone and the things I was saying changed rather abruptly. "After bemoaning her fate for about an hour - and I get the feeling that something happened to trigger this, although I don't know exactly what - she suddenly flung her pillow aside and sat up." I mimicked this.

"Then she muttered darkly to herself as she packed a bag and... left. So she really did run away. But... the vision has gone white and it's not coming back into focus."

I threw the pillow across the room and wailed. "I'm so fucking useless! I can't even see one bloody girl!"

As I ranted and hurled things around the room, you exchanged a glance with Yesenia.

"I think he's still channeling her - or whatever you want to call it," Yesenia whispered.

"So what do we do?" You wondered.

Yesenia shrugged. "Let it run its course? It doesn't seem to actually be harming him, and if he's still in the vision, there's probably a reason."

You nodded slowly, and that's when I adjourned to the Crystal Room. Robards assigned Bletchley to keep an eye on me until something happened so that he and Kingsley could get back into the Ministry. Meanwhile, I sounded remarkably like my friend Myrtle as I destroyed all the crystal - by hand rather than by spell like I usually like to do.

After a few hours - and both you and Yesenia had gone off to do other things by this point - I felt like *I* woke up a bit - which allowed me to sit down and think, and then write this email. I'm not sure what's going on just yet, but I DO think this girl is still alive out there somewhere. I think her falling asleep might be when I got a break from her.

I have no idea what is going to happen next, but I have a feeling that I'm not going to be free of this girl until she's found. But while I'm still sort of awake and not currently acting like a severely depressed teenaged girl, I'm going to hunt you down, hug you oh so tightly, and give you a bunch of kisses for putting up with me even when I'm doing weird shite like this.

Crazy little thing called love,  
Draco


	194. Chapter 194

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has a nice little chat with Kingsley and Robards.

Tuesday July 20th  
Kingsley,

Even now, twelve years after the war, our Auror department is woefully behind the times when it comes to muggle technology. That is why I feel alright threatening you over email where there is no law precedent that would get me arrested.

I love you. You and I have been unbelievably close for years. You officiated my wedding and I stood in as best man at yours. You are practically a brother to me, and having grown up with no one, I don't take these kinds of relationships lightly. Which is why it's a bit hard to say this, but I must.

If you and Robards continue to ask Draco for his assistance on cases, I will end you. I will bide my time, it won't be immediate. Maybe I will never do it, maybe just knowing it's coming will be enough torture for you and you will drive yourself slowly mad. Just like Draco, who's suffering mentally from our experiences in Iran, who's suffering from having to hold our family together while I was in the hospital for months, who's still trying to get himself mentally healthy after the craziness that is pregnancy and childbirth related hormones after having twins, is driving himself slowly mad trying to heal the entire world.

I know you aren't doing it on purpose, I know you have the world's best interests at heart. Your good intentions have made me look the other way for years. But this is killing my husband. He's done enough, he's paid his dues, his stint as Auror Consultant extraordinaire is over.

Don't make me beg.

Sincerely,  
Harry James Malfoy

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robards,

Don't bring another case to my husband. I say he is done consulting for the Aurors. Train your team better instead of pinning all of your worst cases on an untrained wizard.

Ask Voldemort how serious I am.

Harry Malfoy

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hermione,

Draco was brought a case from the Aurors that seems to have him channeling some angsty teen runaway's depression symptoms. Can you do some research on Imogen Hughes? 16 years old. Did a runner three days ago.

Maybe ask my Grandmama for help? Just let her know that Kingsley and Robards brought a case to her grandson and he's suffering emotionally while we wait for it to be solved. See if there's any rumbling through the underground of this missing girl?

Love you,  
Harry

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draco,

I am so proud of how strong you are being. You are battling your own PPD and now you seem to be channeling this missing girl's severe depression. You are the most amazing man to ever live. I love you more than life itself. I hope this girl is found quickly, for her and for you. I need you back to health. I need my best friend back.

While you continue to channel her, I have been following leads concerning Imogen. I asked Hermione to do a bit of research, it's summer hols and I think she's a bit bored right now anyway! And I asked Elena, who vaguely remembers Imogen from school, if she knows of anyone that was close with her that we could potentially question about where she may have gone. She came up with an older Hufflepuff boyfriend who was actually in Lainie's year at Hogwarts. I'm going to question him. I'll see you when I get back.

Hopefully we can get in a bit more of those kisses from earlier.

All of my love,  
Harry

 

Wednesday July 21st  
Harry,

So Imogen was back in control for most of today. But here's the good news, I was able to slip back inside the vision and see more than before. I *think* I saw what she was actually doing. BUT it *could* have been something that has already happened to her.

In any case, she seems to be camping in the forest, in a very makeshift manner. No actual tent, but she has a sleeping bag and it has been rather warm at night. Also, she knows how to make a campfire, but since she's been horribly suicidal, she's let herself suffer the chill longer than anyone else would.

She brought enough food for a couple of days of light eating - mostly sandwich meat, bread, and bags of crisps. That said, she's not eating very much and seems to be working herself into actually doing it.

*trance*

I am done, just done! There's nothing to live for. No one loves me, and no one has even noticed that I'm gone. There's no point. Why should I continue to suffer? What good does it do? Nothing ever gets better. My stepfather does nothing but yell at me and tell me I'm worthless. He nearly choked me the other day and my mum barely reacted. She told him to calm the fuck down, but that was it. Like choking me was about as problematic as finding a beetle in the house - just step on it and forget about it.

This knife is so shiny and pretty. I think it's made of real silver. A family Heirloom. It looks so good against my skin. And look; my blood looks a bit like rubies... So pretty...

So sleepy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^_^


	195. Chapter 195

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry panics, and then gets shit done.

Wednesday July 21st  
My Dearest Love,

That practically gave me a heart attack. Imagine my surprise when I was sitting in the entertainment room watching telly with the kids and I got a notification that I had a new email from you. Fun, I thought you were napping, maybe this meant you were awake and wanted me to come ravish you!

It did not.

I did my skimming thing where I make sure there's not important information at the end before I read the whole thing. Thank Merlin I did, because if you'd been in danger and I took the time to read the whole thing before coming to save you, I possibly would have been too late and I would never forgive myself. I jumped up, apparently did an accidental/subconscious magic by throwing a silencing charm around myself so I didn't terrify the children, and started shrieking, "Muffy, Dibly, other elves, help!"

Muffy, unsurprisingly, was the first to pop over to me. I think I shouted something along the lines of "watch the children, Draco's in danger!" and apparated away. She must have done something similar to whichever elf showed up after her, because she apparated to my side, at your side, less than five seconds after I arrived. You were completely unharmed so I started crying a bit in relief.

Don't worry, I didn't cry for long. One of the Aurors posted to watch you through your trance safely, started joking about setting up "one of them muggle recording devices so we can all see this grown man acting like a moody teenaged girl" and I went from tears to rage halo almost immediately. Muffy to the rescue as usual, stopped my rage and reminded me that her Master Draco needed me.

I'm quite thankful that not only am I no longer pregnant but that at last checkup, my magic levels were back to normal. Because I decided to just wing it. You were going to continue suffering until this girl was found. These Aurors were going to continue to think you're their business until this girl is found. And I was angry and done. So I improvised a new spell, a variation of the "point-me" spell. I apparated to where I keep my wand, knowing so much wandless magic means I rarely have my wand anywhere nearby when I'm safe at home, and did "point me Draco's pain."

I made small apparition hops (based on some of the places that her ex-boyfriend had told me about) until I found her. Exactly as you said, in a sleeping bag, bleeding from her wounds, but still alive. Now that I was done being furious at the Aurors, and relieved at finding her, my normal reaction to a child in pain kicked in. I healed her wounds, held her in my arms, and apparated us straight to St. Mungo's. She was in fairly good health, a bit low on blood but a replenishment potion cleared that up quickly. Her temperature was initially under normal levels, but between the blood being replenished and being in a warm room with plenty of blankets, that rose up fairly quickly.

Once she was out of danger, the staff began asking me questions about what we should do for her. Normally you'd think, "contact the Aurors and the parents" obviously. But even just skimming the email you sent gave off red flags that there's probably abuse at home. That severe of a depression in a 16 year old child is another flag, not proof because depression doesn't have to come from trauma, but enough that I didn't feel comfortable letting her go right back into what is probably an unhealthy situation.

So, I contacted the Department of Children and Families and asked them to alert the Aurors that Imogen Hughes had been found and that I was taking her to Unity until the safety of her home could be verified.

I just got home from getting her all settled in, giving Yesenia as many of the details as I could, and came home to a bedful of sleepy family members. You get all the rest you can, I'll take care of the babes tonight, and I will see you in the morning.

Love you,  
Harry

 

Thursday July 22nd  
Imzadi,

I woke up feeling better than I have in a long time. I had a lot of time to think - in the back of my mind - while I was feeling everything Imogen was, and I realized something important. I don't really have anything to be depressed about. Now don't get mad at me, believe me, I KNOW that how a person feels is not exactly a choice. Far too often, we can't help the way we feel, BUT...

That said, I DO believe that we can also choose how we feel when we have a chance to stop and think about things. It's like you always say, our initial reaction doesn't HAVE to be what defines us. So, if my initial reaction when hearing a baby cry is to want to silence the crying in any way possible, I don't have to give into it. I can hand the baby off to Muffy - or the elf she hired specifically FOR said baby - adjourn to the loo to compose myself, and decide for myself how I want to handle the situation.

So, I have made the conscious decision that whenever possible, I'm going to take simple mini breaks as needed to compose myself and purposely come back to a better frame of mind, and in that way, I am certain that I will be able to remind myself how good I have it. How loved I am, how much I'm in love, and how I never have to handle anything alone. I have you and our entire mad family to help me get through anything.

It gives me strength.

So, I'm making a vow to you right now: I will do whatever it takes to keep myself in a healthy frame of mind. I will stop wallowing in self pity every time it seems like the walls are closing in on me and I can't breathe - and instead, I will take a literal breather and get my shit back together so that I can be more devoted to you in every way. Oh sure, we may have an elf to take care of every single one of our children, but that doesn't mean that we can just abandon them, and I feel like that's what I've been doing.

So, to that end, you recently reminded me that beaches, water, and sun (and being naked) are my happy places, thus, why don't we plan a getaway soonish in which we go to a private beach - on a secluded Island or otherwise - and just lie out in the sun, swim, and do absolutely nothing at all - except watch our amazing kids play like heathens.

What do you think? Obviously, I'll wait until you're feeling up to it. I absolutely DO NOT want to push you into going on holiday if you are still feeling like you need to be at home for your mental health.

But to recap, I had a chance to reexamine my life and came to the conclusion that I need to make an actual commitment to taking care of my mental health. Prior to now, I've been sort of catering to it, letting it control me. I'm going to be more proactive in controlling it instead.

Part of that commitment is the desire to take a trip to a private beach when you are feeling up to it.

But before any of that, we have some interesting plans today. First, we have an appointment to get our new tattoos, and then see our newest honorary grandchild - since Colm and Miles didn't feel up to bringing (or coming without) a baby to our circle dinner. Plus, it's good for them to have a chance to meet Yesenia and her baby. I feel a bit bad actually that I've been monopolizing her time so much when she hadn't even been officially back to work until last week. But I suppose that she feels I pay her well enough that it's worth her time - especially since she has more than one child to support.

Besides, it'll be nice to have a chance to chat with her when I'm NOT in a dramatic wailing strop.

But I'd probably better sign off now and finish getting ready so that I don't miss our pre-birthday tattoo date with Neil. See you in a couple of minutes.

How do I know when it's love? I can't tell you but it lasts forever! How does it feel when it's love? It's just something you feel together,  
Draco


	196. Chapter 196

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is SO ready for a nice and sunny beach ^_^

Friday July 23, 2010 1:00AM

My Own,

Today was absolutely wonderful. So wonderful that I'm still flying a bit high on the happy chemicals and not able to fall asleep.

Being Thursday, it was Molly and Arthur's day with the babes. I figured we could take advantage of this and go out for lunch after our appointments, ask the older kids if they minded watching Zaire, Jaz, and the mischief twins. They would have been willing, but after letting Molly know what the plan was, she mentioned that George, Angelina, and their crew were visiting the Burrow for the day. This meant the whole lot of ours wanted to go to the Burrow to visit with their cousins. There were enough extra adults and children that are young adults that there would be plenty of hands to help with the littles.

After we got everyone dropped off, extra hugs and kisses, and maybe I snuck some of Molly's pudding, we were able to head to Neil's for our appointment.

I absolutely love your new ink. You know how much I love snakes, but I was a bit worried when you brought up the idea that it would remind me a bit too much of the Viper and his giant Nagini tattoo. Nope, it's so perfectly you. I love it and the next time I have you tied to my bed I am going to see if it responds to parsel!

I decided to get two tattoos. Well, really just one and a third. I needed to get our five youngest added to my back piece, but since it was just an addition to a tattoo I already had, it didn't quite scratch my itch for something new. I've been feeling so much better lately. I really shouldn't have waited so long to take the potions. I know it was the depression talking, but I can see now that white knuckling myself through life wasn't helping anyone. I feel like I've been in the dark for a very long time, and since starting my regimen I feel as though I've finally remembered I can cast a lumos. So that's exactly what I got tattooed; on my chest, across from my phoenix, I got the word "lumos" encased inside a beautiful watercolor sun.

My permanent reminder to turn on the light.

We had a lovely lunch date, going together to Café Exquis. It's definitely our family's favorite place to eat, so the staff seemed a bit surprised to see us alone. I love that they treat us like regular people, it's been twelve years since the war and both you and I still occasionally get treated like some exhibit presented for people's pleasure. But we walk into the Café and when they see it's us, we get treated like nobodies without our beautiful child entourage. It sounds crazy, but I love the feeling of "oh, it's just you."

Then we made our way home to have our official meeting of the two newest babies in our lives. Yesenia's sweet little Diego, and our newest granddaughter Charlotte. Our kids would have quite happily murdered us if we didn't bring them home in time to meet and snuggle the babies, but we had a solid hour of visit in beforehand. Just nice and calm and quiet, getting to chat like grownups. And then when the children flooed home from the Burrow, happy chaos descended.

Sammy preened at the attention for being "the best big sibling a baby could want", Siri and Zwei thought it was funny that even three week old Charlotte was sturdier than our dainty Persephone. What? She may be three months old, but she's barely a month old with her adjusted age. And I managed to get a beautiful picture of all five babies who we managed to get napping all at the same time, snuggled into one of the cots sleeping side by side.

Between the tattoo adrenaline, the potions working their magic, no Aurors anywhere in sight, and a day spent snuggling sweet babies, I think I could take on the world. I definitely think we should take a family trip to spend a few days on a secluded beach together.

Actually, why wait? I'm waking everyone up. Who cares that it's the middle of the night? Let's go right now! If we get everyone moving in time we can have a swim under the moonlight!

Last one in the water's a rotten egg,  
Harry

 

Saturday July 24th  
My adorable little mutt,

Ahhhh! This is the life! A pristine beach, gorgeous and perfectly warm water to swim in, absolutely NO ONE around to care if all our naked bits are hanging out. Just you, me, and our kids. This may not be unplottable, but I will never regret buying an Island in the Maldives. Perhaps rather than always look for NEW places to go, we should consider coming here whenever we need to get away from life for a while.

I would feel bad for poor Mr. Lott being the only extra person we have with us, but I daresay that he was so excited for an opportunity to officially fly our new jet, that he doesn't mind at all having a last minute vacation thrust on him. Our new jet is beautiful and more roomy to begin with. Of course, that didn't stop us from upgrading it a bit to give everyone a bit more space, hahaha. The only downside is that we couldn't get an attachment to convert the jet into a sea plane as well - or at least not yet. I can always look into having it retrofitted at some point - and so, Mr. Lott is actually staying on a relatively nearby bigger Island with a proper airport so that he can be near the jet at all times.

As for actually getting to the Island, do you like the high performance Yacht I bought? It's fast enough to not take long to get here from the bigger Island, but also luxurious enough that if we wanted to go cruising around just for fun, our massive family won't feel like they're slumming it.

In any case, we called up Mr. Lott shortly after 1 am, managed to have everyone wrangled, on the plane, and ready to go by 2:13 AM, had a 10 hour plane ride to the big Island, 15 or so minutes of moving from the plane to the yacht, and about a half hour trip by Yacht to get to our specific Island. Which means that we arrived here at about 1 PM (according to my watch) London time, but the Maldives is five hours ahead, and so, it was coming up on dinner time here.

No problem at all! It was just past our normal lunch time anyway and we had plenty of food since our elves are not stupid and knew to bring enough for at least a week - which would give us time to obtain more if we planned to stay longer. I vote we do! We've only been here about 24 hours and I already feel like a new man!

In less than one entire day of being here, we managed to have a nice lie about in the sun, we managed to play a rousing game of beach volleyball with our non infant kids, we managed to do a couple of hours of moonlight swimming, AND we managed to shag under the water amongst the gorgeous coral.

PURE HEAVEN!

I cannot imagine being anywhere else in the world right now than on a blanket on a beach full of soft white sand, curled around you, just soaking up the sun and napping as we like. Even our babies seem to love it here as they have been less fussier than usual. Granted, they're in carriers on us whenever we have to get up long enough to play a game or go for another swim, but them seem happy enough with bubble head charms so that they can look at all the beautiful colors and wildlife the ocean has to offer.

But now that they are asleep, Jaz and Zaire are busy building a sand 'castle' (I think), and the others are splashing about in the knee level water (hip level for Siri and Zwei), we might have just enough time to sneak away to one of the MANY lovely spots on the Island (such as that small pool fed by a little waterfall) and just snog and shag for as long as we can get away with before one of our kids comes looking for us.

What say you?

Bugger! JUST as I was contemplating which lyric would be the perfect sign off for today, an enormous snake Patronus burst into existence in front of us.

"Harry! Draco!" The message was badly garbled and extremely hard to understand, but that part seemed obvious enough that we could assume that was what was said. I think the Viper might have been emotionally unstable when he cast the spell, or else maybe he hasn't quite mastered it like you have, but really, if he hadn't been repeating a few things several times so we could piece them together, we wouldn't have understood a word. As it is, the only thing we THINK we understood was "Emergency!" and "COME HOME!!!"

Sighing, and honestly believing that he was simply upset to find that we'd taken off without them, we kissed each other and made a quick decision that since Elena was not with us (she does have a school to run, after all), River and Viona would be left in charge of the others and the babies - along with plenty of help from the elves.

Thus, the two of us would be able to make the trip back home in a series of quick Apparations, check on the situation in a matter of a few minutes, and be back within the hour. Thus, I literally HAVE to sign off now so that we can go.

Love you,  
Draco  
P.S. It seems that we probably shouldn't have left our Magimobiles on the plane, heh heh...

P.P.S. Wait... WHY is Viper home??? This is his short weekend with the Tiger...


	197. Chapter 197

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are more serious than Harry and Draco assumed...

Saturday July 24th  
My Heart and Soul,

My heart is absolutely breaking for Other Harry right now. I keep trying to put myself in his shoes until I feel the beginnings of a panic attack. There is nothing I can think of that would be worse than the situation he finds himself in right now. I think you and I both expected to apparate home to find the emergency to be something as ridiculous as him wishing we had taken him with us on our mini vacation. I wish more than anything that that had been the case. And then of course I spiraled into the “what-ifs” where I think if we had invited him and his family along, then we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in. I can’t do that to myself, and logically knowing that this was his weekend with Other Draco, he wouldn’t have taken us up on our offer even if we’d made it.

Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a very real, horrifically terrible, emergency. We popped in to the manor to find Viper sitting on the couch in Tiger’s arms, pale, shaking, and with eyes so red he looked like he had just finished sobbing hysterically. Which was, in fact, the case. Viper developed quite a mask and I’ve never seen him looking so emotional or vulnerable. As soon as I saw his face, I knew something really bad was going down. I didn’t even think to wonder what the Tiger was doing back in our world. 

When he saw we had gotten home, Viper immediately threw himself into our arms, crying about how thankful he was that we came home and how relieved he was to see us. As we were patting him on the back, I saw Kingsley and Robards standing up from their chairs. I was a bit worried, I hadn’t spoken to them since I threatened … uh … told them nicely not to ask you for help. I bristled a bit, worried that this was about us, but Kingsley spoke very calmly, giving us the information they knew so far.

Mac and Phil, your four siblings, and Viper’s two older kids were given permission to go to Diagon today for some shopping, ice cream, and general teenage nonsense. Because Phil was going and Bel and Harrison begged so well, they were eventually all allowed to go with the condition that they all stayed together. And they did stay together. Which is why we have nine traumatized kids who witnessed their brother/cousin/friend Harrison getting abducted. 

Apparently the last thing any of them remember is Harrison saying he was going to talk his dad into buying him the newest Nimbus racing broom and Delphini heckling him saying, “Harrison Potter, you know dad’s not going to get you a racing broom at ten years old, he’s always said minimum thirteen unless you get on a house team first!”

Del insisted through her sobs that she only turned her head for a moment to check the time and then heard Harrison scream once and then he was gone. It sounds like she’s blaming herself. It’s ridiculous, there’s no way she’s responsible, but explain that to her. 

I guess the Viper had wizarding notification wards on each of his children so that he would know if they were ever in trouble. He never took them off even after they were “safe” here in this world. And apparently they were awesome enough that he felt them go off even from the other world. He cried out that something was wrong with Harrison and performed whatever magic he needs to get him back here. He did all of this without letting go of Tiger, so now they’re both here. Tiger is certainly not mad, it sounds like he is just hopeful that he can be a support for Viper while his kid is missing.

There are Aurors out patrolling, searching high and low for Harrison, taking statements from anyone that was in Diagon at the time. And as much as I’ve been pitching a fit when you help out the Aurors, you are busy doing everything you can to assist in the search. Is it insanely hypocritical that I was so relieved when you immediately offered your help even though when you do it for strangers I get angry? I’m sorry.

Anyway, with your gift of sight and your rapport with the Aurors, it made the most sense for you to stay there while I came back to the island to get the kids. Someone in the wizarding world is abducting wizarding children, yeah I need my children to be in my sight until the person is caught. I need to see our kids so all my worry and fear can be focused on getting Harrison home safe and sound. 

I apparated back to Mr. Lott, told him to get the jet ready to take off, and then popped over to our island. I got everyone packed up in a hurry. Luckily, it’s our place so if we forget something, it’s not like someone else will find it and take off with it. We’ll just retrieve it the next time we come out here. We pushed the limits of the yacht’s speed and now we’re all safely on board the jet heading home. I told the oldest kids that Harrison is missing, but told Siri, Zwei, Zaire, and Jaz that we needed to go home. I have no idea what to tell them. 

Anyway, I’ll see you in nine hours or so. Maybe less if Mr. Lott is pushing the jet as hard as I pushed the yacht. Hey, at least then we’ll know what our new toy is capable of!

Maybe by the time we get home Harrison will be home safe and sound.

Hopefully,  
Harry

 

Saturday July 24th  
My tender heart,

You are more than likely on the plane right now - probably busy writing to me - but I just had to get my thoughts out before deciding on my next step.

From the moment we learned that Harrison was missing, I volunteered to help find him. After all, this is something I've done for others, why wouldn't I at least try when the missing child is practically the twin brother of one of our daughters? You rushed off to make sure our kids were safe before I had a chance to do anything, but shortly after you left, Delphini handed me Harrison's hair brush.

Apparently being rather finicky about personal hygiene is something Harrison and Hazel have in common, and Harrison is vigilant about removing his hair from his brush after every use. Even so, there were a few short and wiry hairs to provide focus.

I held the brush and closed my eyes. Very strangely, at first, probably because I couldn't help but think of our kids, I had a vision of Hazel playing in the shallow water as you popped onto the beach and frantically called everyone over to you.

I took a few deep breaths and pushed that image away. I kept my eyes closed even though the Tiger made a skeptical noise and I could feel him watching me in disbelief. Apparently he either cannot have visions, or never even thought to try.

It felt like the vision fought me for a moment, probably because I was distracted even though I tried to ignore everyone else. Suddenly, I could see Harrison as clearly as if he was standing in front of me.

"He's alone in a room. It's dim and I can't see everything, but it seems to be a parlor - rather than a cellar or even an actual cell. There's furniture he can sit on, and what looks like a full tea service should he feel peckish, except he doesn't. He's feeling annoyed. Very VERY annoyed.

"He's pounding on a closed door that must be locked, shouting: 'Let me out of here, you mad bint!' - It's hard to hear, sounding almost too far away for me to be certain of the words, but I think a woman is yelling at him in return. Something about settle down and she has to be certain no one followed them.

"Harrison roars in frustration: 'Do you have any idea who my father is?!?! OF COURSE he's going to follow us! If you don't let me go home, RIGHT NOW, he's going to make you WISH you were never born the moment he finds you! And make no mistake, he's GOING to find you! There's nowhere on Earth you will be able to hide from him! And if you dare to harm a hair on my head, you'll be BEGGING for death long before he grants your wish!' - Unfortunately for him, she either wasn't listening, or she just wasn't bothering to respond."

I took a breath because Harrison himself was taking a moment to stop shouting and look around.

"He's now trying to find any possible escape. Naturally, the first place he's trying is the windows, but they've been boarded up and shine with security wards. Not one to give up so easily, he's looking under the sofa and under rugs... Now he's checking behind tapestries and pictures... Ooo, resourceful! He's now stacking things so that he can climb up and check the ceiling. Too bad that it's quite solid with only a couple of cracks. He's scratching at one of the cracks - probably in an attempt to see if he can eventually break through.

"Uh-oh! The door to the room just opened, making him freeze on the spot like a deer in headlights. However, he's not looking toward the door, so I can't see it either. 'We weren't followed, which means that once I strengthen the wards, there's no way anyone will ever find us,' the woman threatened. 'My dad will,' Harrison assured her confidently. However, I have no idea how she responded because she must have done exactly as said and strengthened the wards - ejecting me from the vision."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I didn't see anything useful that could identify his location, nor did I hear any sort of traffic - which could indicate them still being in London - nor a train or anything to help us narrow down the search. That said, I can't say if this was because they're out somewhere quiet, or if she simply had silencing wards up already."

With no way to get the vision back, I opened my eyes to find the Viper and the Tiger staring at me intently. The Viper has seen me work at least once before, and so, believed me, but the Tiger still looked like he fully believed that I just made the whole thing up. Robards finished writing in a notebook and looked up at me to ask a few questions so that I could clarify some details. As he worked, I summoned my memory camera, pulled a copy of the memory out of my head, and stuck it in the camera to print up - making the Tiger highly intrigued and the Viper rather relieved that he could see his son with his own eyes. More or less.

When Robards was done questioning me, Kingsley sighed something a cross between relief and continued heaviness. "So, he's still alive and being held captive by a woman. Obviously, she can still intend him harm, but if that was her only intent, she probably would have just done it - or put him somewhere less comfortable. We can only hope the fact that she stashed him in a room with access to food means that she plans to keep him alive and relatively well for some time. THAT gives us a little time to find him."

He walked over to the Viper and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're not our Harry, but you are still Harry Potter. Everyone in the Wizarding World owes you a great debt - no matter what world you come from. So please try to trust me when I vow to you that we will do whatever it takes to find your son and bring him home safe."

We were all silent for a long moment, and then the Viper nodded in acceptance. After that, Kingsley and Robards left to go coordinate the search. I was given an open invitation to pop in at any time if I get more visions or if I just feel like helping with some of the footwork. My first inclination was to go, but two things stopped me. One: I didn't want to upset you by going out with an Auror partner to do potentially dangerous work. And two: I thought it might actually be better for me - at the moment - to stay at the Manor and try to comfort the Viper.

See you when you get home.  
With all my heart,  
Draco


	198. Chapter 198

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco gets another vision.

Monday July 26th  
My Dearest Love,

For future reference, I definitely do not want you to be working on Auror business, that wasn't just the depression talking. You aren't a fully trained Auror and you've put yourself in danger so often that the whole thing terrifies me. But the hysteria that comes with you choosing to take on cases was definitely the depression talking. Now that the stupid voice is silenced, or at least muffled, I can see where there are some cases where your specific set of talents are very helpful. I just don't want you to go out on raids or put yourself in danger.

This is a completely different situation. Harrison is one of ours. Well, not technically ours, but he may as well be. He's a child I love that lives in my home and shares my face and is, as you said, practically twins with my daughter. If something ever happened to Viper, I would raise him in a heartbeat. I may have parameters I want us to stick to for safety in the grand scheme of things, but when it comes to my kids all bets are off. We need to do whatever we can to get Harrison home in his dad's arms safely.

I've been home for a few hours now. At least I think it's been a few hours. I'm such a weird mixture of running high on adrenaline and fear with exhaustion from jetlag and not having slept for what I think is probably 48 hours at this point. I would love to just pound a half a dreamless sleep just to get a solid four hours in, but I'm so worried that something will happen in that window where I will be needed but I won't be able to wake up enough to be helpful. Not that the current lunatic, sleep-deprived Harry would be all that helpful anyway.

I was so hopeful that he would have been found by the time the kids and I got home. He wasn't. We have infuriatingly little to go on. He was abducted in the daylight, during regular business hours, while standing next to nine other children. From your visions, we know he's safe but mad, and with a woman who seems to be taking care of him despite being a crazy person who abducts children. But he is behind a ton of warding.

Kingsley was here roughly an hour ago, he had just wanted to tell us that he'd already – late last night - finished interviewing any witnesses that were willing to come forward. Again, very little to go on, but a few people remembered a woman they didn't recognize. I suppose there can be some benefits to living in a smaller society; everyone may know everyone else's business but they also notice someone who doesn't belong. Their stories seem to be similar; a shorter woman, with dark brown/black hair, and very skinny to the point where one of the witnesses used the word emaciated.

Your four siblings, the three Viper kids we have, Phil and Mac, and our oldest eight kids are all wrapped up in a nest on the floor of the entertainment room. I think they all needed the comfort of each other. They all seem pretty scared for their brother/cousin/friend. Hazel is near hysterical, she keeps crying and saying that if he comes home she'll never fight with him again. I'm not sure what deity she's praying to but she is definitely in the bargaining stage.

\--

Oh, I just got an owl from Kings, he'll be here within an hour or so with the pensieve memories of the suspicious woman. He hasn't seen them himself either, as he and Robards were busy working other aspects of the case, but he wants to use your memory printer so he can really study her image.

I'll spend the next hour staring at the kids to make sure they're alright. You do the same with the littles that are piled on top of you in bed.

I love you more than anything in this life,  
Harry

 

Monday July 26th  
My emotionally unstable husband,

Oi! I'm ordering you to go to bed as soon as you possibly can! I know that you are an adult and can make the decision to stay awake for unhealthy periods of time by taking a wide awake potion - which you always mistakenly call pepper up (which is specifically a cold fighting potion) - but I always cringe a bit inside when I hear you say that you have. Barring genuine emergencies (like this is), you should NEVER feel like you need to stay awake for an unhealthy amount of time.

Also, whether it is or not, I feel like you not sleeping properly at times like this is a big part of the reason you were able to get so depressed without quite realizing just HOW bad it was getting. Just as I have made a commitment to my mental health, I would like you to make a commitment to getting a proper amount of sleep, no matter what else is going on.

So, unless you specifically find or come up with something to find and rescue Harrison, go the fuck to bed!

You know, when you actually can. I understand that you are probably still under the influence of a potion and will not be able to actually fall asleep right away.

So anyway, I'm currently watching you greet Kingsley and Robards. The Viper and Tiger are lurking in the background, probably ALSO too wound up to sleep last night, but trying not to get all their hopes up that these memories will hold the key to finding Harrison. That said, unless this is a case of literally everyone describing everyone else - rather than the culprit - there SHOULD be at least SOME useful information in the memories.

Oh, good call! Kingsley has decided to forego the pleasantries and simply get to it. You want to feel useful, I suppose, so you're taking the memories from him and putting them in the memory printer. Robards has insisted that we start with the memory from a man who is fairly sure he witnessed the actual abduction, he just thought it was a normal situation of a woman yanking her fussy child away from an expensive display.

The memory has printed and you are holding it as the rest huddle around you. You're looking rather pale all of a sudden. Pushing your way free, you're now holding the memory up for me to see.

Isn't that..……?

*accidentally hits send in his startlement*


	199. Chapter 199

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is going to kill her!

Monday July 26th  
Draco,

I'm going to kill her. I am going to rip her apart. I am going to find her before the Aurors can and I am going to get her an inch from death and then I am going to revive her and bring her to Russia to meet my favorite Grandmama. I am going to do everything to her that I wish I had done to Zaire's biological father. She is going to wish she'd never left Azkaban with what she's going to get.

She looks so different than she did the last time I saw her ten years ago, but the pensieve picture left us without a doubt that Fran Gorman abducted Harrison. My gut tells me she got sick of waiting to hear back from us about whether or not we would allow her to meet Hazel and took matters into her own hands. Being out of the loop for almost a decade, it's not like they receive The Prophet in Azkaban, she must not have been aware that Hazel isn't a Harrison. She must have heard Delphini call him Harrison Potter and that confirmed her suspicions that he was "hers."

She's so fucking stupid she didn't even realize the person she kidnapped wasn't even who she was looking for. She's apparently smart enough to put up wards that are stumping your sight and keeping the Aurors at bay, but she ends up kidnapping the wrong person.

Oh hell, now I feel like a monster. Did I just inadvertently wish it had actually been my child that had been taken? My sweet, beautiful, wonderful, brilliant, creative, competitive, Haz? Wait, the other option is that I'm glad it's Harrison and NOT my kid. Either way I'm a despicable human being, I either wish my child had been kidnapped or I'm glad someone else was? A kid I love. Not that I'd want any child taken, even if I didn't know and love them. Ah, I'm making myself crazy. Maybe you're right and I do need some sleep.

But I can't sleep. Maybe you're right and I need to stop potioning myself alert and awake, but this is certainly extenuating circumstances. I need to find my Harrison. Other Harry put his children's lives in our hands, at our insistence this would be a safe place. And his child is taken. His child is taken for no other reason than he bears a resemblance and a birth name to our daughter. I feel so guilty.

Although not as guilty as our Haz is feeling. She knew Harrison was missing. And like I mentioned in the last email, she seems to be taking it the hardest of anyone. I had no intention on telling her who took him, definitely not before we found him and possibly not ever, but her sneaky little self was listening at the door instead of being sound asleep with the rest of the kids like she should have been. We had to give her a calming draught because she wouldn't stop sobbing and saying it was her fault. My poor sweet girl.

Gorman had better hope and pray to any higher being willing to negotiate with her that she hasn't harmed a hair on his head. She's taken a child, she's hurt a father, she's terrified my daughter, and she is going to pay. I should insta-owl Kisa and ask for some tips while we're waiting to hear back if they managed to find Gorman at her listed address or known places she frequents. Ooh, between Kisa, myself, and the Viper things are going to get ugly.

Wait! Draco! I've got it! The wards are keeping you from finding Harrison. The wards are keeping him wherever she's hidden him. But she has to be able to get in and out right? What if instead of focusing on him, you focus on her? We have Hazel's baby blanket that Gorman made for her, it had been in storage in case Haz ever wanted to hear more about her (P.S. that's a hard no!) birth mother. What if you focus on that and find her that way!

H

 

Monday July 26th  
The dearest part of my heart,

I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but you had a mild rage halo around you as you wrote your email to me. I have to wonder if the OTHER Dark Lord somehow deactivated the Viper's ability to have his own rage halo, or if he's been forced to keep such a tight grip over his emotions that even while clearly distraught, he's still holding things in check enough to not have a rage halo.

In any case, since your halo was fairly mild and you are NOT currently suffering any conditions in which expending a lot of magic would be a bad thing, I kept my mouth shut and didn't say a word about it. It cooled off rather abruptly, presumably when you thought about having me get a vision of Gorman. Before stopping to explain things properly, you popped off to go get the blanket Gorman had made for Hazel when she was a baby.

The Tiger was alternating between eyeing you warily and giving me glances that suggested he was wondering why I wasn't reacting to the sight of you burning with magic. I'm pretty sure the Viper has seen the Halo before, and so, didn't pay attention to you as he paced the room. He did look over curiously when you popped out of the room, and then seemed a tiny bit hopeful when you came back with the blanket.

You thrust it into my hands unceremoniously. "Here! Look for her!" You babbled a bit of an explanation, but it wasn't all that coherent. Thankfully, I didn't need it to be. Intuitively, I understood what you were getting at.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, inhaling the soft lavender scent of the oil I like to use on the babies - as that powder scent gives me a bit of a headache and I am fortunate enough to be able to blend any damn thing I like. It was still just a small hint lingering on the blanket, even after all these years. Pushing the scent and associated memories away, I focused on the underlying essence. The unintentional bits a person puts into an object when they make it.

Suddenly I could see:

"She's... hmm, in a bedroom. She's currently tidying up a pile of stuffed animals, and sort of humming softly to herself as she does so. Directly in front of her is a large window that seems to be brightly lit by sunshine. But I'm almost certain that's a glamour. It's not even that time of day! Unless she took him to a different time zone...

"Anyway, now that she's fussed with the animals to her liking, she feels that the tea has finished brewing, because she's poured some into a cup and added milk and sugar. There's a tray full of healthy breakfast food - eggs, bacon, oatmeal, a bowl of fruit - which she's now carrying over to a bed.

"Harrison is sleeping in the bed, looking rather worn out and stressed in his fitful sleep. She sits next to him and runs her hair through his hair. 'My little Harry... so big and beautiful you've gotten. Oh my little Harry... I've missed you SOOOO much! It's time to wake up now, my little Harry. Are you hungry? I've made breakfast.'

"Harrison has cracked an eye open to look at her. 'I'm NOT your little anything!'

"'Hush, luv. You're my baby boy that those monsters tore from my arms so many years ago, but we're together now. They'll never be able to take you away from me again.'

"Harrison sits up abruptly. 'Wait! You think you're my mother?!' He's giving her a look like she's just lost the plot. 'I don't HAVE a mother!'

She shakes her head. "That's just what they've told you. You only THINK you have two dads because the one you look like is married to a man. They didn't give birth to you. I did.'

"Harrison snorts and shakes his head. 'No, lady, listen to me! I don't just THINK I have two dads, I KNOW I do! I don't even come from this world! In the world I was born in, Voldemort captured my dad and got him pregnant with me. My dad Harry gave birth to me, and my other dad Voldemort was eventually murdered by him.'

"'YOU SPEAK HIS NAME!!!' Gorman hisses in dismay and fear. 'What sort of sick Monster tells a child such a story!!! I'll admit that I didn't have the best respect for the law, but that's no reason to raise a child to believe that he's a product of the Dark Lord!'

"Harrison roars in frustration. 'WHY WON"T YOU LISTEN TO ME?! I'M NOT WHO YOU THINK I AM!!!'

"She tries to calm him down. 'Of course you are, my little Harry. Once you accept that, you'll be happy that I've taken you away from such a man - imagine! The Dark Lord... Nutters!'

"I'm trying to look more around the room now that Harrison has decided that she's not going to listen to him and that his best bet is to eat and keep up his strength until his dad can come rescue him. There's not really much useful information to find. The entire room looks like it was decorated for a toddler. Aside from the stuffed animals, there's toddler toys such as plastic telephones and a small kitchen set with plastic pots, pans, and food. The only thing I think Harrison might actually like are the toy cars and the foam balls in varying shapes. At least he can toss the balls at the walls if he gets too bored. I can see wards to prevent his escape, but other than that, there's nothing to find."

Sighing in disappointment, I let the vision go and took a moment to pull a copy of it out of my head and print it up. Then a thought occurred to me.

"Erm... has anyone tried a modified Point Me?" I wondered. "Using the fact that we've anchored and tied the Viper's magic to his kids - and vice versa."

By the look on your face, you hadn't thought of that, but now that it had been mentioned, were about to launch into rescue mode. I pulled you close and kissed you deeply.

"Go. Do whatever it takes to get this bitch," I ordered softly, kissing you once more.

"Oh trust me, I will!" You vowed before running off. I'm not one hundred percent certain where you went, but the Viper, Tiger, Kingsley, and Robards all followed you. Meanwhile, I'm going to slip back in bed with our littles and just snuggle with them until I either finish sleeping, or one of them demands that I feed them.

Love you!

Come home safe,  
Draco


	200. Chapter 200

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to rescue Harrison!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more before I get ready to leave for work so that we have a nice and even 200 chapters today ^_^

Monday July 26th  
My Home,

As soon as I get all of my thoughts out, I will wake you up and give you the good news. But since you're sleeping soundly, it shouldn't make a difference if you hear this now or whenever I finish this message. Harrison is home safe and sound. Emotionally shaken up, but not in any way physically harmed. I am so relieved. I feel like I could just sob in relief, and I've already done so at least three times.

I'm sure you'll have a million questions as to how everything happened, but I will get the basics out in email before I fall asleep and forget something.

I did rush away to go get that bitch like you said. I went straight to the Ministry, Auror department. I wanted their best trackers and I wanted their best gear. I wasn't going to play around with anyone else's safety. Gorman obviously already had a few screws loose, I didn't want to risk her hurting anyone, especially Harrison, in the crossfire. Everyone geared up; it ended up taking under five minutes total, but you can tell it was about four minutes and fifty-nine seconds too much for the Viper. He was pacing a hole in the floor, pausing only to bury his face in Tiger's neck and let out one sob at the end of each path.

Once everyone was set, I told Viper to use "Point Me Harrison" and we would follow him wherever the spell sent him (using an Auror tracking spell). He set the spell and apparated away. We each followed, hopping about three different stops until we ended up in front of what looked to be an abandoned warehouse in Muggle East London. But the vision would occasionally crackle just enough for us to see there was actually a heavy glamour on the building. Seeing as the surrounding buildings were row homes, we assumed it wasn't actually an abandoned warehouse.

The Aurors quickly got to work, setting up our own warding, planning the attack, but we needed to bring in the curse-breaker first to dismantle the wards.

The entire time the curse-breakers were working, I sat next to Viper holding his hand, with Tiger on his other side holding the other hand. Viper kept mumbling and keening, "he's right there, he's so close, why can't I just go get him?" I felt the same way. Logically, I knew that dismantling the warding, especially since it was so intense, was the best course of action. But I couldn't get rid of the feeling that all it would take, would be for *her* to notice we were out here, and she could snap and hurt Harrison.

The more I thought about this, the angrier I got. Anger was easier to handle than fear and helplessness, so I held on to that. I could feel the magic crackling around me but couldn't seem to care about stopping it. Tiger actually seemed a bit afraid of me, but Viper just commented, "Damn, you must really care about my kid, the only other time I ever saw your rage halo this bad was when Draco went on that raid and you busted into the Auror HQ tent."

"Wait, what did you just say?" I had the beginnings of an idea.

"You had this same rage halo when you busted into Draco's raid. Oh bloody Hell! You busted into Draco's raid!" Viper went from looking dejected to having a manic gleam in his eyes.

I jumped up and started doing my rambling nonsense. "These are huge wards, but I've broken through Auror grade wards when I was worked up enough. I don't know if I've been this worked up before. Viper is certainly worked up. He and I probably have the same or similar power levels. My power alone busted through those wards, and it only went badly because I was pregnant and used up all my magic. Just a little splinch that my body would have healed if I hadn't used up my limited magic."

We all know that when it comes to Harry used to be Potter, I'd rather ask forgiveness for a scheme gone wrong than wait for permission. I leaned in to Viper and Tiger, "Here's what we're going to do; Viper and I are going to hold hands, you focus on Harrison as hard as you can, I'll focus my rage on the most powerful apparition I can imagine. Tiger, you distract the Aurors, ask them some nonsense questions, whatever just wing it, and as soon as they're suitably distracted, Viper and I are going in to get our Harrison. Got it?" They both gave me a quick nod. Tiger promptly asked the nearest group of Aurors some questions while I sent a quick insta-owl to Kingsley asking him to send for a Healer just in case. When I saw him glance down to his pocket where I knew his mobile was, I locked eyes with Viper and said, "Now!"

Well, in case you were wondering, yes, combined Viper and I are more powerful than Auror warding and crazy bitch warding. We landed in that creepy room you described, right between Gorman and Harrison. I have never liked Harrison more than I did at that moment. He saw the two of us appear in front of him, and instead of crying in relief, he smirked at her and laughed, "I told you he was coming!"

She started shrieking nonsense. I was so worked up I didn't even register that she was saying words. All I could care about was Harrison safe behind me and my prey in front of me. "Viper, get him out of here, I've got this."

I don't even know if he complied. I had already thrown up a shield on myself. As much as I wanted to tear her apart - and I do - she must have been utilizing a ton of magic in simply keeping the wards up. So I channeled all of my magic into shielding myself while she threw spells at me. I really wanted to be a hero, but more importantly, I wanted to come home safe to you. I had blown up her wards, so I knew the Aurors were on their way, I just had to keep her focused on me so they would have time to apprehend her. Which they did. Between the noise her spells were making and her own shouting, she didn't even hear them come up behind her.

Once we cut through those wards, she was simple to take into custody. I really wish they didn't have to take her in. I wish they'd have let me have her. But that's probably the residual rage talking.

We got back to the Ministry and Robards tried getting statements from all of us. Tiger went into full Malfoy lawyer mode, "Thank you Auror Robards, but this has been a very emotional, exhausting, and trying time for our family. We will be taking Harrison home to get rest and so his loved ones can see he is safe. We'd love to have you and any of your staff you feel are necessary to come tomorrow at tea time. Ta, good day." And then he just walked Viper and Harrison to the floos.

I sheepishly looked at Robards, and then Kingsley. "Er, I could give my statement now if you'd like."

Kingsley just sighed, shook his head, saying, "No Harry, we're apparently coming by your place tomorrow afternoon anyway, we'll talk to you then."

I lurched forward and hugged Kingsley hard, tears already slipping down my face a bit, "Thank you for making finding him a priority. I couldn't lose one of my kids. I love you Kings!" I smeared the tears off my face, waved goodbye, and made my own way to the floos.

When I got back, Viper was just holding Harrison on his lap and sobbing. Tiger standing behind them both, rubbing their backs. I whispered, "I don't want to wake the whole house, but I think we should wake his sister and brothers and probably Haz, let them know he's safe, is that alright?" I don't think Viper heard me, but Tiger gave me a small smile and nodded in agreement.

I'm glad I threw up a silencing spell because I woke those four kids up and brought them into the hall to tell them the good news. I create schools and orphanages for a living and I've never heard happy screeching at quite that volume level before. They rushed into the room Harrison was in and swarmed the three that were sitting there like piranhas. After quite a bit of crying from everyone, Viper, Tiger, and his kids went off to fall asleep in a pile of limbs, and Haz and I came and joined you, Jaz, and Zaire in bed.

I think I will just wait up until one of the babes makes fussy noises from their bassinets. No use falling asleep if one of them is going to wake me ten minutes later. I'll wake you then and tell you the good news.

Desperately Thankful,  
Harry

P.S. I think as soon as I give my statement tomorrow we should go finish our vacation!

 

Tuesday July 27th  
My beautiful husband,

You are currently still sleeping. Muffy reports that you finished up your email and sat watching us sleep for about two minutes as the adrenaline - which had burned through the potions you'd taken - finished wearing off. And then you crashed. Hard. Falling over onto my head and waking me up, which is fine because I was more or less ready to wake up anyway.

I took some time to simply pet your hair, running my hands through it and humming softly as I pressed tiny kisses to your face. I also told Muffy to have the babies' elves take them out of bed so that they could be woken up just enough to feed, but more importantly, NOT fuss and risk waking you up. Plus, Jasmine and Zaire's elves grabbed them and brought them to their toyroom to finish sleeping. Honestly, so long as Jaz is there, Zaire could probably sleep anywhere, and Jaz doesn't particularly care where she sleeps.

Anyway, knowing that you needed sleep more than anything, I made it my mission to ensure that not a single bloody thing could disturb you, setting up charms and wards and the like to keep everything away and muffle all sound. After a last kiss - for the moment - I slipped out of bed and fed the babies.

We'd ALL had a weird schedule of sleeping on and off for a couple of hours at a time for the past couple of days, and so, the babies felt like they had had enough sleep and wanted to be awake once they were all full. Side note, I'm producing enough at the moment that I could feed the twins completely, and about half of Persephone's needs. So, she only had a little bit of supplement, which was actually milk from stasis that either you or Donna had pumped at some point.

As I was feeding them, I read your email, so I know what happened. Once I was more fully awake, had some tea in me, and the babies were full, I brought them out to see who else in the Manor was awake.

Well, the answer to that was almost everybody. It WAS going on noon, after all. If we hadn't been having fitful sleep recently, I don't think anyone would have been in bed in the first place. But as it was, after you and Hazel came to lay down - note, I left her sleeping with you since she clearly needed it - despite the fact that the Tiger, Viper, and his kids all retired to do the same, the REST of the Manor woke up. Aside from my parents, who had been sleeping just fine and woke up at a more 'normal' hour.

That was yesterday. Kingsley and whoever he's bringing with him - almost certainly Robards and Bletchley - are due to arrive any minute now. I'm going to insist that they get ALL of the statements they require before disturbing you as you CLEARLY need to catch up on your sleep. If you haven't woken on your own by the end of everyone else's statements, I'll go wake you, but I won't be happy about it.

-

Well, since I really didn't have to give much for a statement, I went first. I just had to confirm what I saw in my vision/s before you ran off. So, I basically sat back and listened to everyone else give their statements.

Not much was different than what you wrote in your email. The Tiger mentioned that even though he saw it with his own eyes, he still can't quite believe that you somehow had a rage halo of magic surrounding you, and that the two of you were powerful enough to break through who knows how many wards as if they were a paper wall. Then he muttered something about he shouldn't be surprised considering what his Harry did right after they finished murdering the Dark Lord.

When all the statements were given, Kingsley actually said that your statement wouldn't be necessary as the only thing you did was what they more or less expected you to do. You can write them an official statement when you're awake and able to think clearly.

We all had a nice chat over tea for a bit before Kingsley and Robards decided it was time they left. Kingsley in particular is more than half in love with Persephone. He held her as much as he could, and she seemed to love the attention. She looked positively FASCINATED by his gorgeous black skin and bald head.

As the day had progressed, we'd all played a fun game of pass around the babies. I think it's interesting that several grown men and Harrison (who was the only child required to give a statement today), managed to remain serious and all business for the most part, but softened visibly whenever they were holding a baby.

But as I was saying, Kingsley and Robards eventually left, and that left me alone with the Tiger and Viper. Harrison had taken off as soon as he could in order to hang out with his siblings and the others. Hazel in particular seems to be very clingy, making him look extremely annoyed, but I noticed that he's NOT pushing her away or taking her to task.

I was holding Lily, Viper was holding Caelum, and Tiger was holding Persephone. Without any warning or any sort of conversation leading up to it, Tiger tickled her nose with his finger and said: "I think we should have a baby."

This understandably made the Viper splutter in astonishment. "W-w-what??? But! But! YOU said that you wouldn't even consider having kids until we were married, and that you wouldn't even CONSIDER marrying me until you were certain that we were actually and genuinely in love!"

Smiling softly at our baby so that he didn't have to look at his Harry, Tiger said: "So... maybe it's time we got married after all."

The Viper was gobsmacked. It's rather interesting to watch someone caught so off guard that they literally look like a computer that has the cursor icon as one of those circles that continuously goes round and round as it's processing a request or task. "Er...……..... Are-are you serious?!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" The Tiger asked with a slight frown of concern.

"But! Are you saying... Are you admitting... you... LOVE me?"

He chuckled softly and shook his head. "How could I not? You've done everything in your power to show me that we were not only made for each other, but that we could be so good together. But don't get me wrong, I only want the one baby. We already have enough kids between us, so it's not really about having more. It's something like, erm… I just really want to see what a combination of the two of us would look like. And be like. I highly doubt that he or she would be anything like these two bugger's massive hoard of kids - because we are truly different people and would raise our kids differently than they have. But... Well, I never got to actually raise a baby before, and I'm kind of looking forward to it."

After the extremely high amount of emotions that the Viper had let himself feel the past couple of days, I almost expected him to burst out crying, but he didn't. He simply threw his arms around his Draco and snogged the bloody hell out of him. (Caelum was hastily passed to a waiting elf. As was Persephone.)

When they broke apart, the Tiger looked nervous. "Is.... Is that a yes?"

"Yes!" Viper blurted out. "Yes to all of it!"

With a sigh of relief, the Tiger rested his head against the Viper's. "I know it will be a LOT of details to work out, such as your schedule with your kids because I agree that they should never come back to our world - but we'll do whatever we have to until it somehow works."

The Viper nodded in agreement, demanding more kisses until they both looked flushed and happy. I watched them with an amused smile. When it seemed like they might be a teeny bit aware that the rest of the world existed again, I smiled at them.

"Congratulations," I murmured.

Viper grinned at me. "Thanks! … I think it's long past time I brought my ***fiancé*** back to his world. I'll probably be gone for a few hours, but then I plan to come back, and if you don't mind, I'd really like to bring my kids on holiday with you and the rest of your crew. Not only do I think they need some stress relief, but I need to know that they are FAR away from that woman until she's definitively back in Azkaban."

I nodded in agreement. "Yes. I'm not sure MY kids could fully relax if they were even slightly worried about your kids." Then I sighed. "Which means that I will probably have to bring my siblings along. And more than likely Mac and Phil - who were traumatized by this whole situation as well. Might as well head off to talk to Pippa about planning. See you when you get back."

With a grin that left no doubt about the Viper's plans for the immediate future, he activated the spell to travel back to his world, making him and the Tiger disappear.

I took the time to finish up my email, and now that I have, I have some people to go talk to. If you are still sound asleep when I'm finished arranging things, I might just take advantage of your sleeping body.

Every time I look into your lovely eyes, I see a love that money just can't buy, one look from you, I drift away, I pray that you are here to stay, anything you want, you got it, anything you need, you got it, anything at all, you got it, BA~~BY!  
Draco  
P.S. Pippa has us all scheduled to meet with our Mind Healers before we even THINK about buggering off on holiday.


	201. Chapter 201

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their Mind Healers give them clearance to finish their vacation :-)

Tuesday July 27th  
My Rock,

You let me sleep for 26 hours! Twenty-six! Well, I guess my body needed that after going so long without any sleep. Apparently my pepper-ups aren't quite as powerful as my adrenaline rages. Yikes.

I had a moment when I first woke up, alone in our bed, where I panicked and assumed we were still in crisis. Wondering why I had been able to sleep when Harrison was still missing. Then came the relief of remembering he was home safe and sound. I guess waking up to a bit of terror was worth getting to experience the happiness when I remembered it was all over. Well, the crisis itself is over, but you and I both know the trauma will probably stay with all of us for a while.

As excited as I am to get going back to our tropical paradise, I am a bit nervous that I am going to freak out if I don't have a visual on every child at every moment. At least it's private and I don't have to worry about crowds. The idea of bringing the kids to a market or really any event is enough to give me the panic sweats. The entire plane ride back with the kids while you were here helping look for Harrison, I kept going through all the what ifs if something had happened to our kids while we were halfway across the world. Then again, they did have Muffy with them and she'd annihilate anyone that came close to her kids.

I'm sorry I fell on your head. I didn't leave a bump or bruise or anything did I? I really had every intention of staying awake until the babes woke up for a feed, but my body had other ideas I guess. You either really wanted me to get some sleep or you really were close to waking anyway, you're normally a bit snarly when woken up not on your own terms.

Speaking of sleep, Jaz would be fine anywhere and Zaire is fine as long as he's with Jaz? Are you saying you want to put them in their own room together? But they're so tiny and fragile! We have plenty of room. Er, well, we can enlarge the bed? Fine! Maybe they're ready to leave our bed, and it's probably just as well since the babes are about to outgrow their bassinets and will be coming in to bed with us. But Jaz and Zaire are my babies! Okay, we can talk about making the transition, but if Zaire seems reluctant we table the discussion and wait for a different time.

Since I only saw Harrison's siblings and our Haz reunited with him, how did the rest of the reunions go? I was so worried about getting him back, and definitely worried about how Hazel was taking the blame, that I didn't really pay a lot of attention to how everyone else was dealing. But now that I've had sleep and am able to look back on the last few days, Viona has seemed off to me. I know she's more likely to confide in you, has she said anything to you?

Maybe her mind healer will get it out of her. Merlin only knows what Katja is going to get out of me. She should be here in a half an hour or so, and I'm quite nervous. I know she's going to reprimand me about letting my sleep go all to hell. What? One of my Kids was missing! The worst part is she won't actually reprimand me, she's just going to listen and then her eyes will go all soft like she's disappointed in me and that is so much worse! I think I'm going to have her help me with my written statement. She's actually helped me on that end before, asking specific questions that make me remember pieces I wouldn't have thought to put into the statement.

What the hell did Kingsley bloody mean? It was more or less what they expected of me?!? They just assumed that when they brought me along to rescue a child that I would throw a bloody tantrum and tear through wards without waiting for official protocol. Hmm, yeah I suppose that's completely on brand for me. That's fair.

Eeeek! Viper and Tiger are having a baby! And getting married! And they're in love! I'm so excited for them! I can't even imagine how hard it's going to be to figure out the technical details though. They live in different universes! But I know for a fact that they will make some gorgeous babies. And the Tiger is smooooooooth; "Are you admitting you love me?" "HOW COULD I NOT?" So sweet and romantic. Not quite as smooth, sweet, and romantic as MY man, but I suppose he's a good second choice.

Ugh, just heard the floo go off. I'm off to emotionally traumatize myself. Wish me luck!

It's your love that makes me feel alive, gives me a place in this world,  
Harry

P.S. Of course Kingsley is half in love with Seph, Her Majesty is perfection!

P.P.S. To be fair, all of our kids are perfection!

 

Wednesday July 28th  
My stability,

After an entire day and a half of mind healing sessions, we've all been given the clearance to go finish our vacation. That means that tomorrow morning (afternoon, whatever), we'll be back on our Island in the Maldives. It also means that tonight is going to be spent with... 34 people on a jet that is only made to fit 20 comfortably, 25 if people don't mind squeezing in a bit. It's a good thing that we've expanded it some already and can easily do so more if necessary.

So yes, that's us, our kids, our support staff and Mr. Lott, the Viper, his kids, Philip and Mac, my brothers and sisters AND PARENTS, and Sirius all on one private Island. Thankfully it's big enough to have a proper resort on it (a small one, but still) if I so desired, thus, we're not likely to be tripping over each other.

I vote we stay on the Island for a solid month, at the very least. But if we feel up to it, we ARE relatively in the area for a visit to Unity Japan. I KNOW we decided against superfluous travel at the moment, but I really think we've both made great strides in our mental health, and that after several weeks basking in the sun, we'll be in the right frame of mind for a Unity visit.

Oh! Speaking of Unity House, sort of, I received a bit of an update on Imogen Hughes. I had Pippa look into her background to ensure that the officials didn't accidentally overlook anything in their investigation. They didn't miss anything, and her step father was able to testify under Veritaserum that he DOESN'T abuse his daughter. Not physically. He does yell at her a lot, and usually about things that have nothing to do with her as he needs to vent his stress from the day, but that it's only on a very RARE occasion that he loses his temper enough to lay hands on her, and just like the event she described, it's not physical abuse. He simply places his hands on her neck in the THREAT of physical abuse, and her mother will take him to task for it, reminding him to stop and get control of himself.

I can't say that it's the SAFEST environment to grow up in, but according to the law, since he is not actually physically abusing her, they have to eventually let her go home. That said, Imogen is being legally required to attend intensive Mind Healing sessions and will remain in Unity House until her Mind Healer can attest that she's no longer suicidal.

Here's where Pippa's report took a bit of an interesting turn. It seems that there's a reason I was apparently channeling Imogen before I was given anything to focus on, and that's... we're cousins. Distant cousins, but still. I suppose even the thin amount of blood we share was enough to activate my, erm… special ability.

See, she's named Imogen Hughes because Hughes is the last name of her birth father - who her mother was married to at the time. Her MOTHER was born a Rosier. Not one directly descended from my Grandmama, but rather descended from one of Grandmama's siblings. I'm not clear on exactly which one yet, and I suppose that it really doesn't matter. Related is related.

Which leads me to a tiny bit of 'bad' news. It seems that my mother was chatting with Grandmama about Imogen and Grandmama has taken it upon herself to go have a chat with Luella Channing - Imogen's mother, Channing is her current married last name. It seems that Grandmama was unaware that her grandniece was married to such a man, and would like to take the opportunity to remind her of the standards that Rosier women have for their men. So...

In any case, I'm going to sign off now and join you in the surprisingly comfortable bed on this luxury jet.

I'll be there 'til the stars don't shine, 'til the Heavens burst and the words don't rhyme, I know when I die, you'll be on my mind, and I'll love you, always,  
Draco  
P.S. Viona had a nightmare that her birth mother did the same thing to her, and I had to assure her that her birth mother knows where she is and is glad that she's safe and happy.


	202. Chapter 202

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are finally able to finish their vacation in paradise :-)

Thursday July 29, 2010

Greetings from beautiful sunny Maldives!

Well, it was beautiful and sunny when we got here, now it's beautiful … moony? … Maldives. The smaller kids have all been put to bed for the night while the older crew have decided to play some midnight beach football. Normally I would be in the thick of it, but I am enjoying being able to watch everyone enjoy themselves. Such a big group of people who've lived in terror for the last week now giggling and running through the sand.

I certainly don't mind spending the next month here, hidden away from the world, in a place that is beautiful and will encourage all of us to feel safe and heal up a bit. I'm just glad that we have a fully stocked kitchen so Siri and Zwei can still get their birthday breakfasts tomorrow! I had a moment of worry when I realized we were leaving before their birthdays, afraid they wouldn't want to be gone on their big day. I had to laugh at myself a bit, oh no they have to spend their birthday on the beach surrounded by family. It's a hard knock life for them.

I'm quite excited to spend my own birthday here. I don't need anything for celebrating, I will just enjoy a perfect day in my favorite type of environment. Although if you really wanted to get me a present, you could take me down to the water and make love to me under the moonlight as midnight hits and it becomes my birthday. You know how I am with my midnight birthday tradition, I can't think of anything more perfect than you filling me as I officially become a year older.

After my extensive mind healing session, having been on these potions for long enough to get their full effects, just being in a beach paradise, and the euphoria I am still feeling from Harrison coming home safe and sound, I think I will definitely be up to visiting Unity Japan while we're on this side of the world. But maybe we should play that by ear? I hate to promise something, and then not feel up to it, and end up breaking a promise or hiding my feelings and forcing myself to do it anyway.

My only concern with staying a full month here and then going to Unity Japan? We have to do Hogwarts shopping for Viona. Our princess is headed off to Hogwarts in just over a month. I know she doesn't need much more than a few books and her robes, but the annual trek to Diagon to prepare for Hogwarts is a tradition. Oh gods Draco, our baby girl is headed to Hogwarts. I know she'll come back all the time, even nightly if she really wants to, but it's going to be so hard without her here every day.

Our Viona is so strong, confident, and brilliant that I think we both forget sometimes that she is still very much a little girl. Earlier today, I found her unpacking and couldn't stop myself from pulling her into my arms and reminding her how much I adore her and how I will never let any harm come to her. She pretty much climbed into my lap and sobbed her entire nightmare in vivid detail to me. By the way, thank you for letting me know about that, I was glad for the heads up. I just held her, rubbed her back, and made soothing shushing noises while she cried.

As her tears tapered off, she wiped off her face and tried to put on her brave Malfoy mask, "Thanks for the hugs Mum-Dah, but I'm fine, I'm not a baby" trying to pull off her best unaffected voice.

I took her beautiful little face and made her look me in the eye, "Viona Skye, you are one of the strongest people I know. You're brilliant and capable, but you will always be my baby. You never have to pretend with me. You've been in my heart since the moment I met you. I'll always be your safe space, you could cry in my arms every day and it wouldn't make you any less fierce or powerful!"

She stuttered out a bit of a choking sob, and gave me her big gorgeous smile. The one that shines out when she's truly happy. I'm so privileged that I get to see this true smile of hers that she hides away too often. My Princess.

I was a bit surprised your parents chose to come with on this trip. It's been a while since we've gone on a group vacation with them. But I have to say I was very relieved to have extra adults on hand. I know this beach is ours and warded to the teeth, but I am still jumpy enough from the recent events that extra adult eyes to watch the children is a welcome addition. I only wish Lainie were staying for longer than just this weekend. I know, she's an adult. She has a thriving business to run, and I'm thrilled she took today and tomorrow off so she could be with the family, celebrate the birthdays, and get some relaxation in before going back to the grind Sunday night.

I have a million more things to say, but I am being summoned to join the game. I do what I must!

All Yours,  
Harry

P.S. I can't wait to hear all about Grandmama's dressing down of Luella Channing and spouse!

 

Saturday July 31st  
My Harry,

Happy birthday, my love.

As requested, I waited until about ten minutes to midnight before dragging you off to this absolutely gorgeous spot near the little waterfall. It was a clearing that received full moonlight. Off to the right, we had the small pool at the bottom of the waterfall for ambiance and a place to lounge if we wanted when we were done.

I had previously ordered Muffy to set up the area with a large cushion - nearly the size of a bed - so that we'd have a comfortable place to lay as we shagged. And bonus, if we fell asleep when we were done, we wouldn't be on the hard ground all night.

Upon arrival, I plopped onto the cushion and pulled you across my lap. Naturally we were already naked. Why would we be wearing clothes in this paradise? With you across my lap, I started the festivities by warming up your fit arse.

I heard your breath catch as my first few strikes were fairly light. I knew that your initial response would be disappointment tempered by the knowledge that I was just teasing and WOULD get harder as I went. In more ways than one, heh heh heh.

I got to the snapping, stinging strokes within about five minutes, your arse already a glorious shade of red and your eyes streaming from cathartic tears. The moment my hand started to protest the abuse, I abruptly flipped you onto the cushion so that I could kiss you very possessively as I fingered you open. Even after our rather sparse shagging lately, we HAVE been married 11 years and your body just knows what to do. It relaxed and opened up almost as easily as possible, seeming to melt as I pushed my fingers into you.

After the bare minimum amount of prep - working you open and filling you with my favorite oil (which I made specifically for the occasion by using scents from the island - such as pineapple and coconut) - before burying myself deep inside you. You made that noise I love, that little sigh that lets me know that you are so happy to finally have me inside you again. At that point, I barely had a chance to move more than twice before the charm on my wand went off to let us know that it was midnight, and thus, your birthday.

I had set a charm to conjure up light based fireworks bursting from my wand, high into the sky, and 'exploding' like real fireworks in giant patterns of bold and bright colors. I could see the reflection of them in your eyes. You were definitely a bit teary, watching the fireworks while I did my best to pound you into the cushion. When the charm ended, you tightened your arms around my neck and pulled me slightly closer for a demanding kiss.

Taking our time because we had all the time in the world, we celebrated your birthday until we just couldn't anymore. I gasped softly as I pumped you full, and then collapsed onto you and held you tight as we enjoyed the bliss and drifted off to sleep. It's now morning - as evidence by the first rays of the sun peeking over the horizon - and for possibly the first time ever, you are still asleep while I am normally dead to the world. I think maybe it's because I am normally up until just an hour or so ago, and so, my body had some residual awakeness to burn through before officially going back to sleep.

In any case, I'm going to sign off now, wake you up so that you can enjoy this magnificent sunrise with me, and then probably go back to sleep, haha.

I know that it might sound more than a little crazy, but I believe, I knew I loved you before I met you, I think I dreamed you into life, I knew I loved you before I met you, I had been waiting all my life,  
Draco


	203. Chapter 203

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's always something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigger Warning** This chapter contains one of Draco's visions. It includes ongoing rape and molestation of two minors. If this is something you can't read, feel free to either skip this chapter or stop reading when Draco says, "With my mini mental health break over …"
> 
> So right after I sent my last email (of the last chapter) to Chrissie a few weeks back, I was like: "We should give our boys a break." And she was like: "My daughter has to have a minor procedure, and somehow Harry being super worried about one of his kids just doesn't fit into the story." So I replied: "So make it fit." So she did, lol ^_^  
> Warning, the boys do NOT get a break in this chapter.  
> But after this one, they sort of do ^_^

Monday August 2nd  
My Own,

If there is any sort of higher power, they are definitely getting off on messing with me.

Seriously, I bring us all to this safe haven. This place where we should be safe from crazy birth mothers hell-bent on abducting the (wrong) child. A place where we should have no girls for River to swoon over. A tropical paradise, days full of beach fun, nights full of midnight shags with the love of my life. A beautiful oasis, untouched by the outside world.

And then our sweet Jaz, goes and injures herself putting sharp debris in her mouth. I figure, what's the worst thing she could put in her mouth? A bug? Some sand? Meh, I get past the ick factor and a bug's just protein! No, she managed to find a piece of plastic that had washed up on the shore. *It's bright colored and right here in the sand, I should just pop this in my mouth!* Now her beautiful little face is all cut up.

Seriously. Fucking muggles and their obsession with bloody plastic. "What's one straw?" said seven billion people. We can't escape it, it's everywhere.

I'm pretty sure baby girl took a year off my life. She does make some noises, she's not mute, but it's so rare that it always takes me a bit by surprise. But I have never heard her make noises like she did today. As far as I could see, she was sitting with her back to me, making sand castles with Zaire and Zwei. Her head a riot of black curls just reaching the top of her turquoise swimsuit. A little mermaid she is. I didn't even take my eyes off her, I was just smiling at the timeless picture she made, when the shrieking started.

She turned her little head in a panic, obviously searching out one of us, and I saw blood running from her mouth. You and I both flew into action, running to her as fast as we could, but before we got to her, she tried pulling the plastic out of her mouth. Good plan in theory, but she ended up cutting up her little fingers and leaving some scrapes on her cheeks as well.

I've taken quite a bit of first aid courses. I had some very basics given to me while the war was still going on, that's just a given. I took a few courses when we first opened Unity House, anyone caring for that many little ones needs some training. I've kept up on renewing the training every few years. But even if I never went to another orphanage or school for the rest of my life, having this many children it just makes sense to know how to patch them up well enough to get them to a proper healer.

But none of my training has ever focused on healing it nicely. When there's a gushing head wound, the last thing you're really concerned with is making the closure pretty. But Jaz's wounds weren't gushing or life threatening, just panic inducing. And we were talking about her face and her hands. I'm not sure if you knew this, but I happen to have some facial scarring and I don't love it. I'd rather her avoid obvious scarring on her face.

So we decided that one of us should take her to the closest wizarding healer to have them stitch up her face, hopefully with enough dittany to avoid any memory of this incident. WE also decided that you would be the best choice to bring her since you have a fabulous Malfoy mask while I have a "panicked father who may or may not have a rage halo if you look at my baby wrong." WE thought it best for me to stay behind with the rest of the kids and keep everyone calm. WE think that may have been a terrible plan.

Anyway, much better plan, as soon as you get back and I can see my baby girl is alright, your father and I are going to get utterly smashed. It's been far too long since I've thrown any back with the old father in law.

Bring my baby back to me,  
Harry

 

Monday August 2nd  
My dearest Harry,

This was definitely a case of me pulling on a bit of my Malfoy mask to get through a mini crisis. You saw the surface effects and assumed that you were too panicky to do the necessary healing in a 'pretty' way. I - on the other hand - have just a little bit more finesse in my healing spells. I *could* have done the basic healing needed in a 'pretty' manner - or at least pretty enough that a better healer could have fixed it if necessary.

That said, I do not have the training or skills necessary to go in and remove a foreign object that was actively causing damage in a safe way. So, I encouraged you to stay home with the rest of the kids so that I could rush our baby girl to the nearest Wizarding Hospital. Lucky for us, enough Wizarding families holiday in the Maldives that there's actually a small Healer's office in the local muggle clinic.

I Apparated us straight there as Pippa had done the necessary safety research and knew that it was probably the closest place. The next closest place being the southern tip of India or Sri Lanka. In any case, the Healer is exceptionally gifted, and despite me being more than a little panicky myself, was able to capably and adroitly handle the situation. Actually, it seems our girl is not the only child who had mistakenly swallowed debris that had washed up on otherwise pristine island shores.

So here's what happened. Jasmine found a jewel colored plastic Christmas tree that was already nearly broken in half. It was about the same size as a biscuit, and she must have thought that it was a pretty biscuit because she put it in her mouth and tried to take a bite of it, cutting her mouth and cheeks in the process, which triggered a gasp of pain, thereby inhaling the 'smaller' top portion of the tree. At the same time, she instinctively tried to pull the bigger bottom portion of the tree back out of her mouth and cut her fingers and more of her face in the process.

The plastic is remarkably glass like, sharp and thicker than say a disposable plastic cup. If it had been thinner or more flexible, it's entirely possible that it would have crumpled in a way when she inhaled a gasp, that it would have blocked her entire throat and choked her. I suppose that fortunately, it being rather rigid meant that it didn't block the entire air passage, so... silver lining?

In any case, I was instructed to hold Jaz on my lap and croon to her soothingly as the Healer magicked the bit still stuck in her throat out, and then healed all the tearing and other damage up. The end result is every bit as pretty as you hoped for. You can't even tell anything happened. There's no scarring and the offending foreign object was promptly vanished.

Side note, if you haven't already thought of it, I'm going to have the kids practice their summoning charms when I get back, so that they can gather up all debris washed up on the island, and possibly from the surrounding ocean for at least a few meters, and then have it all vanished so that OUR island - at the very least - should be safe from this sort of thing happening again during our stay.

The moment our girl was good as new, the Healer wanted to do a basic checkup/scan to ensure that there wasn't a bit that had broken off and gone into the stomach to cause more problems - or even just lodged lower down in the throat.

I was suddenly feeling queasy. I felt like I might not JUST lose my lunch, but also all my shit completely. So, I asked for the Mediwitch to hold Jaz for the Healer, saying and signing to Jaz that I needed to go to the loo real quick and would be back in a few minutes. Jaz was nearly the most adorable she's ever been, signing to me: "Hurry back, love you!"

The Healer and Mediwitch were impressed by the fact that she could sign - and thus communicate - at such a young age. They assumed that we had simply taught her because we wanted to try it, but I quickly explained that she's deaf before heading off to the loo. 

So anyway, in the loo, I did my business, then took a few deep breaths and used some of my occlumency skills to center myself. I also took a few drops of my mood boosting potion to counteract the feeling of panic that was getting stronger now that the mini crisis was actually over. After about two minutes of calming breaths, the potion kicked in and I felt better.

With my mini mental health break over, I calmly walked back toward the Healer's office. On the way, I literally ran into a box. I suppose that I was paying more attention to my thoughts than where I was going, because the box wasn't exactly small. It was being carried toward a door labeled morgue, but had been set down temporarily so that the men delivering it could chat with the receptionist in charge of accepting the delivery. Also, a curious doctor and the Coroner had come to listen into the chatting.

I wasn't paying any attention to any of this, until I ran into the box. At that point, I gasped as a feeling just a tiny bit like having a Dementor passing me by came over me. I'd swear that even the corridor got cold and my breath came out as a visible puff of fog.

"An excited couple is opening the box, talking about all the different possibilities for their future child. Will he be a footballer? Will she be a dancer? A doctor? They pull a crib out of the box and set about assembling it. Suddenly, the scene changes, the box has been set on the curb and a furtive woman who keeps looking around as if expecting someone to be following her has grabbed the box. She carries it away because even though it looks large and heavy, it's made out of a sturdy cardboard that is lightweight.

"When she gets back to her home - I can only assume - she sets the box in her kitchen and prepares it so that she can put something in it. Then she turns and - !" I gasped again and covered my stomach with one hand as I covered my mouth with the other. "Picks up the battered body of a boy looking... oh... 5 or 6? And dumps him in the box. Then she struggled a bit as she carried the box to a cart of some sort, taking some time to hastily put just enough tape on the top that it won't blow open in a breeze. After that, she pulls the cart along until she reaches an empty field, and then... shoves the box off the cart before rushing away. In her rush, she doesn't notice that a man's hat has fallen out of her pocket. It's rather distinctive - a fashionable gray and black slouch hat..."

Finally, the vision let go of me and I was able to look up to see about a half dozen people staring at me in astonishment.

"That's... That's..." one of the delivery men was sort of shaking his finger at the box. He pulled a plastic evidence bag out of his pocket to hold up the hat I had just described.

"The box WAS found in a field, and it DOES have a little boy in it. There's no way you could know that unless you had been there," the other delivery person (who, now that I was looking at him, was wearing a police uniform) said with a soft growl.

I shook my head and held up my hands as if surrendering. "My name is Draco Malfoy, I'm currently on holiday with my husband and our kids - plus my parents, siblings, and our support staff. I'm here today because one of my daughters nearly swallowed a bit of sharp debris while playing on our beach. I've never seen this box before in my life, but that said, I HAVE helped the local authorities in London solve a few cases in the past by getting, erm… visions... of the event. I understand why you probably don't believe me, but once I collect my daughter, I will be more than happy to cooperate with you if you should decide to take me into custody until you have a chance to verify my story and rule me out as a suspect."

See, in any other modern country, I probably would have been disbelieved or mocked. I probably would have been arrested until I could be proven innocent. Or at least questioned. But this is a small country very near to some major spiritual centers, and so, they actually didn't have that hard of a time believing me. They decided to test me instead.

The doctor handed me a ring from his pocket, saying nothing as I looked at it curiously.

"This is the wedding ring of a woman - an elderly woman who had apparently smoked her entire life and came in with advanced Emphysema, she was made comfortable, but nothing could really be done for her. She passed relatively peacefully about an hour ago," I said as images passed through my mind.

The doctor nodded. "He describes it exactly."

"What does the woman look like?" The Officer asked sternly.

I closed my eyes and let her image grow stronger. "Erm... her skin looks to be on the lighter side for someone with Indian heritage. She has light brown eyes and her skin has become thin and spotty with age. Her hair is a combination of thick black mixed with thinner and whispier strands of pure silver, and it was braided, reaching about her mid back."

"That's also exactly correct," the doctor murmured

The Mediwitch who had been entertaining Jasmine came up behind us, having decided to bring Jaz to look for me in case I'd gotten lost. She didn't know what was going on, but knew that there were a few members of the staff and an Officer involved at the very least. Smiling, she must have decided to act like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

"There you are, Mr. Malfoy. Your adorable baby started insisting we look for you, as far as we could tell."

I raised a brow as I wondered why Jaz hadn't just apparated to me, but maybe it's because I'd promised to be right back. In any case, she was holding her arms out to me insistently. I took her and rubbed my noses with her.

She signed: "Okay daddy?"

I nodded. "More or less," I replied both out loud and by signing awkwardly with one hand since she was in my left arm on my hip.

"Love you," she signed before kissing me, making me feel a little melty and ready to purr like a cat.

As I had been paying attention to her, the Officer reached into the box and carefully pulled the little boy's hand out just enough to touch me - as I was still nearly touching the box, having not really moved away from it. I was not prepared for this at all, having never actually touched the victim's body during any of my previous work.

Once again, I gasped as I was overcome by an intense vision. I felt like I was a formless being floating in a vast abyss while watching the events unfold.

"The little boy is very upset and a little angry as he watches his father accept a white envelope from a woman. The father says: 'Thank you. It eases my mind to know that my son will be cared for by a devoted mother.' There's a little girl in a car - a small blue car that I can't see the front or back of in order to see the plates - but I have a good view of the girl, and she had just winced and looked away at those words.

"The woman smiles at the man reassuringly. 'After having my daughter, I was never able to have more children, so I am happy that you were desperate enough to sell your son to me.' The man looks a bit torn, turning to pull his hat off and put it on the boy's head. 'He's my youngest, and we've NEVER had enough money to properly feed all of them. Not only will you feed him and care for him properly, but the money you're paying me for him will help us buy a few necessities for our other children. This is the best thing for everyone.'

"The woman places a gentle hand on his arm and nods. 'It is' Then she gestures for the man to give her the boy, which he does by picking him up, kissing him goodbye, whispering something I can't quite hear but I THINK is: 'Be happy,' and then hands him over to his new mother. The woman carries him to the blue car, opens the door, and sets him down next to the girl. The girl sighs in resignation slips her hand into the boy's, and says nothing as she looks away. The boys seems to take comfort from the gesture, and I can feel his fear and uncertainty.

"The vision changes, and I can't be certain how long has passed, but I get a sort of overview of her giving him something to eat, giving him a bath, trimming his nails, cutting his hair neatly, and just generally taking care of him. The girl watches with a wary expression that is also relieved. She seems genuinely happy that her mother has someone else to fuss over, but then there's a sense of guilt too, as if she feels bad for being happy.

"The vision changes again, and I get the feeling that a bit of time has passed. The girl is sitting naked in a corner, holding herself and rocking in a way that screams of trauma and coping. The boy is also naked and fighting desperately as the woman molests him atrociously, but the more he fights her, the more angry she gets. She's now retaliating by hitting him. Beating him. Groping him and trying to get him into a position that is easier for her to, erm…" I trail off with a shrug, not quite sure what is the best term for the situation.

"Suddenly, he breaks free and she leaps on him, knocking him to the floor. It seems to be unintentional, but he's hit his head on something. I *think* that might be the cause of death. It... it takes her a bit to realize that he's stopped fighting. And then it takes her a bit longer to realize why. She panics a bit, and I'm not certain, but I think she thinks that whatever is wrong can be 'fixed' with some tender loving care because she's frantically bathing and giving him another light haircut. Grooming his nails, and desperately begging him to wake up..."

I sighed in relief as the vision faded "She's left him on the floor of the kitchen as she rushes off, muttering about needing to find a box, and so, I think I've come full circle."

The Officer - just like any well trained officer - promptly asked me a few questions to clarify details, and I answered him the best I could. The doctor and Coroner had a few workers move the box into the morgue, and disappeared for a few minutes to do a basic initial examination. They came back to say that - while they couldn't be certain without a full autopsy - early evidence suggested that I've basically described the boy as he is - down to a bit of cut hair sprinkled across him - as would happen in a hasty haircut.

With as much detail as I could possibly give, the Officer smiled at Jaz, tickled her cheek, and told me that I should bring her back to the rest of her family - who were probably quite worried about her. I agreed, especially since I had already given him my details should he come up with any more questions for me - as is actually required, otherwise I think I would have simply not replied.

In any case, I found a private spot and Apparated back to you. Then I gave you our adorable daughter, kissed you, told you the base details of what the Healer had done for her, and then told you that I needed a quick mini break - and I did, but mostly, I wanted to write all of this down so that you'd have a chance to read it and think it over before we start fighting about me acting like an Auror again.

I SWEAR I didn't do it on purpose! If I had known what was in that box, I would have given it a wide berth. I'm actually rather traumatized by the whole thing and will be calling Yesenia to have a quick chat with her about it.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, when you're not happy, my skies are gray,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are curious, Here's where I got my inspiration for today's email: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnxfuvRHKDk


	204. Chapter 204

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry reassures Draco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aside from a quick discussion of the vision from the previous chapter, there shouldn't be any triggers. And if you skipped the last chapter because of possible triggers, this little recap will let you know what you missed.

Tuesday August 3rd  
Be Calm My Love,

Hey, hey, hey, I believe you. I've seen you react to an unexpected vision. And while this one will obviously not have a good outcome, one of my biggest blessings came from one of your first visions. I couldn't live without my River, I will never wish away your gift.

And it got us to a place where we could find Gorman to save Harrison. Again, wouldn't have changed that for anything.

I read and re-read your email multiple times, partially to see if there was anything my gut could figure out just from the details of your visions. But also because I could read the panic and wanted to see just what seemed to be bothering you. And from what I can tell, you are beside yourself with worry over me thinking you had intentionally joined an investigation.

Again I say: I believe you!

I appreciate you taking my feelings so seriously, but there are only two parts of your visions I've ever had an issue with. I didn't like you doing it when you were pregnant because it did use up quite a bit of magic and with carrying twins and you being someone who loses a lot of magic with pregnancies I was worried it would be detrimental to your health. And when you've been suffering from PPD or PTSD I didn't like the way it seemed to hurt you mentally. So, if you have been working hard on your mental health, keeping up your appointments with Yesenia, and stopping when you're feeling the drain? I will never get mad at you for having these visions. Especially if they're accidental!

But I really, absolutely, one hundred percent, need you to continue being honest with me. So long as you tell me, preferably beforehand when they're not accidental, I will never complain about you using your gift to help others. Truly.

Okay, now that that's over with … Our baby girl didn't just have the one piece? She had more lodged in her little teeny tiny throat? Silver lining my arse! More like a plastic lining! I'm honestly so glad I was reading this email from you as I was actually rocking Jaz to sleep. It helped keep the heart attack at bay having her breathing so sweetly in my arms.

I was re-reading your reaction to her love and affection, and I know exactly what you mean about her making you all melty. She has such a beautiful little heart. She's soothing to my soul. There's just something about her, her little smile is a soothing balm on any of my pain. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she were to be particularly good at healing magics. Can you imagine her as an adult, that same smile that's a ray of sunshine, helping care for the sick and injured? As always, my children can do whatever fulfills them, I will not push them to be or do anything other than what they feel called to do, but I secretly think Jaz would be amazing in a healing setting.

So you're currently napping, apparently panicking over our daughter's safety, apparating all over the place, and having multiple horrifying visions is exhausting. Who'd have thought? While you've been asleep I did take the older kids out to the beach, set up a magical net of sorts between them and the water, and had them summon the debris. I want to vomit there was so much. People are the worst Draco. Although we didn't vanish them. I was a bit worried that in my haste to rid our island of the plastic garbage I would end up accidentally sending them somewhere they would cause harm.

I've heard of them a few times, but maybe we should create one of those elaborate sculptures made of plastic garbage. You know, they look like some beautiful sea creature to expose the viewer to the idea of exactly who the plastic is harming.

Speaking of something being harmed, I cannot get this case of the poor little boy in the box out of my head. And unlike when you've solved cold cases where the ultimate goal is closure, it sounds like there is a very real little girl being harmed by this vile creature. You speak so beautifully, you paint pictures with your words. And when you are describing beautiful things, like my birthday celebrations, or loving interactions with our children, I love being able to see your thoughts in vivid detail. But now, I can't get the image of a scared, naked, girl cowering in a corner. We need to find her and get her help!

The image of that crib box. A box that started out with hopeful parents putting something together for the beginnings of a new life being used as such a disrespectful resting space for a child whose life was snuffed out. It's horrible. Phew, maybe I need to set up a magi-skype session with my own mind healer!

I think I will do exactly that!

Loving you,  
Harry

 

Friday August 13th  
My beautiful husband,

Aside from the day Jaz accidentally swallowed some sharp plastic, our time here has been perfect. Calming. Soothing. Full of sunshine. We have all played hard and basked in the sun even harder. I really feel like my life couldn't be more wonderful if I tried.

My parents and siblings took off with our jet (and Mr. Lott to fly it, of course) yesterday because we're going to Japan for a few days. Mr. Lott will naturally get a few hours of rest after dropping my parents off, but then he will come right back here to fly us to Japan. He should be here sometime tonight.

We're going to do a two day visit to Unity Japan and then maybe do a little (or a lot) of shopping to stock up on any manga or anime we've missed. I think it would be interesting to get us all Yukatas.

After that, we're returning home to do Viona's Hogwarts shopping. Yes, despite our best efforts, time keeps moving forward and our baby girl will be leaving us in just a couple of weeks.

But before any of that, it seems the local authorities have just arrived.

-

Oh, well that's good news then. They were only stopping by to tell me that they found the boy's actual father, and so, he knows what happened to his son. I'm not certain that was the best thing for them, after all, they had believed that their son was safe and happy in a loving woman's care, and now they have to confront the reality that their actions directly led to his death.

The Coroner was able to determine that the boy DID die of head trauma, and so, it was probably accidental as I described - and yet, ALSO sort of involuntary murder as the boy wouldn't have died if the woman hadn't been molesting him and making him fight her off. It's complicated and I'm entirely relieved that I don't have to be involved in the process at all from this point.

The sad part is that the boy's father never knew the woman's real name. I guess she went by an alias along the lines of Mama Hope. Because of this, all they really have to go off of is the physical description he gave of her - which matched the one I had originally given as part of my vision. Right down to the blue car with the girl in it.

They're going to keep looking, but at this point, a fair amount of luck will have to be involved in actually finding her.

I've been happy our entire stay here, but this visit has me a little off balanced, so I'm going to take a mini health break before searching you out and shagging under the ocean again before the sun goes down.

Once upon a time ago, the Goddess of Love removed the hearts from half of the population and put them in the chests of the other half. YOU are the one who received my heart and I trust you to always keep it safe,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this, Harry references making a statue out of all the plastic and debris that they found on and around their 'pristine' island. This is what he was talking about: https://www.boredpanda.com/beach-waste-sculptures-plastic-overuse-washed-ashore/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic&fbclid=IwAR3bjIwFxb20D69G4S2RIZ80Nneb7zmxxnYq356jwmjLeLtw0GuzPy1l2i4


	205. Chapter 205

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys decide to go to Japan for a couple of days before going home.

Saturday August 14th  
My Understanding Man,

I'm sorry, I really was hoping that after the relaxation that seemingly seeped into my pores over the two weeks, that I would be completely up to a fun trip to Japan for a few days.

Nope. We landed and were almost immediately surrounded by people. Crowds getting to our house, people at the airport, even the very sweet caretakers that had been watching the house for us since we last stayed here, it was just too much for me.

I hope you and the big kids have an amazing time shopping until you drop. And if you see one that looks like me, please get me a yukata? Summer is almost over, but there is always next year and warming charms. I'm sure I can put it to good use.

Maybe I should be taking mini health breaks too. It seems like whenever you pop off to the loo you come back so much calmer. Not quite as lit up as usual, but most definitely calmer. I certainly feel worlds better than I did when everything came crashing down around me. I feel like I was looking at my entire life through fogged up glasses. Now that they're not so foggy, things are much better because I can see the many amazing things in my life much clearer, but the downside is certainly being able to see some of the negative pieces clearer as well.

One of those negatives being our River. I know I was kind of aiming all of my annoyance at his behavior in your direction. Definitely frustrated that you seemed to be amused by his antics instead of concerned for his emotional well-being. But really, I'm so beyond terrified of what this means for our boy. I know everyone develops at their own pace. But his behavior is well above age level. We can't seem to pin this on a magi-creature inheritance and he won't stop no matter how much I beg. Why is he making the decisions he does?

Snogging and a little groping would be slightly precocious, normal activity. Going down on multiple girls? Most of whom are emotionally damaged and healing from trauma? What if I've been looking at my sweet boy with parent goggles and he has something truly wrong with him? He's obsessed with girls to the point of leaving family events multiple times to snog random strange girls? There's something seriously wrong with that Draco! I think as soon as we get home maybe we need to get him a full psychiatric evaluation.

Or maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. According to your spying, he's claimed to not be ready for sex, he doesn't seem concerned with getting himself off, he's seemingly only concerned with making her feel good. He's chosen damaged girls, and wants to make them feel good. He's training to be a masseur because his greatest wish is to make people feel good. Maybe he's not a sociopath in training, maybe he's a little masochist in training. Tiny little boy with a traumatic early childhood event that ended in the death of his mother, now with an unchecked hero complex.

Love, I am pretty sure this is your area. You need to help him with learning self care. He can't continue down this sexual path. He's too young. He's going to end up hurt. He's going to end up with some untreatable disease, murdered by some girl's angry parent, or becoming a father much too young. Possibly more than once. He needs to learn that it's not his place to try to make everyone on the planet happy and fixed.

I know our parenting stance on being completely open and upfront about sex, always saying it is normal and positive, appropriate sex ed, body positivity, and our adamant stance against body shaming may have come around and bitten us in the arse. I'm not saying we went about it the wrong way. I firmly believe our take on sex ed is the right one. But River might need something a little extra; a discussion about how making someone happy sexually is very rarely the right way to make someone feel loved and safe. Especially girls who have been damaged sexually like some of his more notable girlfriends.

And now I am thoroughly worked up. Upset and crying, but also kind of hopeful. I really do think I'm right and now that I know his intent, maybe we really can stop this before it hurts him.

I'm going to climb into bed with the babies and take a nap. If I'm still asleep when you get back with all of the big kids come kiss me awake?

Love,  
Your Harry

 

Sunday August 15th  
My life,

When I first read your email, it reminded me of something, but since I was in the middle of shopping, I forgot again. Funnily enough, since everything was the same in the Viper's world until the Final Battle, it means that his vaults full of money still work over here. He was always too busy trying to hide his kids and live a simple life to truly spend a lot of his money, and now that he's found stability for them, he's bringing money from his world to ours to buy them the things they need, and occasionally the things they don't NEED.

Such as souvenirs from Japan. You should have HEARD him complain about how expensive everything is! It was hilarious in my opinion because he would be like: "No Del, you can't have that because it's 144 THOUSAND!" And she would pout: "Oh but daddy! That's only like 100 Pounds - the equivalent of about 20 Galleons, which is not expensive at all!"

He'd growl. "100 Pounds or 20 Galleons is plenty expensive for a pair of weird shoes!"

"But they're authentic Japanese wooden sandals!"

You probably won't be surprised to learn that she ended up winning the argument.

Our Divas were beyond excited to see all the cutsey clothing. There are entire lines of clothing bearing cute and puffy characters - like anime or cartoon characters, but not exactly. Also unsurprising is the fact that they pulled out their sketch pads and drew up a multitude of possible character and outfit designs. This part actually probably saved us about a thousand galleons, since they were so into drawing that they forgot all about buying, hahaha.

That said, I did find Yukatas for both of us. Our bigs each found ones they liked, including Siri and Zwei. I bought a smaller Yukata that matched theirs, knowing that Zaire would probably love the fact that it was just like his big brothers'. Lastly, they had the most adorable cherry blossom Yukata in Jaz' size. I didn't buy tiny Yukatas for the babies only because they had the same patterns and prints on onesies instead. You know how much of a sucker for adorable onesies I am!

After shopping for a few hours, everyone naturally got hungry, so we found an amazing outdoor Hibachi. I ordered things for me that probably would have turned your stomach. For example, they had unagi. I can't recall if I've ever had it before, but I liked it. Feeling bad that you were at home with the five youngest, I made sure to order you all your favorites - well, the babies don't have favorites yet, and can't even eat solid foods, but you know what I mean.

Bringing your food home after we finished eating (don't worry, I put a stasis charm on it), you were already awake, but I pretended you weren't. You were reclining across the couch holding Caelum while the girls lay on the floor next to you with Jaz holding their hands and playing baby games with them. Zaire was a few feet away playing with his train.

As I was saying, I pretended that you were still asleep by coming over, carefully climbing onto you (without squishing our son), and giving you a sweet and tender wake up kiss. You purred happily, looking better than you had earlier. Then I gave you your dinner, asking Viona and River to help Jaz and Zaire sit at the table and eat. Eri, Ori, and Haz took the babies to play games like peek-a-boo and stinky feet.

This left me with nothing better than to keep on kissing you. Until I remembered that your email had reminded me of something important. Sitting properly on the couch, I pulled you into my side and kept an arm around you as I summoned something.

"In your email, you mentioned that we should have River evaluated, but we've already done that; remember? At the beginning of the Ananda fiasco, we had him talk to Wendy, and she gave him an eval at that point. When she handed it over, we decided that it wasn't as important to read it at that point in time - as it *could* be construed as an invasion of his privacy - as it was to simply follow Wendy's recommendation on how to handle the situation. But now it sounds like a good time to read the report, yeah?"

"Yeah," you murmured, giving me a kiss.

I held up the report and read it, and it was nearly word for word what you had said in your email. That River has an almost compulsive need - probably due to previous traumatic experiences - to make people happy. He's not necessarily willing to sacrifice his own happiness to do so, but he is very keen on helping those that have *messy* lives. Wendy hypothesizes that he is attracted to girls who have been traumatized because he can instinctively relate to it.

She then went on to give a very brief and general overview of how the fact that he was born on the cusp of Pisces and Aries gives him the caring and nurturing aspects of Pisces, and the headstrong go get 'em attitude of an Aries. He is actually an Aries, which makes him bolder and more likely to go for what he wants. His precocious tendencies MIGHT actually be because of this cusp because he has the loverly aspects of Pisces and the 'go out and do everything first!' aspect of Aries.

Wendy even speculates on the possible Hero Complex by saying that it's not surprising if he has some of the signs of that complex as his biggest rolemodels are the type to do whatever it takes to help those in need. (Ugh, she's talking about us, isn't she? Sigh...)

We can ask her (you're messaging her as I write this, haha), but I think that she might say that it's NOT that River is mistaking making people happy (and giving pleasure) for love and safety, but rather doing what he feels he can and is comfortable with to help people be happy. Even if only for a few minutes at a time.

You know… he might have a bit of a point. NOT about the precocious and alarming behavior, but about wanting to make people happy in small ways, even if only for a little while. It's sort of impossible to make everyone (or even just someone) happy all the time. Maybe it really IS better to do little things.

But now I seem to be confusing myself because I know he is willing to do bigger things too - such as help Ananda raise her baby, if she hadn't broken up with him. Did we send him the wrong message by insisting that he couldn't do one big thing to help one person be happy? Did WE make him think he was better off doing lots of smaller things instead???

MERLIN AND SALAZAR! I think I just hurt my brain!

I'm going to sign off now and focus on kissing you, since that is a bunch of little things that make ME inordinately happy.

Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose,  
Draco  
P.S. I haven't had to take a lot of mini mental health breaks - or at least not while we were on the Island. But I will admit that I've taken a few since we left. One on the plane as it suddenly felt too noisy and chaotic after about half an hour, and one when we got 'home' in Japan because I could see (and feel) how jittery you were getting and it was making me a little jittery too.


	206. Chapter 206

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're home and the babies are three (and four) months old.

Tuesday August 17, 2010

My Heart,

I can feel the relief, the weight coming off my shoulders, the tightness in my chest loosening with every minute on this plane headed home. I definitely enjoyed the relaxation of our island stay. Our trip to Japan was mostly me just hiding in our old house, but even the few hours spent at Unity Japan were without any stress, so it was a lovely short trip. But my entire body seems to know we're headed for home. Where it's comfortable and right. Where there's a pattern and routine. To the place where I feel most like myself.

It's funny to me that you apologized for leaving me with the five youngest while the rest of you went out shopping. Um, no crowds, five sweet faces, comfy pants while I snuggle up on the couch? Yeah, you should be ashamed of yourself. You goofball, that's my happy place! Hmm, snuggling babies or watching you eat weird seafood concoctions? Yeah, I made the right choice. But I will say, when I'm not pregnant it doesn't really turn my stomach, just makes me glad I don't have the same tastebuds you do!

All these trips were certainly worth it though. Seeing those three little boys in their matching Yukatas? And little Jaz in her perfect little cherry blossom one? I could just cry with how adorable they all were. Maybe the next time we do family pictures we can make sure to get a few pictures of them at the same time?

I talked about this with your mum a bit, but I'm actually not sure if we mentioned it to you. We're going to have a little going away celebration the weekend before the Hogwarts kids head out. So, I have already contacted Julia and she's going to come do a family portrait session with us. We have some snapshots from events and the MMM's but we don't have an actual planned picture of our complete family. Now that the babes are a bit older, not quite so fragile, I am ready for a full session with them in it. Now just to decide on outfits!

Oh, another thing, I guess I hadn't realized how many mental health mini breaks you'd been taking. More than once in the same day? I'm so sorry that my own jittery behavior made things hard on you. I'd offer to keep it in and try to keep you from seeing it, but we all know how well me hiding my emotions went the last time. I think the best thing for me would be an entire night with you in our play room. I had my birthday spankings, which were so needed and appreciated, but I could use a night of thorough ownership. I think I'll feel more grounded with a near constant reminder of who I belong to.

I can just picture how settled I would feel if every time I sat down, I could feel stripes across my arse from the night before. Maybe even a plug you ordered me to wear. And as much as I don't really like it, if you also forced me into the cage for the day? Wow, I can feel my entire body relaxing just thinking about it. Please Master? I'm pretty sure I need everything you're willing to give me.

I'm really so happy that kissing me makes you so happy, it works out quite well since kissing YOU makes ME inordinately happy! We're a perfect match!

And you know what, I think I am going to go search you out and get some of those mindblowing kisses.

Completely Yours,  
Harry

P.S. I can't believe I forgot we already had an official evaluation on River. Can you tell my brain has been on a flood of depressed chemicals this last year? Can't even remember something that important. Thank all the Gods for these potions that are clearing that nonsense out of my system!

 

Thursday August 19th  
The best husband in the world,

Our adorable babies are 3 months old today. Well, two of them are three months and the other is just a hair shy of four months. We spent the 'morning' snuggling them, feeding them, kissing them, blowing on their belly buttons, and just generally enjoying the fact that they are in the stage where they're awake and happy a bit longer at a stretch, and yet still too little to just crawl away or get into mischief.

As the youngest members of a very large family, I have a feeling that they are going to grow up even MORE mischievous than Siri and Zwei. They'll probably get away with murder - short of literal murder - if that makes sense.

But then it was afternoon and Molly and Arthur arrived to take the babes for their allotted babysitting. Molly seemed quite put out with us that we'd stayed in the Maldives for 'entirely way too long, imagine! 21 days without seeing my grandbabies!'

I will admit that our babies are blessed to have such adoring grandparents on both sides. Honestly, I think we probably should have implemented this rotation of having them take the babies for a few hours a couple of days a week way back when the first set of almost triplets were little. I mean sure, they were always watched when we needed it, but seeing how these ones are truly bonding with their grands, I wonder if we slowed or delayed or prevented such deep bonds by insisting on doing all of the work of watching them ourselves.

And just when my PPD made me spiral down into self doubt about this, I remembered - all on my own - that we actually moved out of the country, and thus, they wouldn't have been ABLE to babysit like this. THEN I wonder if our parents resent us just a little for keeping the kids away for so long. And that led to another mildly panic inducing spiral that I was able to derail by taking a simple shower thinking about you in a very hands on way.

You are currently in the garden with my mother, but I saved the finale of my thoughts in the shower for you, so, I'm going to have Muffy deliver an engraved invitation to meet me in the playroom for a bit of vigorous exercise. If we have any energy left when we're done - provided we still have time before the babies come home - I say we go dancing in the ballroom.

See you soon!

You are the perfect drug,  
Draco  
P.S. I just got an insta-owl from Aya letting us know that she's keeping River until Monday so that he can focus on his training that he's had to let slide while we were on Holiday.


	207. Chapter 207

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry was having a lovely day with Narcissa, and Draco is excited because the potions are ready.

Thursday August 19th  
My Own,

I was definitely having a lovely afternoon in the garden with your mum. The sun was shining, it was plenty warm but not so warm as to be uncomfortable. She and I were chatting about nonsense. I was missing you as I always do when you're not in my arms, but I'm pretty used to that. I was thinking life was pretty perfect.

Then I got an invitation to a playroom party and I realized life could get even better.

I am so glad your libido is finally back. I will love you beyond the end of time Draco Lucius Malfoy. If your bits fell off tomorrow and we never shagged again, I would still be madly in love with you and that would be enough for me. I would become quite good friends with my right hand and one of my rubber friends from our pre-relationship days, but it would be enough for me. But you know as well as I do, that passion, physical expressions, and hell I'll just say it, down and dirty shagging, has always been such a huge part of our relationship. It seems as though when we have times of less physical intimacy, we end up in a wonky place emotionally.

Wow, I just used a lot of words to say I like shagging you.

But going straight from shagging to holding each other while we danced around the ballroom was probably just as important to me. I love when you guide me across the room. Singing love songs in my ear. I feel safe and loved and like I'm exactly where I belong.

And then we went and picked up our three month and almost four month old babes. Molly insisted on sitting us down and filling us with biscuits before she'd let us take off with her grandbabies. You know, I have had all of those same guilty feelings as you have. Did we hurt our children by not having them so near their grandparents? Did we hurt our parents by having their grandchildren so far away? Did we in some way keep them from developing some bond?

But Love, you have to try and look at this logically. Have you ever felt you had a lesser bond with Elena versus Eris? A lesser bond with Viona versus Zwei? You didn't meet Elena until she was eight, almost nine, and we didn't adopt her for months after meeting her. Do you think our bond with her is in some way "less?" Of course you don't. Is there a selfish part of me that wishes we had always had each of our children from the moment they were born? Yes, because I hate knowing there's a part of their life I'm not a part of. But I wouldn't take away Lainie's years with her parents. I'd not take away River's few short years with his mum. I *would* take away Zaire's years with his biological father, but that's more because of the monstrous behavior than anything to do with not bonding with him.

For crying out loud, I didn't even meet my Mum Molly until I was eleven years old, and didn't actually get to know her at all until I was twelve and stayed at the Burrow after my rescue. I love her with my whole heart. There's no lack of bond between she and I. And I would be willing to bet that the only regret she has is not telling Dumbledore exactly where he could shove his plans for keeping me at the Dursleys!

When it comes to your parents, I know they missed us, I know they love having us back at home. But don't you think there was some part of them that enjoyed having a few years to just have their own children at home? To not have to balance between Grandma and Mum in the same conversation. To not have to figure out how to be your Father, your siblings' Papa, and our kids' Grampy Lulu all at the same time. It gave us the chance to figure out who we were as parents and as a couple in our own house with *just* our kids.

And honestly, did we ever go more than six weeks without coming back to visit for at least a long weekend? That's more often than you saw your own parents while we were at Hogwarts!

But it looks like I finally got the last little one all milk drunk and ready to go back to sleep. I love you my Draco.

You're the one that I want,  
Harry

 

Wednesday August 25th  
HARRY!!!

It's ready! IT'S READY!!!

Okay, so, remember that potion that Charlie gave me the notes on that might just be the origins of werewolves? Well, I handed it over to Sebastian and between him, Severus, and me, we tweaked it a few times to see if we could A: fix the original potion, and B: *possibly* fix werewolfism.

Well, even though it actually took a few weeks for me to come up with what I think is the fix - and by this, I mean making the potion work as I intend it - the parts of the brewing that take a long time are waiting for full moons and the like, and so my potion was able to finish brewing faster than the first ones because it was closer to the full moon when it was started. Not important.

The important part is that ALL the versions of the potion are finally finished brewing as the last step in making them occurred last night during the full moon. Sebastian and I added the final ingredients and stirred them until they turned the right colors for each potion. Different ingredients means slightly different colors for most of them.

Okay, here's where things might get a little tricky to understand. The potion that I just referred to as the fix isn't actually the fix. The original potion was technically intended to turn a man into a wolf (not a werewolf) for probably an hour. Sebastian has a couple of potions that he thinks might do exactly that, and thus, are the actual fix to the potion.

What *I* came up with is what Charlie and I talked about, a sort of Polyjuice potion to be used with animal essence instead of human. Which means that MY potion should theoretically be able to turn a person into any animal they want.

The last version of the potions made are all attempts to cure werewolves - if they choose. Or if they are rogue and someone hunts them down. Don't worry, it won't be me.

In all versions of the potion, we cannot be certain they work until... well, until they're tested. To that end, NO, I'm not planning to do it myself. There's no way in hell I want to be stuck as a dog for the rest of my life! That said, if I did happen to be cursed into a dog for the rest of my life, I can now sort of appreciate why Padfoot had so much fun with his tongue at Glastofest. I'd almost certainly still want you, heh heh…

Merlin damnit! I want you RIGHT NOW!!!

But potions first. In order to get the testing out of the way, I'm sending out an advert to the Prophet to run tonight and tomorrow that I am looking for paid volunteers to test experimental potions. The tests will start this Friday and last the weekend - depending on how many people show up. We're currently hoping for at least one volunteer per potion, better if we can get two.

The problem is that the potions intended to possibly cure them is going to be VERY tricky to test unless we can get a few actual werewolves to come forward. Thus, I'm going to try to word the advert so that it says that werewolves are welcome, but without making it sound like we are targeting werewolves in specific. I know that they often can't find jobs and need income, so maybe if I portray it as an equal opportunity - even for werewolves - at least a couple of them will come forward for the money - despite more wary ones not trusting my intentions.

But now that I'm done babbling about my potions to this email, I'm going to find you - probably outside with all the kids (or the younger ones anyway) since it's our day to have the babies - and kiss you and babble to you in person.

OH WAIT!!! I nearly forgot, one of the reasons that we've both been slacking off on writing emails this past week is that the Tiger and his crew were here. Viper had popped off from Japan to return here at his designated time to go get them. Then they were here with just my parents and siblings until we officially got back.

Tiger tells me that he really appreciated the time spent with my parents. Yes, my dad still off balances him, but apparently his mum had also died of pining at some point, and while he feels at peace that her grief and suffering came to an end, he loves having time to simply have tea and chat with my mum since she's definitely far more serene and happy than his mum was.

Also, my dad is practically a different person than his dad was. This is probably because my dad has had years to learn and grow, while his was killed at a point when he was very much the Dark Lord's right hand man. Anyway, when we got back, we did spend a bit of time with them, mainly at dinner, but mostly, we just did our own thing and they did theirs. I think Viper actually took them on a couple of day trips - shopping and the like during the week - but then it was the weekend and we ALL got absorbed in a family dance project.

Alright, I know our family jumps on any excuse to dance and/or sing - like seriously, if someone suggested that Muffy made a new batch of yogurt and that it was an excellent reason to celebrate with song and dance, we'd probably all agree and do it, hahaha - but even so, this was a bit over the top, haha.

It started when Eris sat on my lap and kissed my cheek to butter me up. "Dad, I overheard other Viona tell our Vivi that she thinks we're all full of bull when we say that we know how to firedance."

"Oh?" I questioned with a knowing and amused smirk.

"Yeah, so I think we should all spend the day in the ballroom coming up with a family dance to wow her with," Eris proposed.

I kissed her on the cheek. "That's a brilliant idea. We could even go one step further and TEACH her how to firedance."

Eris looked a tiny bit upset by that and pouted for a second, but then nodded. "Yeah... she could really use someone pulling the stick out of her, erm.. and this would probably be a good way to do that."

So that's how we spent all of Saturday in the ballroom firedancing. We invited Parvati over to help us choreograph something. Now that I've (we've) officially handed the Hogwarts rituals over to Elena and her crew (and then keep missing them, for some reason), I haven't seen Parvati since I was testing the stamina potion. It was nice to see her, and I told her that she has to make it to the next circle dinner.

In any case, firedancing is just easier - and slightly safer - while naked because there are less bits to accidentally catch on fire, and the skin itself is actually fairly fire resistant as well once sweaty. Plus we have charms to prevent minor burns. Thus, we all stripped off. Or well, most of us. Viper was happy enough to join in on the nakedness (as were his kids, who HAVE bathed with us in the onsen, after all), but Tiger, Rosalie, their River, and their Viona looked aghast and nearly ready to faint. None of them stripped off completely, but most of them did take a few layers off until they were basically in shorts and bras for the girls, but simply because it was too hot and sweaty to remain fully clothed for long. Also, Hazel was wearing a swirly skirt, which we charmed to the teeth with anti-fire charms.

Naturally the babies were watching from the arms of their elves, but Jaz and Zaire were trying to participate the best they could (we gave them smaller staves charmed to LOOK like they were on fire). Unlike water - which Zaire finds a bit intimidating unless he is safe in a carrier on one of our backs - he seems to LOVE fire. Probably because he is used to the heat.

By dinner time, we had a routine memorized. We took a break to eat, and then returned to the ballroom to perform the actual dance all the way through. It was glorious! After that, we naturally devolved into heathens simply having a lark by playing with fire, hahaha!

I actually love watching other River and Viona. They both look so uncertain when asked to join in on our madness. Like they're fully thinking that they should attempt to retain their sanity. And then they sort of look like they're softening, as if thinking that since they're in Rome, they should act like Romans. Then they actually manage to lose their inhibitions from time to time. Don't get me wrong, they're still, erm… not quite so wild and abandoned as the rest of us, but having a bit of fun nonetheless.

Then after dinner on Sunday, Viper brought the Tiger and his crew back home. So far, this schedule of theirs in which he's there for a week, they're here for a week, and then the next two visits are weekends, well it seems to be working for them nicely. That said, I have no idea if or how their wedding plans are progressing. I'm sure they talked to you about it, but all I really got was that they were thinking about having a simple ceremony with just their (mostly the Viper's) friends/family as witnesses. Possibly not even that, just going into the Ministry and having Kingsley marry them.

But now that they're gone and I'm going to be a little busy for the next few days - provided anyone shows up for the testing - I'm definitely signing off now to come kiss you, and if the babies just so happen to be napping, maybe I can get away with molesting you too.

You and me together, forever and ever,  
Draco


	208. Chapter 208

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry reminds Draco about something important.

Thursday August 26, 2010

DRACO!!

Merlin, I am glad we have a Pippa. I can completely understand getting so caught up in something important and amazing that you forget about everything else, but you're going to do testing that will run Friday through most of the weekend? Did you by any chance forget about that going away party that your mum has been planning pretty much all summer long? The one that is scheduled for this Saturday? The one that includes the family photo session that I have been planning for weeks? The one that is going to be a big goodbye celebration for your baby girl who is headed off to Hogwarts next week?

Viona will obviously be our second child headed off to Hogwarts, but it will be her first year. Del will also be going for the first time even though she'll be a second year. Tommy and Bel are headed off for the first time as well, having decided they want the Hogwarts experience, although they've both already said that they reserve the right to change their minds at any point after arriving. And then we'll be saying goodbye to your siblings, Eliza will be a fourth year, Sebastian third, Della and Gavin both being second years, Teddy and Victoire will both be second years as well, then Mac who's headed off for sixth year.

Ughhhh, why are so many of my babies leaving me! At least I will have the almost triplets for another year before we have to send them off.

Oh Hell, I have to send three more babies in only one more year! Tell me about that age freezing potion again.

I'm kidding!

Mostly.

Long story short, if you try to weasel your way out of Saturday's party, your mother is going to skin you and turn you into a fashionable handbag. And if you try to get out of our family portraits, I will help her. I could use a new pair of dragonhide shoes!

Ugh, I want to vomit now, I was totally kidding obviously. Dragonhide, unless it's ethically sourced from a natural shedding season or natural death, is basically the most disgusting thing I can think of. And even with those ethically sourced dragon ingredients, things like safety gear, potion ingredients, or even wand cores should take priority. Not someone just thinking they should have some pretty shoes.

Alright I went on another tangent. Good thing I am absolutely positive I'm not pregnant, I'm distracted enough that I would have thought this was pregnancy brain! Don't worry, that is not some deep foreshadowing where I giggle about not being pregnant only to find I've been spiked again. No seriously, I was so worried a moment ago that I did a pregnancy spell; no extra people swimming around in my abdomen!

So, you have all day Friday and all day Sunday to work in the labs with the potion testers, but Saturday you are ours!

Today however, you're ours for something else. Today, you and I are going to take Vivi to Diagon for her Hogwarts shopping. Robes and books and cauldrons. Her wand, which is not quite as exciting when you know she's been perfecting wandless magic for years, but it's a tradition! We'll make obnoxious lovey dovey eyes at each other while we wait for her to be measured at Madame Malkin's. Take her for some ice cream at Fortescue's. Just a perfect Daddies Daughter Day with our Princess!

Before she leaves us forever!

Ok, mind on something else, oooh your potions! Yeah, I know, I can practically hear you complaining "Harry, you already raked me over the coals about Saturday, what else can you possibly say?" What about; I have a contact with a very well connected Werewolf liaison who may be able to find some good candidates for your potions testing? I've had to speak with Laila Marley a few times concerning children who either had werewolf parentage or possible interactions with werewolves during the time period of the full moon. She's brilliant, and if she thinks you are sincere and not just looking to make a buck off of a marginalized group, she will take the werewolf aspect of your testing and run with it.

I wonder if Bill would be interested at all in any of the testing process. Being George's brother, it's not like he really has any fear when it comes to being a test subject. And since he isn't a full werewolf, just having some symptoms, perhaps he would be a good candidate to see if there are minor benefits even if the potion doesn't work as a full cure.

I've already made breakfast this morning, gone for a run, showered, and written this entire email. Would you hurry up and wake up already so we can get through this amazing, awful, wonderful, dreaded day already?

Devotedly,  
Harry

 

Friday August 27th  
Beloved,

NOOOOOOOOO! I did NOT forget any such thing! I will be there front and center for all festivities tomorrow. I merely got so excited that I momentarily misplaced the memory in my mind.

That said, today has been very promising. I only expected a handful of people to show up at best, but it turns out that there are a lot of people who A: need a bit of extra money, and B: don't mind risking their lives testing experimental potions. We have official contracts for them to sign that basically state that if they should happen to have any permanent side effects, such as turning into a werewolf, they agree to not hex or otherwise hold us in ill will. In exchange, we will do our best to remedy the situation as soon as possible, and if we can't, pay them a reasonable amount for the damages.

But try not to worry, Severus is about 80 percent certain that the worst thing that might happen is a particularly nasty nosebleed - you know, aside from the actual desired results, which are likely to be at least as painful and unpleasant as Polyjuice.

So, we've probably had at least a hundred people show up, and this might actually be more than we have potion for, haha! We've spent the last two hours simply explaining what we've done, explaining the contract, the pay, etc, and organizing the volunteers into groups.

Now it's time to test...

-

So, here are the results:

Of the first type of potion - that was intended to try to fix the original with its intent to turn a person into a wolf for an indeterminate amount of time - one made the volunteers exceedingly hairy. That potion didn't want to wear off on it's own, even two hours later, but responded well to counter measures.

The second (of four) made them act wolf-like without actually changing into wolves, and wore off about an hour and a half after consumption.

The third didn't seem to do anything at all - until the volunteers started freaking out over enhanced sounds and smells. It was determined that the potion enhanced all their senses. It's also not wearing off on its own, but most of the volunteers are happy enough to wait to see if it does wear off on its own in a 'reasonable' amount of time.

The last of this type of potion worked! It turned the volunteers into wolves - which we kept an eye on and prevented from harming each other, but otherwise left alone to play. When the hour mark passed, we were a bit worried that it wasn't going to wear off on its own, but at roughly 15 after, the volunteers reverted, relieving us all.

Rest assured, Pansy and Pippa were busy documenting everything.

The second group of potions were various attempts to cure Werewolfism. We had three of the approximately hundred volunteers come forward in private to confess that they were werewolves. While in private with them, we explained what it is we were hoping the potions would do, and they agreed to try them. We had a total of four different potions to test in this category as well, but only three volunteers. So, we tested three and had Pansy taking all their vitals and other information. There was nothing overt - and probably won't be until the next full moon, but Pansy has committed to coming back about three days prior to that to meet with that woman you referred me to (THANK YOU!), and between them, plan to observe the volunteers to see what if anything happens.

Which just leaves the last potion. My Animal Polyjuice. It works! We had a variety of animal bits to choose from - such as dog hair and peacock feathers - and the volunteers for this potion had a blast turning into animals for an hour or so.

But because it worked, I sent a notice to the Prophet to let their reader know that we aren't accepting any new volunteers. Which means that the only thing left to do is a bit of private testing between Charlie and me on Sunday.

But now I am convinced that I deserve a bloody reward, and my first choice is you, so I'm going to hunt you down and have my wicked wicked way with you.

I'm preying on you tonight, hunt you down eat you alive, just like animals, animals, like animals-mals,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Draco's part of this email, I had a really long and detailed email written, but my email program only saved the first third, so when I went to send it, it said sending for like five minutes before failing. When I realized that I lost approximately 2/3rds of what I'd written, I felt just a little heartbroken. Even rewriting it right away, I only really summed up what I had written in the original email. So, if something seems to be missing from Draco's explanation of what happened, please let me know ^_^


	209. Chapter 209

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry meets an interesting portrait and Draco has a meeting with Charlie.

Saturday August 28, 2010

My Only,

Today has been absolutely lovely so far. We've already had our photo shoot and I'm currently sitting in our rooms putting the babes down for a nap while the rest of you do the finishing touches to prepare for the party. I would have gladly had you put these little angels down for their naps so I could help out, but apparently, "no one needs any of your pre-party neurotic nonsense Harry James." Well then.

Obviously we didn't see all of the pictures Julia took, but based on the posing and the few shots she showed us, I am so excited to get these pictures back. For the most part we didn't really need much other than an updated family portrait and I wanted individuals of our three almost triplets. But I can never do anything by halves so I made sure we also got photos of the three littlest together, and then an updated 'all my girls" and 'all my boys' pairing as well.

The one of our family standing in front of the gardens, I would really like to get that enlarged, framed, and hung over the fireplace in our rooms. You and I, our 'official' thirteen children, Miles, Colm, Sammy, and Charlotte, all three dogs, your crazy cheetah, and my elegant cat. I still find myself internally saying 'my little family' but this picture definitely disproves that phrase. 'My big crazy family' would be much more appropriate.

And of course, the picture that made me sob, although I held it together until it had been taken; you and I with our daughter who's on her way to Hogwarts on Wednesday. It was beautiful and bittersweet.

Much like our shopping trip on Thursday. Just a beautiful day with our daughter. Who I think might be as emotional about the upcoming changes as I am. I know she tends to go for stoic and commanding, but she held my hand almost the entire time we were out. She did say, "I should probably hold your hand Mum-Dah since you're going to be missing me so much" but I think it was for her just as much as it was for me.

I had to giggle when we were getting her robes at Madame Malkin's when Vivi announced, "You may as well add the Slytherin Crest to the robes already, there's no chance I will end up anywhere else." I don't think she's wrong, but give the other houses a chance Princess!

I should probably go join the party prep since the babes are finally asleep, but I have to tell you about a portrait interaction I had last night. I completely forgot to tell you about it and if I don't type it out now, I will probably forget again. And you need to hear this!

Last night you and I both woke up to feed the babes, as usual once they were fed Lissa and Seph went right back to sleep like little angels. My little Cael had much different ideas. At only three months old, it's unlikely, but I think he may be teething. He was chewing on his little fists and was a bit rougher than usual while he was feeding. I guess we'll see.

Anyway, I decided to walk him around the Manor halls instead of just rocking him in our rooms like I usually would. I didn't want to disturb the rest of your sleep. I got him calm by walking, but he definitely wasn't going to sleep. I decided to walk by the kitchens, I figured I could grab myself a midnight snack and maybe get something icy for Cael to gum.

"Oh my stars, look at that babe!" I did not recognize the voice, no one in our house has that soft Irish lilt, so I remained calm and tried to figure out my surroundings.

Fine! You caught me. I shrieked and spun in circles looking for an intruder. I'm glad it didn't upset Caelum, he just looked at me like I'd lost the plot. A soft set of giggles, "I'm not here to hurt ya, I'm here in the portrait Luv." Well now I just felt ridiculous. I managed to find who was speaking, a pretty redhead in a painting of wildflowers. Wait, a redhead in a Malfoy painting? What was going on?

"I'm Brighid Malfoy, born Brighid Gallagher if you're wondering why I don't look like the rest of them." Her voice was like bells. "And who's this handsome little fussy man? And who are you, obviously you're his Da as he has the look of you, but what's your name?" I was so confused, was this a newer painting? You and I have been married for eleven years, you'd think I'd have met all the paintings by now.

"Pardon me ma'am, I'm Harry Malfoy, born Harry Potter if you're wondering why I don't look like the rest of them either. And this is my youngest son, Caelum Arthur."

She let out a gasp, and if portraits could cry, I'm certain I would have seen painted tears pouring out of her pretty green eyes. "I never thought I'd see the day where I could see myself in one of the Malfoy descendants. What year is it Harry?"

"Twenty-Ten Mrs. Malfoy."

"Oh, none of that now, we're family, call me Brighid. I assume I have you to thank for the first redheaded Malfoy babe in the three hundred years I've been on these walls?" She gave me the sweetest smile like she was just so thankful for me.

"Er, well myself and my husband Draco. He carried Caelum here along with his twin sister Lily. My mum was a redhead herself, we assumed that's where the hair came from, but it looks like it came from both sides!" I had questions of my own, "Why haven't I see you before? Draco and I have been married for eleven years, and we've lived here for over three of those - cumulatively. I would think I'd have seen and noticed a redhead before this."

"I've been in a vault up until recently. When I married my Dimitrius, the family was very upset. The only reason they didn't outright disown him was that he may have married a 'nobody' but at least I wasn't Muggleborn. He commissioned my painting, but his mother refused to have it hung in the Hall of Portraits." I could tell she was trying very hard not to say anything too terrible about her mother in law. "A few years ago, Narcissa Malfoy was in the vault to get a chalice for a naming ceremony -"

I blurted out, "Oh that was probably for our son Zwei, Draco Jr, each of the children has had their naming ceremonies include an heirloom and something brand new for them. My Draco's mum is Narcissa, and she found a Malfoy chalice to use for his ceremony. Oh! I'm sorry to have interrupted you, this is just so exciting!"

"It's not a problem Dear, I'm excited myself. I was very glad to be taken out of the vaults, but it seems the Malfoy family only got snootier with time and most of the Hall turns up their noses at me. So I spend most of my time wandering through the landscape paintings."

"We're certainly working on changing that nonsense! Of our thirteen official children, we've had a Muggleborn adoption, a pureblood adoption, biological children, multiple races and ethnicities. There's no difference in our home. Even Lucius and Narcissa adopted four children and love them unconditionally. I promise you that things are changing. I will have one of my mouthy children go tell off the Hall of Portraits for you."

She sputtered a bit, "You don't need to do that for me, I do enjoy my walks through the beautiful nature paintings, but if you could, would you hold up my little descendant so I can see him a bit closer?" Luckily, or unluckily for my ability to get a good night's sleep, Caelum was still wide awake. Green eyes locked with green eyes, and he even gave her a drooling smile with some baby babbles. "You come back and see me any time Harry and little Master Caelum, and bring any of the rest of your children, I'd love to see this unconventional Malfoy family!"

I assured her I would and then brought Cael back to our rooms. He may not have been ready to sleep, but he'd stopped fussing so I wasn't worried he'd wake you.

The whole experience was so lovely. Remind me to introduce you to your many-greats-grandmother Brighid the next time you're actually home for the day!

Oh, look at that, I wrote right up until party time! I'll see you in just a minute!

Yours,  
Harry Malfoy

 

Sunday August 29th

OH HARRY.....

You'll never guess...

So, as you know, I spent today with Charlie. We were planning to test my Animal Polyjuice potion in private - and for what it's worth, I meant without various volunteers around, but I do appreciate you thinking I wanted you to give me some alone time. As much as I would have adored having you there, the fact that it was just Charlie and me gave us both a chance to babble on about the potion and just talk shop in a way that neither of us would have done with you and Neville around changing our dynamic without even intending to.

In any case, one of the things that carries over from normal Polyjuice is that it really only takes a sip. So rather than have an entire bottle of the potion wasted at a time when a person only wants to transform for about an hour, I had broken the bottles down into single servings prior to the general testing on Friday. Of those vials, I brought three with me for today. One for me, and two for Charlie.

When I finally got around to pulling the vials out of my pocket and handing his to him, he gave me the most mischievous and approving smirk I've ever seen cross his face. I mean I've worked regularly with George, so I know mischief runs in the family, but usually, Charlie is a sort of calm and steady chap. Still with a mischievous grin, he pulled a vial of his own out of his left breast pocket.

I inhaled an eager gasp. "You got it?!"

He nodded slowly in confirmation. "I got it."

If I was any less dignified, I'd have been squealing and jumping up and down like a teenage girl.

Charlie slipped his extra vial of potion into his pocket, and then opened what looked like a vial of glittery powder. He poured a good sprinkle of the powder into each of our vials of potion and we practically held our breath as we watched the potion glow brightly and change color until it was a shimmering pearlescent.

It was GORGEOUS Harry! It looked like the nectar of the Gods! As if someone had milked a golden cow, mmm... Taking a deep breath, we clinked the vials together, exclaimed: "Cheers!" And then downed them.

The pain was not so fun. It wasn't like normal pain - like being beaten or Cruioed - or even the normal pain associated with Polyjuice. This was about three times worse. I honestly thought I was going to pass out from the agony, and it seemed to go on for much longer than the potion is supposed to last, but since the potion actually lasted as long as it had during the initial testing - after the transformation finished - I can only assume that the transformation seemed to take so long because it hurt so much.

In any case, once transformed, there we were, regal and magnificent. We sniffed and nudged each other curiously for a few minutes, and then took flight. I swear we were able to circle all over the British Isles before our time was up and we changed back. Changing back was every bit as painful, but it was worth it!

Positively giddy, Charlie and I laughed and danced around the meadow we'd landed in, whooping from sheer joy. When we ran out of energy, we threw ourselves - panting heavily - onto the soft grass and simply looked up at the sky until the giggles finally faded.

Charlie gave me the rest of the vial of powder, but at this point, I'm probably going to have to brew more potion before I can use it. But that works out as it will give me an excuse to immediately test the new batch when it's ready.

Tonight, we are young, so let's set the world on fire, we can burn brighter, than the sun,  
Draco


	210. Chapter 210

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry would quite like something up his arse, is not mad at Draco, and Draco sticks his foot in it and upsets Harry after all.

Sunday August 29, 2010

My Soft, Sweet, Draco,

Merlin the Tiger is stiff and formal. I'd say he needs to pull that stick out of his arse, but maybe he'd be in a better mood if he had something stuck up his arse. I know I would. Mmmm, a full arse.

No, no Harry, stay on topic!

Seriously, it seems as though every time he comes here we need to reprogram him. By the end of any visit, he seems to have loosened up considerably, but a few weeks back in his world and his face is tight, his mask is on, and his sense of humor is nonexistent. I know, his world is messed up, but then either get used to it or move here permanently. I was sitting with Viper and Tiger last night while you put Jaz and Zaire to bed and the topic of their wedding came up. I swear I didn't mean anything by it, but you know how much I love wedding planning, and I said, "I have so many ideas let me know if you want them, I'm pretty good at weddings. Our wedding was the most beautiful one I've ever been to."

And Tiger just snapped at me, "Our wedding doesn't need to look like yours to be beautiful!"

My eyes must have bugged out of my head. Poor Viper looked like he was actually quite used to this snappish Draco. He put a calming hand on his knee and told him, "You know Harry didn't mean that, he's just a weirdo who actually enjoys wedding planning!"

Hey! It's true, but still.

"Oh, so now only weirdos could enjoy planning a wedding? Now you're calling me a weirdo for wanting our wedding to be wonderful or you're saying that you don't actually care about planning it? Which one is it?" Well it was awfully nice of the Tiger to turn his rage on someone else I suppose?

Viper tried again, "Of course I care about planning OUR wedding, I'm just saying that Harry is a weirdo who likes planning weddings that aren't even his own."

Tiger didn't snap back at him, but he remained stiff and still looked annoyed.

"Why don't I take you back to my room and give you a massage to help you relax?" Viper asked and then he actually waggled his eyebrows like a ridiculous cartoon villain.

"Good plan Viper, shagging the snit right out of him!" I received two glares for my comment. Yikes, tough crowd.

But them taking off to "relax" gave me the opportunity to be alone with my thoughts to write to you.

Congratulations! I am so proud of your potions skills. I can't believe you got to fly around like that. I am just sorry I missed it. Both because I would have loved to have flown with you, but also to just see how beautiful you would be in that form. Tell me what you looked like! Did you fly over any bodies of water so you could preen at your reflection?

You're right I would have been bored out of my mind listening to you and Charlie talk in depth about potions. I love that you're so brilliant, and I'm in no way trying to tell you to stop talking with me about them, but you could be speaking another language as far as my understanding goes. It's probably a bit different telling the specifics to someone who actually understands what you're talking about.

How about next time you let me come with, I promise I will stay silent while you talk potions. I'll even document what's happening. You know, for science. Yeah, for science, that's why I want to see you like that.

Love,  
Harry

 

Monday August 30th  
My Harry,

Today was interesting. I had to get some of the specifics from our guests, but from what I pieced together, it went like this:

You were in the Kitchen baking some biscuits and making a nice lunch of grilled chicken and grilled salmon - to give everyone a choice. I was in my closet trying to find something to wear. Tiger and Viper were in the sitting room portion of our suite with Rosalie, their River, and their Viona, waiting for me to get dressed so that we could go do a bit of shopping - after lunch.

See, in THEIR world, Ollivander was killed by the Dark Lord at some point after the Final Battle for his failure to be all knowing and his son hasn't quite yet mastered wand lore. The best he can do is sell the wands his father made, and TRY to sell those he's made in the years since, but his just don't quite work, and the ones made by Ollivander are quite picked over by now. So, they're here to buy River a new wand and Viona her first wand since she is also going to Hogwarts.

So anyway, they were in our sitting room, gathered around a table and sipping on tea. Apparently the Tiger has already relaxed a bit because he wasn't quite so snarly. Rosalie seems resigned to being a sort of mediator between him and the kids, because despite trying his best, he's just NOT used to having kids. He literally JUST got comfortable having his Viona in his house with him, and now she's headed off to Hogwarts. I'm sure it's probably traumatizing for him.

Plus, the Tiger apparently wanted to be here today and tomorrow to give Viper emotional support - not that either of them could exactly be accused of being emotional, but you know what I mean. It's Viper's first time having any of his kids go to school, and three out of four of them are leaving in one go. I'm sure he's an utter wreck on the inside.

Anyway, Other River noticed a ginger witch watching them from a portrait of our family, and stood up to go inspect the portrait more closely. A few minutes later, half the Quartet arrived because they are also planning to be here to see off our Viona on the First – plus tomorrow's very important ceremony. They didn't realize that 'we' weren't us at first, and profusely apologized for missing the official going away party.

Mahafsoun sighed happily and rushed over to hug and give 'me' a kiss on the cheek. "Draco!" She purred in a sultry tone (the Tiger used those exact words), which sort of baffled Tiger, haha.

Then she turned to run over to River, throw her arms around him, and give him a big old smooch. Naturally, OTHER River wasn't expecting this at all and was highly flustered. "River..." She crooned as she hugged him tight and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Erm...….." he droned, apparently looking like he rather wished he could pry her off him and push her away with a ten foot pole.

That's right about when I finally finished dressing and rejoined our guests. "Mahafsoun!" I exclaimed joyously, feeling a bit like the sun had just come out after a long and rainy day.

She turned to look at me and nearly fainted. "Wha…?"

I beckoned her over to me. "Don't mind that one, he's from a different world."

She looked between us uncertainly, noticing that the Tiger looked a bit cold and wary, while I had my arms open for her. With a visible shake of her head, she decided that she didn't care if there were two of me, and sauntered over to give me a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"You're looking as gorgeous as ever, luv. How've you been?" I asked as I held onto her. She snuggled into me and told me all about her time in Russia, and how much she's really liking Kisa and Hermione - each of whom are so very different, and yet, balance each other almost perfectly.

Kisa snorted in mildly derisive amusement. "Although we have a bit of a job on our hands keeping her away from Blaise and Ron!"

Hermione giggled. "She can't stop herself from flirting with them, and you know how Blaise is! He would NEVER lay a hand on her, but her flirting sets off HIS flirting and that sets off his pheromones. It's all around better if they don't sit together longer than it takes to eat dinner."

I was now stroking Mahafsoun's hair, loving how soft and floaty it is. I think I may have even been purring.

"DRACO..." you snarled upon popping into the room and observing the situation.

"What???" I asked in genuine bafflement.

"You can let her go NOW..." you growled.

"Oh. Right," I murmured, giving her hair one last stroke and stepping back from her.

She pouted unhappily at me, as if begging me to hug her some more. I nearly succumbed, but a look at you gave me the fortitude to resist.

"MAHAFSOUN!!!" River shouted joyously as he entered the room and discovered her.

"MY RIVER!" She squealed in return, making ME snarl and glare at them as they ran to give each other an altogether much too enthusiastic hug. And a passionate kiss that made me cast a small spell to give them both a shock - like a tiny version of a Cruciatus.

"BEHAVE..." I warned. "Or I'll ground you both to SEPARATE dragon guarded towers!"

You were giving me a light glare, which made me a little defensive.

"What?!"

"You can't ground them for being happy to see each other," you said in a soft and yet strangely threatening tone of voice.

I sighed a bit petulantly but didn't say anything, because if they DON'T behave, I'll lock them each in a different pocket dimension, just see if I don't!

To my relief, you then turned to our River. "And YOU can let go of her now too!"

He gave you a look like he couldn't decide if he wanted to protest or cry, but then sighed, nodded, and let her go. For the first time since I met her, I saw Mahafsoun look something other than soft and happy. She gave you a very put out expression, but then quickly erased it and tried her best to be friendly enough to butter you up. Funnily enough, you weren't having it. Instead, you handed her a plate of biscuits.

"Mahafsoun… Viona, Eris, Hazel, Del, Della, and Eliza are all out in the garden. I suggest you bring this out to them and spend some time with them."

With a pout and a shrug, she accepted the plate and the order. "If you wish." Then she turned her brilliant smile on our River, singing his name. "River... come with me?"

"NO!!!" We both blurted out in alarm. You pointed at the entertainment room. "Go watch the telly with Orion and the others!"

Sighing and looking a lot like a puppy someone kicked for no reason, our River slunk out of the room.

I gave you a cajoling look, desperately trying to get back on your good side, but you gave me a long look that wasn't quite a glare. Nevertheless, I understood that you were not happy with me. Sighing, I gave you a quick kiss.

"If you need me, I'll be in Diagon Alley with this lot."

You harrumphed softly. Then gave me a kiss in return. "AFTER lunch."

"Right," I agreed.

In an ocean of fish, the only one that matters is you,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, we didn't avoid saying it on purpose, it's weird actually, I didn't specify in my email because Draco was too excited to write down all the details, and then when I first read this email, I was like: "Huh, I expected Harry to be all like: 'DRACO, did you turn into a dragon WITHOUT ME???'" And Chrissie laughed and said: "Well it was so obvious that that was what was going to happen that Harry was just happy Draco got the chance to do it."  
> Thus yes, Draco turned into a dragon, and so did Charlie ^_^


	211. Chapter 211

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is rather upset and Draco sticks his foot in his mouth, with explosive results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Possible Trigger** Harry mentions some of Mahafsoun’s past, it’s not explicit but it may be triggering to some

Monday August 30, 2010

My Partner in All Things,

Where to start? I have so many things I want to say, I have a million thoughts running through my mind. And if I don't get them down I am sure I will either forget them or blow them way out of proportion. So, despite the fact that I should probably get some sleep so my emotions don't reach hysteria levels tomorrow, I am going to most likely end up writing you a novel length email.

Today, after you all left for Diagon, I decided to have a talk with Mahafsoun. I can see in her eyes confusion when she looks at me, she wants me to like her but has no idea what she's done wrong to make me so harsh with her. As a logical adult, you can understand that my issues with her don't actually come from her but from your and River's behavior around her. But she is a child and can only see that someone who seems to have infinite care and patience for everyone else, has none for her. It's not acceptable in my mind. I needed her to know I didn't dislike her or want anything but the best for her.

However, she IS behaving inappropriately. She doesn't know any better, and I had hoped her spending time with the Quartet would make her realize that using her bedroom eyes and seduction techniques and over the top flirting wasn't necessary to make people like or respect her. Instead, even HERMIONE is giggling about the fact that she and Blaise flirt until his pheromones let loose. My Hermione, the most logical person I know, thinks it's funny to joke about having to keep them separate except for meal times? Has the world gone completely fucking nutters?

Honestly, am I the only person who's seeing how absolutely horrifying it is to denote sensuality and over the top flirtation as the main personality traits of a VICTIM OF THE SEXUAL SLAVE TRADE? "She can't stop herself from flirting with them"?!? That came out of Hermione Granger's mouth? Then we should teach her to stop it. Of course she's a "natural" flirt, she had to be to avoid beatings if she didn't catch enough Johns that day.

I am generally absolutely oblivious, how am I the only one who can look at conversations people have had with or about her and see how painfully unhealthy it all is? Is it because I'm gay? Being one of the only people in our giant circle that feel zero sexual feelings about women means I am the only person who can see how horribly we're treating her? I want you to think about your sweet little Eris. Your baby girl, who you carried inside, and imagine some thirty year old adult describing the way she walks as 'sensual' … want to murder anyone yet?

She is fourteen fucking years old! We think! She won't truly admit to any of us her actual age, and I wonder if she even knows it due to her background. And she's being described, by GROWN MEN, as 'purring in a sultry tone' and 'sauntering over to' you. Your first instinct when greeting her was to remind her she's gorgeous and THEN ask her how she's been. You got mad enough at your own son, who's actually her age, for giving her a hug and kiss in greeting that you cast a spell that you described as a 'tiny version of cruciatus.' That is really messed up.

And knowing how upseting this entire situation has been for me, knowing I keep all of our emails as a record of our life together, you felt it important to remind me that seeing her was "feeling a bit like the sun had just come out after a long and rainy day." Do you like making me cry? When you were in the Ministry waiting to see if you were going to be charged with killing the woman who attacked you on Diagon, you wrote me a song. One of the lyrics was "You chase all the clouds away, you are the sunshine of my life, you are the one who guides me, inspires me, and forces me to be better" and multiple times throughout the many years we've been together, you've signed off your emails with "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine." Every time I read that, even when I was in the depths of my depression, it reminded me to fill myself with light thoughts and continue to shine. But I suppose I needn't have tried, since you have Mahafsoun to be your sun after long and rainy days.

What.The.Fuck.

And I swear to any Deity that can hear me, if you say another solitary word, one tiny peep, anything sounding remotely like purring when referencing her hair, I will shave my head and cast some sort of permanent depilatory spell on my head so I will never grow so much as a single millimeter of hair.

Test me Draco Lucius, I dare you.

Okay, I didn't mean to go on this long of a rant. Really, I just wanted to give you the basics from my conversation, but I am just so angry. And at this point anger for myself is the least of my emotions, I am furious for this innocent girl who's being groomed to be the perfect female pet for a set of creepy perverted wizards.

FUCK!

Deep breaths.

So, I brought her to the sunroom to talk. Unsurprisingly, she tried to climb into the loveseat to sit on my lap when I asked her to come talk. Yep, shocking isn't it? The girl who apparently has been told her beauty and ability to flirt are her greatest assets, assumed I would call her into a private room to sit on my lap. I sat her in the cozy chair next to the loveseat, although I did hold her hands. I can recognize that the child is touch starved, we just need to give her healthy ways to get the touch she needs. You know, pats on the back or shoulder, small hugs, high fives, dancing, not sitting on laps of grown men.

I took a few very deep breaths. "Mahafsoun, I need you to understand that you don't need to try to win my affection. I don't dislike you, I already care for you very much. I want great things for you, but for some reason the rest of the adults in your life have very different ideas than I do about what those great things are." She looked very confused as I continued. "You don't need to kiss, or hug, flirt with, or give any of yourself to anyone to get them to like you. You are such a strong young woman, you've survived where others haven't been able, I think you're amazing. But I think you're so worried those other parts aren't good enough that you just keep reverting to what you've been taught works."

I suppose I don't need to go on and on and recite every single word from one of my patented Harry Lectures, but the gist of the talk was, "I like you without all of the sexy stuff, other people will too, you just have to give them the chance to see the rest of you."

Which led her to tell me that the sexy stuff and the flirting were really all she was good at. Yeah, she thinks that's all she's good at. Making people feel good about themselves. That's what she thinks she's worth, a pretty tool to make others feel good.

So I spent three hours with her, talking about her interests, her goals, what she took joy in. Did you know she plays the piano? Like an angel. I am constantly surrounded by music. Lainie plays more instruments than I even knew existed. But I don't think I have ever heard someone play the piano like she does. Like it was coming directly from her soul.

She practically lived on that beach in Egypt, but did you know she actually prefers the rain? LOVES the rain. It rained so infrequently in Egypt, but whenever it would rain, she would stand outside and just soak in it. It's already rained a few times since she's been in Russia, but she recently found out that October is the rainy season and she's counting down the days until October.

The big goals in her life? She wants to get married someday and live in a cottage with her husband and children. Something small and hidden in the woods, somewhere it will rain all the time. That's it. She doesn't wish to be a great beauty, or have men eating out of her hand; she wants someone to love, somewhere she feels safe, with little ones to care for.

Even after three hours of talking, your group still wasn't back yet, so I took her back to the girls. Where they talked about fashion, played with Bear and Venus, talked about their businesses, and the older girls talked about how much they were looking forward to Hogwarts on Wednesday. She had a blast.

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Kisa and Hermione weren't as good for her as I thought they would be. Maybe she needs to be around kids, especially girls, her own age.

Oh no, I heard the tell-tale squeak. I must feed the little glutton before he screams himself wide awake.

Love,  
Harry

 

Tuesday August 31st  
My ONLY sunshine,

You know, just because I feel that Mahafsoun is a bit sunny, doesn't mean that I think she's MY sunshine. I didn't say: "I felt like my sunshine finally came out after a long rain," I said: "the sun." There is a difference, and no, I did not and would never intend to make you cry. You are my light in the dark, and she is merely *a* light that shines whether she wants to or not.

I have so many things I want to get off my chest, so I think I'll just address them as they come out. First of all, apparently I didn't realize that you were still in our suite when I woke up. You were feeding one of the babies in a chair not too far from the door to our bedroom. I can only assume that you were keeping an eye on me so that if I didn't wake up in time to get ready for the ceremonies today, you could wake me up and motivate me to get moving - rather than laze in bed as long as possible.

In any case, I sat up and stretched the moment I realized that I was awake. Then I summoned my laptop and ordered Muffy to bring me some tea to sip on while I read your email. I felt a lot of things as I read. I winced because you pointed out so many logical things and I felt bad. For example, you're right in that I should have greeted Mahafsoun differently. Perhaps: "Lovely to see you again, luv, I hope you've been well? How are my aunt and her lovers treating you?"

I will be honest and admit that I felt rather angry that you took my sunshine statement in a completely different direction than I intended it. I probably even growled at that part. But then, strangely, I couldn't help but be happy that you love me enough to be jealous.

When I reached the end of the email, I felt a hope so profound that it took my breath away. Apparently, unintentionally gasping out in a hopeful tone: "Does this mean we get to keep her?!" Was entirely the WRONG thing to do!

After you cast a Bombarda on the other side of the bed - in effect tossing me onto my arse - you cast a different explosive spell on a pillow so that there were feathers falling all around me, and then cast an Avifors on them so that they turned into a flock of birds to attack my head.

"Harry, my love!" I cried out, trying to use my arms to protect my head. "I DIDN'T mean it like that! I simply chose the wrong words and stuck my foot in my mouth!"

Harrumphing, you called out over your shoulder as you left the room. "Best get your arse dressed before I murder you for being late to the ceremony!"

Groping around until I found where my wand went, I held it up, and then remembered that I know wandless magic and could have simply vanished the mess without my wand. Sigh.

Rest assured, it was time we got a new bed anyway, so I'll go shopping tonight (if you're still not speaking to me, otherwise we can go together) and buy a new one before bedtime.

The second thing I wanted to say is a clarification. I did NOT cast a tiny version of a Cruciatus Curse on our son and Mahafsoun simply because they hugged and kissed each other hello. If that was all they had done, I probably would have snarled but suppressed the urge to breathe fire. I cast it because they were clinging to each other and kissing in a way that suggested that they were about 2 seconds away from Apparating to the nearest bed (if they knew how to Apparate), and I didn't think that was appropriate. Say what you want about *my* inappropriate behavior, but at least I'm not kissing her or anything CLOSE to thinking that we need to be alone in or near a bed.

I DO NOT WANT HER LIKE THAT!!!

I am actually rather mad at you for - ARGH!!! I can't even explain it! I FEEL like you're accusing me of wanting her and/or loving her more than I want you! I FEEL like if I even so much as hint that I feel any sort of affection for her - or Merlin forbid! SHOW any sort of affection for her, you accuse me of wanting/loving her more than you AND THE REST OF OUR FAMILY! (Don't think I don't remember that me calling her beautiful enough to win contests made you say that I must think she's more gorgeous than all of our daughters!)

SALAZAR BUGGERING MERLIN BUGGERING CHRIST!!!

I don't know why, but yes, I do feel love for her. I want to be like a father to her, but I *also* want to be like a good friend that CAN freakin' flirt and have inappropriate conversations without being accused of wanting to shag the bloody hell out of her! I DO NOT WANT HER! And as for why I get so jealous and snarly when it comes to River and her, I don't understand that either, except for that I feel protective of both of them and simply want them to bloody fucking STOP!

Okay, hold on a moment, I have to calm the fuck down. This is making me want to go to the Crystal Room and I don't have time for that shite. I've still got to get dressed and there's only about a half an hour before the ceremony starts.

Okay, better.

Now that I've had a mini mental health break and I'm calm again, there are a few things I want to address. I'm NOT saying you are wrong. I DO agree that *I* need to make an effort to NOT treat her like she only has worth if she's beautiful, BUT - and please try to hear this with a calm mind - but MAYBE you might need to consider that she cannot stop from flirting because it's an inherent part of who she is. Like Magic is part of who we are. Like being a girl is part of who Hazel is. We cannot take being a girl away from her and we would do far more damage trying than any sort of result would be worth.

I hope this makes even a little sense to you. You are looking at Mahafsoun as a wounded former sex slave, and she is. I definitely agree that she needs to continue her therapy. But. If I am right about her actions and her flirting... then actively MAKING her stop doing all of that could be detrimental to her health and sanity. Perhaps we could try giving her alternatives? If she seems to be flirting when she genuinely shouldn't be, or if she's trying to get her way about something, maybe we can teach her the fine Slytherin art of kicking the pants off someone in a bargain? Or the Malfoy luck in poker? Basically OTHER ways to manipulate people and get one's way.

The last thing I want to get off my chest - and don't worry, I'm getting dressed in the outfit I picked out weeks ago for this very special occasion, as I dictate this - is... You told me to picture a grown man describing Eris as walking sensually, and then assumed that I'd want to murder someone. You are right about that, but only because I want to murder EVERYONE that so much as breathes in any of our kids' directions. Whether they are acting inappropriately or not.

For example, when we're in public, if I see a person notice our kids - whether they seem interested or not - my first instinct is to murder the potential threat. But then my rational self takes over and I understand that I cannot do that. And also, that most of the time, *that* would be completely unwarranted. But keep in mind that I have murdered to protect them before and I would do it again if necessary.

But getting back to the description. My SECOND instinct is to take a step back and look at the situation objectively. Is Eris ACTUALLY walking sensually? If so, I can't really get mad that someone noticed and said something about it, although I can talk to Eris and ask her what she's doing. If she's NOT walking sensually and an older man said she was, I'd probably go protective daddy on him.

"Why are your filthy perverted eyes watching my daughter so closely? What about her determined stride strikes you as sensual? You DO realize that she may look sweet and innocent, but if you cross her, she'll gut you, right?"

Also, in a way, you are comparing apples to oranges. They may both be fruit, but they are very different. Eris is every bit a confident and regal little girl who is going to co-run a fashion empire. Mahafsoun is softer. As you said yourself, her desire is NOT to run any sort of empire, but to have a safe little home in the woods. She doesn't need to be the type to power walk across the room. If she lets herself go blank and just moves in the way that is natural for her, she has the grace of a dancer, and yes, only 14 or not, it IS sensual.

For what it's worth, I may not have learned about her piano skills yet, but I HAVE talked to her. I've genuinely wanted to get to know her interests, and guess what? She loves to dance. And sing. And as shallow as it might sound, but she also has a passion for makeup. And vampires, but hey, we can't ALL be normal.

But getting back to my point that maybe we can't take ALL the flirting out of her. I also talked to Kisa and Hermione about her (they left their men at home with the kids), and they both said that they DID try to make her stop flirting. They find the whole thing funny because she literally can't stop herself, and even though they recognize that this is probably an unhealthy habit she picked up because of her sex slavery, they also know and love Blaise, who ALSO cannot stop himself from flirting. If a Lion was feeling threatened and felt the need to tear Blaise limb from limb in order to protect its family, Blaise would flirt with it as he was running for his life.

Do you really want Mahafsoun to feel like there is something inherently wrong with her because she can't stop doing this thing you are now telling her is bad and unhealthy?

Lastly, now that I'm actually ready and need to sign off so that I can go perform this wonderful and important ceremony with you, I just wanted to state for the record, that I agree that it would do Mahafsoun some good to be around girls her own age. Apparently Kisa loves Mahafsoun because she's super good during 'interrogations' in which men practically fall all over themselves to tell Mahafsoun whatever she (Kisa) wants to know. All it takes is for her (Mahafsoun) to pout at them and tell them that she doesn't want to see them get hurt, and like magic, they confess every secret they've ever heard of.

Besides, I think Mahafsoun might like fashion too, or at the very least, be able to add onto Hazeris with the makeup side of the business. Just ideas to think about if, you know, you've decided that maybe we should, erm… allow her to stay with us.

'Cuz you'll be in my heart, no matter what they say, you'll be here in my heart, always,  
Draco


	212. Chapter 212

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First, it's time for the naming/welcoming ceremonies, and then it's September the First ^_^

Tuesday August 31st  
My Reason for Living,

Today was beautiful. It fulfilled something in my soul I didn’t know was aching. I’ve always stressed the importance of these rituals. These celebrations of welcome and joy in receiving these new people into our circle, our family, our world. I didn’t know how incomplete I was feeling, not having had their welcome yet.

For all of our other children’s welcoming ceremonies, I have spent the morning telling them exactly how important the day was, holding them, hoping no matter their age they would feel something wonderful on this important day. But we’re welcoming five of them today, which made the ceremony that much longer with that much less time for individual discussions. So I split them into two.

Since Zaire is always the first one awake with me anyway, and Jaz being so ‘go with the flow’ that waking her up a few minutes early wouldn’t change her disposition, I decided to start with them. I had Zaire sit cross-legged with Jaz in his lap facing me so she could see me sign as I spoke with both of them. I honestly don’t know if my rambling made any sense to them, but they smiled and nodded at me, so I’m going to take that as a win.

The almost triplets were easy, I told them everything, they cooed at me, and then Lily laughed at me. I think that was baby speak for “yes Daddy, we know how important today is, we love you.”

After my very calm discussion with you this morning concerning the redecoration of our bed, and you sent me a lovely email (which we will discuss later, but for now just know that I love you), it was time to get ready. 

As usual, our mums were getting everything ready for the reception while our dads prepared the circle, cleansing the space in which the ritual would take place. I have such love for these men. The first time they prepared the space for Viona’s ceremony, they begrudgingly worked together for love of their granddaughter. That was magical to me, that they could overcome their own differences to come together for her. But now, they may snipe at each other a bit, but they truly care for one another and I think it makes the Earth and the Magic happy.  
Each member of our family was dressed in pale green robes except for our five special guests who were robed in white. In ceremonies past, we’ve chosen specific colors for different reasons, or just let the attending children pick whatever they wanted. For this, we chose green to symbolize nature and new beginnings. 

When everything was ready and our circle was set, the seven of us then began our walk to the circle, I held Persephone, you had Lily and Caelum, Zaire walked and Jasmine toddled along next to us, and we met the ten soon to be godparents halfway. George scooped up Jasmine so her tiny little legs didn’t have to work so hard to keep up, while Kisa and Sebastian held onto Zaire’s hands. We walked to the altar and our circle closed around us. As our tradition with all of our ceremonies, the area was covered in lilies and narcissus, and then we had the addition of jasmine and moonflowers. We also used the candles from yours and my naming ceremonies as well as new candles specifically for each child.

Your beautiful voice opened our ceremony. "We call to the Gods and Goddesses, we call to Apollo the God of the Sun and of Music, we call to Hestia, Goddess of home, hearth, and family. We call to Persephone, the Goddess of springtime and Queen of the Underworld, we call to Chloris, nymph of the flowers. We ask you to join us today, to welcome our children to our community and to the larger community of our world."

I love that we use similar words each time, it gives something perfect and timeless, but the addition of something new has its own beauty. Knowing Leah was translating the entire ceremony so Jasmine would be completely included was so important to me.

Then I took up where you left off. "We gather today to bless these children, new lives that became part of our world. We gather to give names to these children. To call something by name is to give it power, and today we give these children that gift. We welcome them into our hearts and lives and bless them with names of their own."

You went on. "To be a parent is to love and nurture, to lead our children to be good, to follow the right path, to both teach them and learn from them. Reining them in, and giving them wings. Smiling through their joys, and weeping with their pain. Walking beside them, so that one day they can walk alone. Being parents is the greatest gift we give ourselves, and the greatest responsibility we will have."

With Zaire already being four, we chose to modify the ancestral welcome ceremony to fit the naming ceremony. 

"I Draco Malfoy call to my Ancestors - to Abraxas Malfoy, to Cygnus Black, to -" well you know how far you went down the line. You even included your newly rediscovered ancestor Brighid. 

"I Harry Potter Malfoy call to my Ancestors - to James and Lily Potter, to Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, to Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, to Grandmother and Grandfather Evans and all the rest of my Ancestors in all lines who care to join us here."

"We've called you here today to introduce you to our son, Zaire. He's not our blood and so you may not have noticed him yet, but he is our heart, so we ask you to accept him into our family and watch over him in the same way that you would us," you said respectfully and beautifully.

"Please guide him, advise him when necessary, and help him to become his best self - reaching his full potential as he grows into an amazing man," I added.

You turned to Kisa and asked: "You stand beside us, for the love of this child. Tell the Gods who you are."

Kisa replied as seriously as I’ve ever seen her. "I am Annika Kisa Black, chosen to be Guardian for this child." And when you asked what it meant to be a Guardian: "To show guidance and counsel, to help assist him when making choices, and be there for him when called upon."  
Asking the same questions to Sebastian, he responded: "I am Sebastian Severus Malfoy, chosen to be Guardian for this child." Answering with the same description of Guardianship.

Sitting Zaire up on the altar, you anointed his head with the oils from the chalice, and I said: "May the Gods keep this child pure and perfect, leaving all negatives far beyond his world. May you always have good fortune, may you always have good health, may you always be joyful with love in your heart. You are known to the Gods and to us as Zaire Langa Malfoy. This is your name and it is powerful. Bear your name with honor and may the Gods bless you on this and every day. I honor you Zaire Langa."

“I honor you Daddies!” Oh my sweet boy.

We passed the cup with wine, and the cup with milk around the circle and followed with Zaire so each person could welcome him into our lives and our family by name. It was beautiful, and our boy giving each person a hug as we went around the circle, Gods but I love him. The cups made their way back to Kisa and Sebastian, they drank, and recited together: "Welcome Zaire Langa Malfoy, to our family and to our hearts. Your parents love you and we thank them for bringing you into our lives. We ask the Gods to watch over you Zaire, and over your fathers, and over your brothers and sisters, we wish your family love and light."

We then began Jasmine's part. Asking the ancestors to understand that she is ours, asking her Godparents those same questions. "I am George Gideon Weasley, chosen to be Guardian for this child." "I am Angelina Shiloh Weasley, chosen to be Guardian for this child." And reciting their definitions of Guardian.

We sat our calm daughter on the altar, I anointed her with oils from her own chalice, and you said "May the Gods keep this child pure and perfect, leaving all negatives far beyond her world. May you always have good fortune, may you always have good health, may you always be joyful with love in your heart. You are known to the Gods and to us as Jasmine Kamaria Malfoy. This is your name and it is powerful. Bear your name with honor and may the Gods bless you on this and every day. I honor you Jasmine Kamaria."

We sent the refilled cups of wine and milk around the circle again, and walked Jasmine around the circle for her welcomes. Reaching the end, George and Angelina recited the same: "Welcome Jasmine Kamaria Malfoy, to our family and to our hearts. Your parents love you and we thank them for bringing you into our lives. We ask the Gods to watch over you Jasmine Kamaria, and over your fathers, and over your brothers and sisters, we wish your family love and light." They had each memorized their parts in sign as well so Jasmine could ‘hear’ it directly from her Godparents. 

We continued on with Persephone next. Asking the Godparents the same questions. “I am Miles Garret Meaney, chosen to be Guardian for this child.” “I am Eliza Hattie Malfoy, chosen to be Guardian for this child.” That same definition of Guardian all of our children’s Godparents have recited since the beginnings of our family.

Laying a wide-eyed Persephone on the altar, you anointed her with the oils from her chalice, saying “May the Gods keep this child pure and perfect, leaving all negatives far beyond her world. May you always have good fortune, may you always have good health, may you always be joyful with love in your heart. You are known to the Gods and to us as Persephone Hikari Malfoy. This is your name and it is powerful. Bear your name with honor and may the Gods bless you on this and every day. I honor you Persephone Hikari."

For the third time, the refilled chalices of wine and milk went around the circle, us following with Persephone in our arms. At the end, Miles and Eliza saying: “Welcome Persephone Hikari Malfoy, to our family and to our hearts. Your parents love you and we thank them for bringing you into our lives. We ask the Gods to watch over you Persephone Hikari, and over your fathers, and over your brothers and sisters, we wish your family love and light.” 

Then our Lily had her turn. “I am Sirius Orion Black, chosen to be Guardian for this child.” “I am Ginevra Gillian Krum, chosen to be Guardian for this child.” You speaking: “May the Gods keep this child pure and perfect, leaving all negatives far beyond her world. May you always have good fortune, may you always have good health, may you always be joyful with love in your heart. You are known to the Gods and to us as Lily Narcissa Malfoy. This is your name and it is powerful. Bear your name with honor and may the Gods bless you on this and every day. I honor you Lily Narcissa.”

More wine. More milk. More beautiful welcomes from our circle for our Lily. Sirius and Ginny saying what the Godparents before them had said. “Welcome Lily Narcissa Malfoy, to our family and to our hearts. Your parents love you and we thank them for bringing you into our lives. We ask the Gods to watch over you Lily Narcissa, and over your fathers, and over your brothers and sisters, we wish your family love and light.”

Finally, closing out with Caelum, who did not seem pleased to have been last in line. But when is he ever? His Godparents answered the same questions: “I am Harry James Potter, born in another world yet honored to be chosen as a Guardian for this child.” “I am Yesenia Rosa Garcia, chosen to be Guardian for this child.” He grumped a bit through being anointed with the oils, but calmed when you spoke: “May the Gods keep this child pure and perfect, leaving all negatives far beyond his world. May you always have good fortune, may you always have good health, may you always be joyful with love in your heart. You are known to the Gods and to us as Caelum Arthur Malfoy. This is your name and it is powerful. Bear your name with honor and may the Gods bless you on this and every day. I honor you Caelum Arthur.”

The final rounds of milk and wine went around. The wonderful people in our circle seemed to have endless patience and he got just as enthusiastic welcomes as Zaire got at the beginning of all this. Ending with his Godparents. “Welcome Caelum Arthur Malfoy, to our family and to our hearts. Your parents love you and we thank them for bringing you into our lives. We ask the Gods to watch over you Caelum Arthur, and over your fathers, and over your brothers and sisters, we wish your family love and light.”

I held Persephone, you held Lily, Viper held Caelum, Sebastian had Zaire, and George had Jasmine, they were held up to the skies, our circle walking away, us closely following, and the grandfathers closing the circle.  
I love you and our perfect family with everything I have,  
Harry

 

Wednesday September 1st  
Ma raison d'etre,

I think we were both determined to avoid another big fight yesterday. Granted maybe not as big as the last one, but big enough that I think we both unconsciously agreed to just avoid saying much of anything to each other yesterday. Maybe we both even hoped that with a little time and perspective, we could have a calm and rational discussion.

So, we stripped off and fed the babies until they fell asleep. Then we shifted them to their side bed/crib. After so many years of having kids in our bed, we've decided that having a bed (if they're older) or crib (when they're still babies) literally attached to the side of our bed is just easiest. That way, they're right there if they need us, and yet, we have our portion of the bed relatively to ourselves. Except for those times each night when a more mobile child scoots or crawls until they're laying on us.

Anyway, we set them in their area and I pulled you into my arms so we could snuggle as we tried to get comfortable in our new bed. It really was time to get a new bed as our old one had been expanded so many times that I think most of the cushioning had been spread a bit too thin. Plus, it really seems like Zaire and Jaz have decided to permanently room with Zwei, and so...

As I was saying, I held you in my arms and simply breathed in your scent as I drifted off to sleep. I know that we're both still rather angry at the other, but aside from the occasional snippy comment, we had a lovely day. I was so thankful so many times that I lost count, and honestly, falling asleep with you in my arms, being lucky enough that you still WANTED to be in my arms, well, it was the best part of the day - and that's really saying something as the ceremony was beautiful and spending the day with family and friends was as close to perfection as anything that's not you can get.

I'm not certain which one of us fell asleep first, but I do recall feeling you relax in my arms right before I drifted off.

I'm reasonably certain that our babies' elves (I can never remember their names since they were hired, rather than born to Muffy and named by me) took it upon themselves to handle ALL of the night feedings and other wake ups, because I'm pretty sure we both remained asleep all night long. I know I certainly felt refreshed when I woke up, and since you were still in bed with me, I can only hope that YOU managed to get a full night's sleep, and then some.

Honestly love, your habit of not being able to sleep when you're stressed, and thus staying up late plus waking up at your normal time or - Merlin forbid - EARLY, well, it's not healthy. I don't want you to feel guilty or panicky that you're letting yourself suffer again, but seriously, if you are having a hard time getting to sleep, just take a potion, or even half a potion. Please don't let your health slide.

I would make it an order, but just like I ordered you very early on in our relationship to never underestimate your own self worth, and despite promising to obey that order, you continually do what I ordered you not to, I know that ordering you to take care of you before anyone else would be one of those orders that you just can't obey. So rather than order, I will beg. I'll permanently charm the ceiling to glow the words: "Sleep my love," at night if I have to. Whatever it takes, just tell me, and I'll do it.

But anyway, as I was saying, I woke to you still in my arms. A quick look around let me know that the reason I was awake was that Pippa had come in to wake me. She was holding a sign that said: King's Cross, two hours.

Oh, right, that's today.

After she left the room, I pressed tiny kisses all over your face. There was a certain part of me that wanted you very urgently, but I wasn't going to wake you up with it until after we've resolved our current issues and I know that there's no reason why you might not like an abrupt and normally pleasant wake up.

To my relief, my kisses were soon returned. You seemed to purr happily as I stroked your back and groped your arse. At your encouragement, I shifted my mouth to your neck, and you shifted your hands from my shoulders to my shaft, inhaling a soft gasp of longing to find it ready and oh so needy.

Then you pushed me off you, and for a moment, I thought something was wrong. Maybe you urgently needed the loo, or maybe you were so hungry that you were going to vomit. Thank Salazar that neither of those was the case. Instead, you simply wanted to shift about until you had pillows piled up high enough that you could lay over them and relax while your arse was in the perfect position for me to worship, spank, lick, and pound.

Sadly, I had already been reminded that we didn't have all day. Thus, I spent far less time working you open with my tongue than I planned. That said, you were quaking ever so slightly in that way you do when you're so bloody turned on that you're hovering on the edge of orgasm. I barely had time to get inside you and you were already clutching the sheets and moaning. I could feel your muscles clench as if it was that moment just before climax, but then you took a breath and relaxed about a hair.

Deciding that I would be perfectly happy with quick as well, I pounded into you, reinforcing the mere dozen red handprints by spanking you with my body. The sounds coming from you made my toes curl. Even if I hadn't already been closing in on the edge, that probably would have done it. You started getting even tighter and I felt my balls curl up in that signal that I was about to pump you nice and full.

Salazar's pendulous bollocks! I have no idea why, but even all these years later and I STILL feel like the bliss I feel with you when we shag is the best I've ever felt. Like every single time manages to be the best time ever. Even when we're just having a quick and sleepy shag before getting up for an important day.

We lay together enjoying the aftermath for a few minutes, but then you remembered that it was September 1st. I know the exact moment you remembered because you inhaled a gasp. Then you flung the blanket off us and practically flew out of our new bed, which now that we've officially broken it in, feels really good.

Sighing and ever so slightly put out that I had to get out of bed hours before my preferred time, I followed you toward the loo before quickly changing my mind. If I went into the loo with you, I would either A: get distracted by your naked body in the shower or leaning over the vanity to brush your teeth, or hell! Simply standing in front of the toilet! Bloody hell! I literally JUST had you, and already I wanted you beyond all reason!

I think my libido might finally be back in full force, heh heh…

Or B: You would be half panicking, dead certain that we were running a good two hours late even though we were shockingly on time. Either way, it was probably best to avoid you until I was dressed and ready to go. Cleaning charms would just have to suffice until I had the time to take a proper shower which will definitely include shagging you.

Unless you decide the time is good to have that fight I can sense coming. Can't say that having a row in the shower would be all bad. At least the view would be good, and maybe we'd both have an incentive to finish quickly and make up.

Anyway, we both managed to get dressed in near record time. I was wearing a somewhat subdued but still magnificent suit, and even though you had wanted to wear a more comfortable pair of trousers and a jumper, you decided at the last minute that if our entire family was going to make a spectacle of ourselves, you may as well be dressed up for the occasion.

Besides, the Viper was probably going to be wearing an even more 'comfortable' version of whatever it is you initially thought to wear. The Tiger and Crew naturally had to leave last night so that they could have their own tearful goodbye on their Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Side note, remind me to talk about the conversation I had with the Tiger. It seems being confronted with a version of his son who is fairly passionately kissing girls made HIM freak out a bit too, and so, he and I had a rather in depth and interesting conversation about the various strategies and ways we can 'deal' with teenagers doing things they shouldn't be. Apparently, in the other world, things are harsh enough that my other self is not opposed to the calculated use of a Cruciatus Curse if that's what it takes. Just bind our son to a chair, show him a bunch of pictures of lots of different things, and every time a girl comes up, Curse him a little until he associates girls with terrible agonizing pain and wants nothing to do with them.

It seemed hilarious at the time.

Erm... I am in a rational enough frame of mind to recognize the bad in that idea...

Moving on.

Once ready, we joined the entire family for breakfast. Predictably, breakfast ran later than scheduled and we suddenly had to rush to King's Cross. A massive elf assisted Apparation later and we were all at the station. Cue the very teary scene.

Alright, strangely, I wasn't that teary eyed. MAYBE I'm finally getting a handle on this PPD monster after all, because I felt mostly parental pride with a hint of wistfulness and a dash or two of nostalgia. I was more happy than sad to see our Baby Viona get on that train. I was EXTREMELY happy to see that bloody ferret of hers get on the train!

I turned to slip my hand into yours, but you must have been overcome by your emotions and ran off to sob in the loo. I looked around in case you were simply standing somewhere else, but nope, nowhere to be seen. I chuckled, thinking that I should have known you'd go off to sob so as to not disturb anyone. After all, when it was Elena getting on that train, you wailed against my shoulder so much that someone got annoyed enough to take a picture of it and send it to the Prophet for immediate publishing so that you could be ridiculed - only their plan backfired because about 90 percent of the readers sympathized with you and sent you flowers and the like.

Anyway, with you off sobbing in the loo, or possibly already back home so that you could sob into one of your new pillows, I looked around again to make sure that the rest of our brood was still together and ready to leave the moment the train was out of sight. I wasn't super worried about another incident in which Fran Gorman kidnapped the wrong child (especially because she's firmly back in Azkaban) because each child that wasn't going to Hogwarts this year had their elf with them as a sort of unofficial bodyguard. No way in hell were we going to risk anything happening with so many of our children out in public at a time and place where we were EXPECTED to be out in public, and thus, a good time to pull shenanigans if someone wanted to.

Sorry, rambling! I think I'm unconsciously doing that thing you do when you don't want to talk about something directly.

Well, as I was looking around, I noticed a woman standing off to the side, trying to be unnoticeable, but veritably sobbing into a handkerchief. She was staring at our Viona, who was leaning out the window waving madly to all of us and exchanging shouts and promises with her siblings. Viona was also blowing kisses, even after having hugged and kissed us all before getting on the train.

I glanced over to where Hermione and Greg were waving at Viona, glad to see that Greg hadn't took his eyes off our girl long enough to notice anything else. Rather casually, I slipped back and then around behind the woman so that she wouldn't see me coming and run away.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" I asked softly.

"So beautiful!" Came a sobbed reply. Olivia apparently couldn't hold it together even a moment longer because she buried her face in my shoulder and cried so hard that I thought she might make herself sick.

I couldn't help but treat her like I would any one of our daughters if they were crying. By that, I mean that I stroked her hair and crooned soothingly.

"Oh luv, it's fine, get it all out."

"She's... She's just... so... HAPPY!" Olivia wailed. "My wish... came true!"

I wasn't paying attention to anything other than the woman in my arms, and the train blasting the warning that it was about to take off. Thus, I didn't notice the requisite reporter for the Daily Prophet take a picture of us until he asked if there was a titillating reason for the husband of the Savior to be cuddling a woman in public. He then went on to wonder if there was trouble in paradise since said Savior was mysteriously nowhere to be found at such an important occasion.

I told the reporter off in my poshest and most entitled tone of voice. Had you been next to me, you'd have probably gotten hard just listening to me.

FUCK! Now I'm horny again! And you're STILL nowhere to be found! You must be hiding in our closet.

Anyway, what I wanted to end on is this: If you should happen to see a picture of me in the Daily Prophet before I find you, of me holding a woman you've never seen before (and the angle the reporter took the picture with makes it look like we're having a rather scandalous embrace), try not to jump to the wrong conclusion.

But to finish up the telling, Greg noticed the reporter harassing me and came over to back me up - still my best henchman to the core, haha. After we were alone (well, alone in the crowd), Greg noticed Olivia, and to my surprise, put a hand on her shoulder and apologized. I can't be certain, but judging by the look on her face, I *might* be right about my suspicion about something happening between the two of them very long ago. Olivia looked hard and ready to murder Greg, but then Greg added:

"I know you have every right to hate me, but I've helped take care of Viona as if she were my very own. I'm not quite as stupid as I was, and I hope that maybe we could be friends?"

This seemed to soften Olivia. None of us really said a word because we were now watching the train leave. After it was gone, I made my excuses, giving Olivia's hand one last comforting squeeze before walking away. The last I saw her, she was tentatively talking to Greg. Maybe Millie will be able to reassure Olivia that Greg really isn't the boy he used to be.

I think that might be good for both of them, actually, to be friends after all this time. I can't imagine that Olivia's had it easy. Then again, she's also not had a track record of communicating more often than every couple years, so it's probably more likely that none of us will hear from her again until Viona's entering her third year.

Unlike the previous times in which all that happened was a question and a terse answer, THIS time was clearly an important to mention event, and so, this is me mentioning it to you right away. I truly wish you had been there to meet her for yourself and assure her that you love our girl every bit as much as I do, but since you're off hiding in the closet, I had the time to write it all down.

But now I'm going to go look for you. Hopefully you're ready to stop crying and rejoin me back in bed. If I can't find you in the closet, I'll look on your running track, and if we have to go for a long run before shagging in the North Meadow, then so be it.

Take my breath away,  
Draco


	213. Chapter 213

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry went and got himself into a tiny bit of trouble...

Wednesday September 1st  
My Wonderfully Patient, Kind, Understanding, most Amazing Husband that has ever existed,

So, here's the thing. I didn't exactly run off somewhere to cry. Don't get me wrong, I was definitely crying, but after finding a nice quiet hiding place, I decided to remain very quiet. Thus, no tears.

So, don't worry, I'm not upset that you were hugging someone who was also having an emotional reaction to the Hogwarts Express taking a child somewhere else. If anyone can understand missing Viona so much that they would go to extreme actions just to see her little face for one last moment, it would be me.

I wish I'd actually been around to see/meet Olivia. Thank her for bringing one of the best people I know into the world. Thank her for loving her enough to want something more for her than she was willing or able to give. Thank her for the strength of character she obviously passed down to our daughter.

So, uh, the sorting went wonderfully, our girl obviously sorted Slytherin if she hasn't already sent a message telling you so. The hat didn't even fully touch her head before it was shouting out its decision.

Side note: because of the history of animaguses making their way to Hogwarts and getting into the castle that way, there are now wards to prevent such a thing. Lucky for me, Minerva loves me and let me watch the sorting before she sent me to her office to wait for someone to come pick up her favorite wayward Gryffindor.

Can you come get me please?

I love you,  
Harry

 

Wednesday September 1st  
Oh Merlin!

You transformed into your fox form and hid in Viona's trunk, didn't you?

I should have seen this coming...

In any case, when I got a notification that you'd emailed me, I jumped at the chance to read it right away because I still couldn't find you and was getting ready to cast a Point Me. When I read that you were currently in McGonagall's office and needed to be picked up, I actually smacked my forehead and sighed.

But then something important occurred to me. McGonagall wasn't letting you simply Apparate or Floo home because she wanted you to feel sheepish. She wanted to give you a subtle punishment and couldn't just deduct 10 points from Gryffindor.

Thus, I had a brilliant idea. I sent her an Insta-owl asking her to have you in the Great Hall when I arrive shortly. I think she MAY have caught onto my thought, because she replied right away with a smirking face and a request to give her five minutes.

Five minutes later on the dot, I Flooed into the dedicated Student Floo that is monitored when in use. Normally it would be closed at this particular time, but McGonagall had ordered it opened for me. I followed Professor Vector - who was pleased to see me as Arithmancy was always one of my best subjects - until we reached the open doors for the Great Hall.

The timing was good as you had just finished (somewhat nervously) walking up to the head table.

McGonagall stood up and called for the students to quiet down and pay attention. "As you all should know, this year is the First Year for one of the children of a rather famous man. In honor of such an important occasion, the man himself has come to talk a little bit about the war and the events that made him famous. If any of you have any questions, NOW is the best time to ask them."

I leaned against the doorway and watched in amusement as you - flustered but perseverant - made a little speech about how the war was won through not just YOUR efforts, but through the efforts of a lot of good people. Then you answered a couple of questions such as: "What did he look like?" "Did You-Know-Who REALLY have no nose?" "Did he REALLY have a snake that ate people???" And: "DAD!!! Are you TRYING to embarrass me?!"

I loved the fact that you assured Viona that yes, you were definitely trying to embarrass her.

After letting you suffer for a good twenty minutes - and I say suffer loosely because I think you secretly loved every moment of having all those kids pestering you - I finally walked fully into the Hall and strode up the main aisle until I reached where you were standing in front of the Head Table.

"As requested, Headmistress, I'm here to retrieve my wayward husband," I murmured with a respectful nod of my head.

"Lovely to see you again, Mr. Malfoy. I'd say Harry has answered enough questions and you may bring him home now."

I think you were probably embarrassed at that point, because you blushed oh so becomingly and buried your face in my shoulder. I grinned, stroked your wild hair, and then tilted your chin up so that I could kiss you.

"DAAAADSSSS!!!!" Viona wailed in mortification. "GO *HOME* ALREADY!"

I broke off the kiss to smirk at you, and then grin at her. "Congratulations on Sorting Slytherin. I'll be sure to send your Sorting Present with Melissande before the weekend."

Looking rather chuffed, Viona returned my grin. "Good. See that you do!"

Tugging on your hand, I murmured in your ear: "Let's go home, my silly mutt."

Nodding, you kept a hold of my hand as we walked out of the Hall. As we passed her, you waved at our daughter and called out: "Love you Vivi! I'm so proud of you! I know you'll be a credit to Slytherin House!"

She looked like she was simultaneously trying to hide under the ground AND beam in pride. "Thanks dad! See you later!"

And that was the end of the excitement as we were able to finish walking out of the Hall and return home via Floo. My heart was so full of you that I just couldn't help myself. I simply HAD to throw you over my shoulder and carry you to our playroom.

In an eternity, you are the only breath of time that matters,  
Draco


	214. Chapter 214

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco reach a compromise over Mahafsoun.

Thursday September 2nd  
My Paranoid, Suspicious Husband,

No, of course I didn't just transform into my fox form and hide in my daughter's trunk! I would never do that. What an invasion of privacy!

Alright, I actually did do that. But not to be nosy. See, after the recent events I was concerned with the security measures of a place I was sending my child. I figured I was in the perfect position to test these measures. After much deliberation, a lot of deep thought, and careful planning I decided to transform into my fox form and stow away on the Hogwarts Express.

You'll be happy to know I slept almost the entire trip. I know you've been worried about my sleeping habits and now you've found out I got one of the longest naps I've ever taken. Isn't that wonderful and exactly what you want to hear? It must be good news for you.

The great news being the security measures hold up. As soon as Viona's trunk was brought into the castle McGonagall was alerted to my location. You know, nothing can quite fluster our Minnie. When the trunk was found to be belonging to one Miss Viona Malfoy, containing a highly dangerous unknown Animagus, Minerva McGonagall opened the trunk herself without a hint of fear in her eyes. She's certainly a Gryffindor through and through. Bravest of the brave I tell you. She didn't even seem surprised when she realized it was me and not some mad intruder hell-bent on causing havoc.

McGonagall's only confusion seemed to be that I was alone. "In all of your schemes Harry, there are usually two eager puppies along for the ride. It's usually three, why only one today?"

Once I transformed I responded. "Well Headmistress McGonagall, you see Hermione and Ron's eldest won't be coming until next year. I didn't think to ask them to help me test your security measures. Although I'm sure they will be happy to know how seriously you take their children's safety!"

Can you believe she didn't seem to believe my story? You believe me right? I'm just a concerned father who wants to assure the best for his child.

Fine! Fine, I'm a lunatic. Are you all happy? I couldn't handle the idea of my babiest baby going to Hogwarts without her Mum-Dah! I've been joking about smuggling myself in her trunk for years. Then I thought, Viona has heard me make that joke her whole life. What if I don't stow away in her trunks and she takes that as a sign I don't love her enough to hide in a box for an entire train ride? I couldn't disappoint my child and make her think I didn't love her now could I?

What? In my head you're giving me a look like you don't believe me. Alright, it was for ME. I needed to see her there safe and sound, but I couldn't take the experience of the Express away from her. So I transformed and hid and had hoped to be able to slip in unnoticed. I figured I would see the sorting and then head home. I wasn't counting on triggering the Animagus wards. I wasn't counting on Minerva catching me. I certainly wasn't counting on being sent to the Headmistress' office like a naughty schoolboy and then forced to answer questions for twenty minutes!

Side note: it's been a while since we've played Professor Malfoy and the Naughty Gryffindor. Just sayin'.

I'll have you know I was most decidedly not secretly enjoying the questioning from the school! It being children made it less awful than if I were being questioned by reporters or a room full of adults, but I still hated it. Although there were some really insightful questions. Obviously there were the ridiculous and hilarious ones you already mentioned about Voldemort's nose and other nonsense, but there were a few that I was really pleased to answer.

There was the student who asked if the true story was more like Skeeter's books or my own. There was a particularly good question on the grey areas each side fell into. It gave me the chance to really talk about both sides having flaws, both sides making choices that were wrong, and that there were people on the wrong side who still tried to do what was right. I may be a bit biased, but some of my most favorite people in the world were on the wrong side of the war.

I enjoyed reminding Vivi that not only was I there to embarrass her but that it was my job, and a job I take quite seriously.

There was one snot-nosed Gryffindor who tried asking about distrusting those 'Slimy Slytherins.' That may have been my very favorite part. I went into my usual spiel about there being wonderful Slytherins we never would have survived the war without, there being a pretty horrible Gryffindor who ruined my entire life, and house affiliation is no indicator of future quality of character.

He still had a shitty little smirk on his face so I went on and singled out our sweet Viona again, somehow I don't think she minded this one quite as much. "Do you see that drop dead gorgeous brunette sitting at the Slytherin table there? She's one of the kindest, cleverest, most loving people I've the privilege to know. I am unbearably proud of my Slytherin daughter, just as I was proud of my oldest daughter who was a Ravenclaw. Every person in this room would be lucky to have Viona, or any cunning and loyal Slytherin on their side." I could see a few boys side-eyeing our girl. "Especially anyone who isn't brave enough to stand up for themselves. We've taught our girl to break the arm of any person she ever sees touch someone else without consent. We've a bit of a punchcard, ten broken arms of people who can't keep their hands to themselves and we take her out for ice cream!"

Oddly enough that's right around the time McGonagall told me I could be done with questions! Weird how that worked out.

My very favorite part of the evening was looking up and seeing the most beautiful man in the world leaning up against the doors of the great hall, looking like every one of my childhood fantasies brought to life, the sexiest smirk on his face. That was my favorite part of the evening; my favorite part of the night was being manhandled into our playroom. Mmmm, nothing sexier than you throwing me over your shoulder to do what you please to me.

So very thrilled your libido is back in full swing. My body has most definitely missed you.

Topic Switch!

How was that for a segue?

I've had a few days to really think about our upcoming fight. I've decided I don't want to fight. I've managed to calm down. I'm well past bombarda levels. So I think I can talk about this calmly and rationally. Perhaps my ridiculously long nap yesterday had me well-rested enough for a better perspective.

First things first, I love you more than anything on this planet. You and our children. I would give up anything for you. I would work hard to give you anything your heart desires. You like the idea of me loving you enough for jealousy? That is insane, I love you with every ounce of my heart and soul. You own every bit of me, you're aiming really low if you're excited about basic jealousy levels of love.

Secondly, I am in strong support of implementing a new rule; all fights must happen in the shower. They will always include warm, wet, soapy skin, loving hands helping each other wash, and every fight can end in make-up shags. I can't wait to fight with you next!

Okay … Mahafsoun. Once I pulled back from my anger I was able to see I had been going too far in the other direction. I still think it was just an attempt to balance things since the whole world seems to have gone crazy, but I didn't react well. I don't want to change her innate personality. You know I don't have an issue with flirtation. I've been great friends with Blaise for years. I'm married to you. I can understand a natural flirt. But I still believe that we can give her the tools to tone down the flirtation, to have times of no flirtation, without shaming her for her natural tendencies.

I believe giving her clear boundaries of appropriate flirtation would be the best middle ground between my 'never flirt ever' and everyone else's 'isn't it adorable when she flirts with grown men.' Some good boundaries I think would be appropriate are trying to limit her flirtation to people in her own age group, no mouth kissing, and reading the other person's body language or voice to tell if the flirtation is unwelcome. For instance, I do not like the flirting. I cross my arms, I frown, my responses are quite short. This, in theory, should tell Mahafsoun that her flirtation is unwelcome to that person. Instead, she seems to try even harder to flirt. This is why I think it's less a natural tendency than everyone else seems to think it is.

And I think the people spending the most time with her need clear boundaries as well. YOU do not need to flirt with her. You keep going back and forth between paternal feelings and wanting to be her friend she outrageously flirts with. She is still a child, you can be her fun flirty friend when she's an adult. And if you truly want to be a father figure to her you need to wait until she is healed and ready to know what part of her is naturally flirtatious and what part of her flirts because it was taught to survive. She needs to know you will love her even if she never flirts again.

Here's where I think we may still end up fighting. I hope not. But this is where I get emotional and you tend to get emotional in response. You, growing up playing politics and other such word games, tend to use extremes when you speak. I had to learn very young to read into every word so I wouldn't accidentally earn myself a beating or a starving. I know we're arguing semantics at this point, which seems ridiculous, but it is what it is. When you say "she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" I take that literally. The words literally mean you find her to be more beautiful than any other girl. That's not my interpretation, it's the actual words. So whether or not you MEANT she was more beautiful than your daughters, you still said it.

I don't want you to hide your emotions. I don't want you to hide that you care about this girl. But I need you to not tell me in vivid detail that she is sunlight to you. If you want to think that makes me crazy, then so be it, but it actually hurts me when you talk about her in terms of lighting up your life. I want you to stop telling me that touching her made you purr. In reality I'd like touching her to not make you purr, but if it has to happen DON'T TELL ME. I feel sick to my stomach every time you use the word purr.

And this one is nonsense. This is me being weird and taking things too far and having completely unrealistic expectations. This is me being a neurotic controlling weirdo. I understand this, I really do. But I need you to stop touching her fucking hair. Stop touching it, stop describing it, I don't want to know if it's soft, or floaty, or beautiful, or any of that. Keep your hands to yourself and your descriptions to yourself. I know I'm being irrational. Please let me have this one?

If, after reading this, we can come to a healthy agreement we both feel happy with. If there are clear boundaries. I am willing to talk about the possibility of asking Mahafsoun to come live with us. I still don't think I can adopt her. I still don't think I should be adopting any more children. But we never adopted Miles and I love him as much as I do the rest of our children.

Unless you ever reference 'keeping her' like she's a housepet. In that case, I need to keep her away from you and River for her safety.

Let me know what you think.

All of my love (and jealousy, you weirdo)  
Harry

 

Thursday September 2nd  
The best husband in the world,

How's this for you? In addition to promising that I will most definitely refrain from touching or even noticing her hair - hair? What hair? She has hair? I hadn't noticed - AND doing my absolute best to keep all of my words and interactions with her appropriate, how about we do this? Rather than have her literally living here - where there's a trainwreck just waiting to happen between her and River - how about we have her stay in Elena's school?

Mahafsoun can stay in the dorm at Elena's school during the week, and then come here on the weekends when Elena comes home. That way, Mahafsoun will be in a place where she can literally practice ALL her other talents and interests to her heart's content.

Sound good?

And bonus, on the weekends, River is going to be rather busy for the next 8 or so months as Aya has decided that she is going to have him learning new techniques for an hour or so each day, and practicing the fuck out of them on the weekends. Thus, he'll be out of the house during the majority of the time she's in it. And when they are both in the house at the same time, we'll plan family activities so that they have to both be in our view at all times.

What do you think?

So, the weirdest thing... It seems my mother doesn't like Mahafsoun either. I went to invite her - either of them, really - to dance with me in the ballroom, and came upon my mother glaring and growling softly to herself as she watched my father be a perfectly lovely gentleman to Mahafsoun as they walked in the garden. He was not touching her inappropriately, although I will admit that she was flirting with him and he was lightly flirting back. He even picked a lovely orchid to put in her, erm, to tuck behind her ear.

In any case, my mother looked like she would quite like to murder her husband, and since they disappeared right after I saw them, I'm certain I do NOT want to know what might be happening between them at this moment.

That said, the interaction ended when I jogged over to Mahafsoun and asked her if she'd like to dance with me. She looked delighted to have an opportunity to practice her skills, and so, we adjourned to the ballroom. Rest assured, I decided that it would be for the best if I stuck to the least flirty dances, and so, led her through the Vienna Waltz. It's a flowing and lovely - extremely chaste - dance.

After a bit, she wondered if she could practice her bellydancing, and since that is a dance form I also love - and requires absolutely no touching - I decided that would be a brilliant idea.

So there we were, not touching each other and separated by a good 6 feet so that we wouldn't run over each other, when you came into the room to find me and glared a hole through me. I have no idea what I've done now, but I'm going to have to sign off and go find you to find out. I can't decide if I want to find you in the shower or not as it could mean sexy times, and it could also mean that it's finally time to have that fight. Sigh...

Contrite and not even sure why,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all of those who were siding with Harry over Draco, Please don't feel like Harry caved; he didn't. If anything, he got his way in a way that Draco felt was rational and reasonable. Considering that the problem wasn't the flirting itself, but rather the fact that it was happening with grown men, and Draco agreed to make sure he kept his interactions with her appropriate, Harry basically won, lol ^_^


	215. Chapter 215

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry reassures Draco and soothes his own jealousy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd swear I had posted this chapter yesterday, but after searching and refreshing and even restarting my computer, I can't find it. SO if I HAVE posted it and it's just not showing up for me for some reason, please let me know ^_^  
> Otherwise I'm batty and you can just ignore me, lol!

Thursday September 2nd  
My Sleepy, Sated Boy,

Now that I've shagged you senseless, I suppose I should look over your email and actually have a bit of a discussion. I didn't allow much talking a few minutes ago did I?

I absolutely love the idea of having Mahafsoun attend Lainie's school. Although this is not a decision we can make for her. The downside of me saying no to adoption months ago is that we have no legal claim to make decisions on her behalf. We would need to make sure it's something she wants first and foremost. Also, we need to speak with Tabitha. Currently Kisa is something of a temporary foster parent for Mahafsoun, but legally Unity House is responsible for her care. Despite my technical ownership, her legal guardianship is overseen by Tabitha.

She would also need to apply and be accepted at the school. I'm not particularly concerned about that since I have seen her musical talents and they're definitely high enough to earn a space at the school. Not to mention I have a pretty good relationship with the brilliant witch who owns the place, I could probably talk her into accepting the application!

If all of that goes well, I think it's a really good plan. She will have a place to stay full of other young people with similar passions. And she would have the benefit of a stable home to reside in during weekends and holidays. Foster brothers and sisters to spend time with. A family who cares for her.

I appreciate your willingness to respect my boundaries with your relationship with Mahafsoun. I truly think most of my boundaries are logical, rational, and in her best interest. Although it was very nice of you to ignore the fact that some of my feelings are completely illogical and loving me through my neurosis anyway.

Since I didn't really talk to you about my ballroom glaring I should probably explain it. I was not glaring at you. I was surprised. And I was both jealous and a bit angry. However, you are completely correct and there was nothing even close to impropriety happening. I walked in, looked at my gorgeous husband belly dancing, which you know makes me bloody horny as hell, and then I registered that you were doing that in front of, and with, her.

I was not mad. But I was jealous and a bit annoyed. Then I felt foolish and guilty for being jealous and annoyed. I didn't want to point any of my negative emotions towards her, so I ended up focusing on you in what appeared to be glaring a hole through you. I promise, you have no reason to be contrite, I just need to get more comfortable with the entire situation. If anything I probably would have been more annoyed if I had walked in during the waltz since it would have meant she was in your arms. Again, illogical, but that's the truth.

Your beautiful flushed skin is lying next to me in our playroom bed, I keep leaning over to lick and kiss you while you remain passed out. I still like the showering during fights idea, but when my jealousy gets the best of me I think I am going to try this new method. Tell me what you thought of it when you get a chance.

You came to find me, I'm not sure how many places you searched, but eventually you found me in the playroom. I think you were a bit surprised that I wasn't waiting for you knelt in submission, but standing in the tight black leathers you occasionally talk me into wearing.

Before you could say a word, I magically fitted a ball gag to your pretty mouth and then motioned to the bed. "If you want to fight, we can fight, but I'd rather soothe my jealousy in this way. Snapping your fingers will be your safe word. Nod and get that arse up on the bed if you agree."

You nodded and practically vaulted yourself onto the bed. I decided to take that as a good sign. As you were scrambling across the covers I vanished what little you were wearing, which wasn't much since you had just been belly dancing.

And again, I had no patience for doing things manually and magicked you strapped into wrist and ankle restraints. There was my beautiful man, bound naked and spread eagle for me to torture. I looked very carefully towards your hands just in case you were trying to snap your fingers. Nope, you even had your fingers spread out as wide as you could get them. Mmm, a very enthusiastic participant in my jealousy games.

Once I had you completely at my mercy I seemed to have all the patience in the world.

I started at your pale, thin, elegant feet. Kissing my way from your toes to the tops of your feet, to your ankles. Lavishing them with kisses and little nibbles. The entire time I interspersed the kisses with declarations of ownership. "These toes belong to me. I own this arch." When I reached your calves I added biting to the kisses and licks. "Mmm, my good boy, I could just eat you up, everyone will know this flesh is mine to worship," ending that sentence with a bite hard enough to bruise.

Bruising, marking, worshiping, and touching were my goals. I made my way up those beautiful legs, beard burns for the soft skin on your inner thighs, teeth marks for the muscle tissue, tiny kitten licks and kisses at the crease where your thigh meets groin.

I think the only time during the entire scene that you made sounds other than keening and moaning in pleasure was when I bypassed your needy cock to work my way up your abdomen. I made sure to cover your entire stomach with kisses, praising every millimeter of that amazing part of you. "I love this stomach, it has grown four of my beautiful children, given me a place to rest my head when I'm weary. This belongs to me."

I kissed, bruised, and scraped my way across your chest. The chest that holds the heart that owns my own heart. "Every heartbeat inside this chest belongs to me. You've stolen my heart, and this heart is the most precious thing I own."

Making my way to your face, I was able to hear better that some of your grunts and moans had a bit of language to them. As though you were trying to speak through the gag. Your gorgeous quicksilver eyes shining with unspilled tears. Since you tried smiling at me through the gag I had to assume they were happy tears. I kissed the soft, fragile skin of your eyelids. "These eyes which always see the best in me."

I kissed and worshiped the shell of your ears. "These ears that are always ready to listen to my hopes, joys, worries, and dreams."

I dragged my fingernails through your hair, massaging your scalp. "This brilliant mind, always churning to come up with ways to better our family's lives. And willing to do everything to better our world."

I kissed down your gorgeous, strong arms. "These arms that hold me. Keeping me safe from the world. Being my home no matter where we are."

"These hands, these fingers. They hold my heart. They create beautiful music. They hold our children as though they're the most precious gems."

When I was done kissing every inch of you I could reach I stared into your eyes. Hoping my love was shining out so you could see it.

Once your eyes softened I knew you could feel all of my love. Then it was time for you to feel owned.

I kissed every place I had softly worshiped, making sure my marks were everywhere. "These fingers are MINE, mine to feel pleasure through. These arms are MINE, mine to feel holding me down. These powerful legs are mine to feel flex as you use every muscle to thoroughly own me."

I quickly unsnapped your ankles, leaving your wrists bound, slamming your knees to your chest. "This arse. This most perfect arse. This arse that sculptors have spent years trying to recreate its perfection and haven't come close. Mine to devour." And I did. I kissed, licked, sucked, fingered, squeezed, stretched, used that arse. Spreading you wide and eating you until you shrieked with the pleasure-pain of it all."

And finally, "this arse belongs to me, it's mine to own, mine to fuck, mine to claim."

I slammed my cock into you and began to pound into you as rapidly as I could. I never slowed my pace, I never softened my thrusts. I simply pounded you until you came screaming behind your gag, untouched and covering the both of us in hot ropes of cum. Your release and your arse clenching around me was the only thing to stop my frantic thrusts. I came deep inside of you, screaming out, "My Dragon!" as I filled you.

You had passed out, so I unstrapped your from the wrist restraints, removed your gag, massaged your muscles, and once I felt your breathing change from blacked out panting to deep restful sleepy breathing I decided to get down everything that happened before I could forget a moment.

You are the most beautiful vision. Spread out, wrecked from my passion. Covered in bruises and bites. Sticky, sweaty, and flushed. Beautiful from our passion and our love. You are every ounce of light in my once dark world.

I love you Draco Lucius Malfoy.

Yours,  
Harry James Malfoy

 

Friday September 3rd  
The dearest part of my heart,

I got up for a night feeding around 4 in the morning, determined to let you sleep a little longer since you typically get up around 6 or 7 anyway. It's was probably a good thing I did since I hadn't remembered to package up and send Viona's Sorting gift.

We all knew she was going to Sort Slytherin, so I'd taken the liberty of having a nice necklace made for her. It's rather simple actually, a gold chain with an emerald pendant wrapped in gold and bearing the little snake emblem - in silver - from the Slytherin Crest. (Like my newest tattoo, remember?)

Once that was safely attached to Melissande and on its way to Hogwarts, I finished feeding Persephone. I had already fed Orion (I mean Caelum, damnit! Too many kids!) as he'd woken first, then had an elf wake and feed Lily while I fed Seph. The moment they were full, changed, and back in bed, I had a few moments to examine my lovely marked up body.

You know, the next time I get a tattoo, I think I might like to get an exact replica of your lips kissing my hip in the center of a permanently tattooed bruise. Or maybe your mouth biting my hip with a little blood dripping and a lovely bruise surrounding it. We'll see.

In any case, seeing such strong and copious evidence that you own me as much as I own you, I was overcome with a powerful need to have you. So - despite my desire to let you sleep as long as you can - I set about waking one of my favorite parts of you. I seriously contemplated shagging the bloody hell out of you, but ultimately decided that a nice little wake up and accompanying orgasm to put you back to sleep would be better.

So I took my time licking and sucking you to attention. Then I slowly and gently milked you for every last drop. By the time I was done, you were purring more than Venus (who was being a pervert and watching us from the headboard, but thankfully, Bear was sound asleep sprawled across her place of honor on my pillow).

Not so surprisingly, you'd put me to sleep a few hours before my preferred bedtime, and so, I was already wide awake, or at the very least, I had a bit of energy to use up before going back to sleep. So I padded to the ballroom to do a bit of Krav Maga followed by firedancing.

Hazel and Eris joined me, claiming that they were having a hard time sleeping without Viona - and surprise surprise, Orion followed soon after. I know that the four of them still tend to sleep snuggled in a pile like puppies, but I thought Viona'd made a point to stay in her own bed for the last week or so in order for them all to get used to her being on her own.

I hope she's not having a hard time sleeping too. That said, the welcoming feast - and then first day of classes - does tend to make kids sleepy. I think they may actually put a hint of sleeping potion in the food to make sure that the kids are able to settle down and get a good night's rest on an otherwise overly exciting day. Never actually asked, but I do remember sleeping rather well my first day back to school after summer hols.

Oh, Muffy just popped in to tell me that she's using one of the other owls to send that care package you made up for Viona of homemade biscuits and little squares of dark chocolate with caramel, pecans, and sea salt (Viona's favorite) that you magically stamped with hearts encircling her nickname.

You are just too wonderful sometimes!

Well now, it seems that Harrison is ALSO having trouble sleeping as he's just joined our Poi circle. Poor lamb! He's also used to being part of a quartet, but unlike our almost triplets only missing Viona, the majority of his quartet has gone off and left him. I'm willing to bet he rooms with our kiddos until they all feel better.

But I'm done taking a break to drink water and write this email, so I'm going to sign off and get back to dancing. Come join us if we're still at it when you wake up.

Your love is better than ice cream, better than anything else that I've tried,  
Draco  
P.S. My gorgeous bruising and other marks quite concerned and then scandalized our kids once I explained why I was just fine, buwahahahahaha!

P.P.S. Mahafsoun just arrived to join in on the dancing. Apparently she hadn't been told that Hazel is still in possession of a couple of the wrong parts, and was so confused that she nearly couldn't dance without tripping over her own feet, haha.


	216. Chapter 216

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is once again waiting for Draco to get ready, meanwhile, Draco is waiting for Harry to come find him.

Saturday September 4, 2010

My Love,

You are, once again, somewhere in your closet getting ready. I honestly still don't understand how this happens. For most of our bigger events I ask you to pick out my clothes. You seem to have no problem doing this. I woke this morning to you having already laid out my pressed charcoal pants, the grey and green button down, with the green and grey waistcoat on top. You already knew what I was going to wear when you went to bed last night.

Now I've gotten myself ready, topped off the tanks of the three babes and gotten them all dressed, dressed Jaz, made sure the mischief twins' pockets were empty of wheeze's products, and helped Zaire change three times. You … are still getting your solitary self ready. Or you've gotten lost in the closets and haven't sent out a signal flare for help.

Why, you ask, did Zaire need to change three times? That's a super fun story. I really do think Zaire is most similar to me. He likes an early morning, he wants to be outside as often as he can, and he would spend all day baking or drawing or cooking to show someone he loves them. However, he's as particular about clothing as you are. He knows what he likes.

I will say that he probably only would have changed twice, but I was still in my jams when he was getting into the first two outfits, the third change was because he saw what I was wearing and decided we needed to match. Little man wants to match his Daddy, who was I to argue? And he looks ridiculously handsome I must say.

Since everyone else is ready to head over to Greg and Millie's for Greta's birthday party I figured I would kill time writing to you.

I think it's funny that Viona's sorting gift was a Slytherin necklace. What would you have done if she had sorted somewhere else. I know we were both sure she would sort Slytherin, and obviously she did, but it wasn't a one hundred percent chance. Did you have four necklaces made just in case? Did you just have a neutral backup? Or were you so very certain that it would be Slytherin that you didn't have a backup plan?

And seriously Draco? "Like my newest tattoo, remember?" Are you kidding me? No, I completely forgot about it.

Lainie's was easier I think. She could have fit into any of the houses honestly. She really does have traits of most of the houses. So a beautiful bracelet with her birthstone was probably the best choice. And she's so passionate about everything that those fiery opals were perfect for her even if it hadn't been her birthstone. She mostly saves it for special occasions, but I do love seeing her wear it still. She had it on for her school's grand opening did you notice?

I hope our Vivi is settling in well. She wanted to stay at Hogwarts until at least next weekend. I already miss her like crazy, but I understand wanting to settle in and make friends. I know you were worried about her sleeping without Eri, Ori, and Haz, but I think she'll be just fine. She's in a dorm full of other kids. I'd be much more worried about Harrison rooming alone than about Viona rooming with her fellow snakes. I'm glad our almost triplets told him in no uncertain terms that he WAS going to sleep in their rooms for as long as he was lonely.

I don't know if he's ever going to leave. He may just room with them until they all head off to Hogwarts together next year!

I'm sorry I missed the fire dancing the other day. I woke up feeling well rested and refreshed. Instead of sitting to read my email, I decided to go for a run and then play in the garden for a few hours. By the time I started searching for everyone you had all finished dancing. Since it doesn't seem to bother Hazel, I do get a kick out of people's reactions to her physically. Sirius had the best reaction I think, he just got wide eyed and didn't say another word and didn't make things weird. But Mahafsoun could barely keep dancing? That's all sorts of extreme for her!

Have you noticed how much more confident about her body Hazel has been since starting the hormone potions? It's like the extra plumbing barely bothers her at all now that her features are softening and she's developing a bit. I think she's just feeling much more comfortable in her skin. I'm so relieved it's been a positive transition so far. I 'knew' it was the right call, but I couldn't help but worry that something would go wrong. I'm not sure if you knew this about me or not, but I tend to worry.

I should really come check and make sure you didn't get tangled up in a web of ties or something.

Oh, no wait, I was going to say something about your tattoo idea. You said something about a tattoo looking like my mouth on a love bite? What if I literally gave you a love bite and see if Neil can tattoo it directly on the spot. That way it's not only signifying the bruise, but it actually preserves a real love bite from me. Just an idea.

Anyway, wish me luck, I'm off on a recovery expedition!

Love you,  
Harry

 

Saturday September 4th  
My darling,

I'm so sorry! I know that getting ready for a kids' party is absolutely the worst time to get so horny that I can't focus on putting clothes on, but that's what happened. I wandered around trying to find something good to wear, but I kept getting distracted by things like leather pants and that cage neither of us really like, which is why it's not in the playroom with the rest of the toys.

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by need, so I stripped off, put the cage on, and then tied myself up with a bunch of old Gryffindor ties. After that, I resigned myself to waiting to see how long it would take for you to come looking for me.

I didn't have long to wait. It seems that you thought I was taking too long and came looking for me within just a few minutes of me being bound and waiting for you. I felt my breath hitch when I heard you coming.

Oh the look in your eyes!

So... Greta's fourth birthday party was interesting...

With all my heart,  
Draco  
P.S. YES!!! Let's have Neil do exactly that!


	217. Chapter 217

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the boys to visit Tiger's world for a day.

Monday September 6th  
Draco,

I have to apologize, I opened your mail. You know I don’t do that very often or ever really. But based on size and sender, I had a fairly good guess on its contents. I didn’t want one of the kids coming in and opening it thinking they might luck out and have it be a delivery from that chocolatier you love.

So, when you have a moment could you please come retrieve the souvenir Grandmama sent us? Or maybe see if Viper wants it, seeing as he was harmed by the previous owner of said souvenir more than either of us were?

Oh, speaking of Viper, I received some of my own post. Ok it wasn’t just addressed to me, but this one did contain both of our names. Bloody weird the way my life has gone, I received mail from someone who lives in my home to invite me to a wedding that’s going to be held in another universe.

I would not go back in time to tell Harry in the closet about this one.

Yours, Harry

 

Saturday September 18th,  
My love,

Thank all the Gods, we've had such a calm and mellow couple of weeks that we haven't really had much to write each other about. I just now went and reread your last email, and I have to admit that I didn't see that coming. I honestly thought that if Grandmama was going to be sending any skulls to anyone, that she'd have sent one to Imogen Hughes, but perhaps she didn't want to risk anyone at Unity House wondering why one of the girls staying there is receiving skulls.

I honestly didn't think Grandmama would think the offense was one worth punishing quite so harshly, especially since Gorman was caught right away and sent back to Azkaban. But then again, Grandmama really loves you and you were quite distressed. So, she probably thought about how much more distressed you'd be if it was our beloved Hazel taken in the future - presuming that Gorman understands who her actual child is. And knowing that you'd be even more upset if Hazel was taken, Grandmama probably decided to ensure that could never happen.

She honestly scares me sometimes...

In any case, as you said, we received invitations to the wedding of Viper and Tiger. I have absolutely no shame in admitting that I'm extremely glad that we didn't have to do a single thing to help them plan or finalize and implement their plans. You and I got to simply stay at home and enjoy our leisure time. Such as it is.

Viper returned to his other world on Friday September 10th as he already had planned - since he's been doing an every other week/end thing. They felt it was important for them to keep the consistency of Viper there one week, Tiger and crew here one week, Viper there the next weekend, and then home a weekend before taking off again for the week.

I can appreciate them keeping a set schedule since it helps me remember when they're where. Oh who am I kidding?! It helps Pippa, hahaha!

In any case, since they already had those plans set, it was easy enough for them to fit their wedding in.

It was a simple but oh so lovely affair. Since Viper wanted his kids there for the wedding, not only did they come home from Hogwarts for the weekend, but then they were brought here to the other world this morning so they could get all dressed up and ready to watch their dad get married to the love of his life.

But because this is a world in which a multitude of insane people want to murder his kids, the Viper was taking no chances. He begged the Tiger to have the wedding behind centuries of wards on Manor grounds. Apparently the Tiger hasn't really been back to the Manor here in ages, and so, had to make a point of ordering all the elves that are still here to make sure it was clean and ready for a wedding.

Can you believe he was actually surprised when his Muffy told him that they weren't stupid elves and that of course the Manor was clean and ready for any occasion. I about died when the Viper confided that to us, buwahahaha!

Tiger also left it up to the elves to decorate the Manor for the wedding in the way he specified. And then consented to Viper's Molly and Hermione coming in and helping out. However, apparently the Tiger's been so busy working the last few years that he hasn't really kept in touch with his Pansy, Blaise, and Greg. Thus not only did they not help with the wedding at all, but he was shocked when they RSVP'd that they were definitely coming.

It seems that in this world, Pansy and Blaise actually got married but haven't had any kids yet. Ron and Hermione got married and have only had two kids, and Greg only very recently started dating Millicent - who has also been rather busy working and not looking for love until a couple months back, which means no Mason or Greta here yet.

Anyway, it was a bit hilarious when we arrived. Viper had come to our world this morning to pick us all up. I was carrying both our bespoke suits over one arm but was only wearing a pair of pants and a light set of blue robes - basically my comfy clothes until it was time to get dressed. You were wearing black track pants and a white singlet and torn between being excited to attend their wedding and feeling bad that we were leaving all our kids behind for the day, even though they were well occupied by their grandparents.

After forming a circle of hands, Viper activated the spell and brought us all directly to the Manor in the other World. Apparently he's tried, and the Manor and Tiger's flat are the only two places he can arrive, which is well enough since both places are protected. In the Manor, we called for Muffy to tell us where the Tiger and everyone else was, and were told that they were all finalizing the seating arrangement on the South Lawn. So we walked out there to join them.

Apparently the Viper didn't think to tell his Weasleys and miscellaneous friends that he had invited us. In fact, I'm not entirely sure they believed that he was staying in another world until the moment the two of you and one of me walked over to the other me. Their eyes were all bigger than saucers, hahahahaha!

Meanwhile, you couldn't help but gasp. "Your Mione really IS white!"

I chuckled. "Unfortunately, his Ron is still ginger."

You backhanded me across the chest. "Oi! OUR SON is ginger!"

"Yeah, but he happens to be blessed with Malfoy genes, so it looks good on him," I pointed out with a becoming smirk. You harrumphed but let the matter drop.

Viper looked awkward for a moment. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, I was wondering something…"

"Yeah?" You asked curiously.

"See, my Draco is having his Pansy, Blaise, and Greg stand up with him, and I'm having my Ron and Hermione. I was wondering if you wanted to stand up with me too, Harry?"

You grinned at him. "I'd love to, but what about your Neville?"

Viper shrugged. "He's off on holiday with his wife Hannah."

"He married a woman???" You blurted out in surprise.

"Apparently," Viper murmured, looking a little baffled himself.

"But what about Charlie?!" You demanded.

His Ron looked confused. "My brother Charlie???"

"Yeah, he and Neville have been married for a couple of years in our world. They even have a baby!" You explained.

Ron stroked his chin in thought. "Well, my brother Charlie IS gay, but he's never married anyone, nor had any kids. Neville never seemed even slightly gay, and got married to Hannah before Hermione and I let Malfoy apprehend us in an plot to murder Moldypants."

You and Viper both snorted in amusement.

I was pinching my chin in thought. "That actually makes a bit of sense," I said. "Remember, Neville was afraid to identify as gay while his Grandmother was still alive and he was so afraid of disappointing her that he was planning to just never let her know that he was seeing Charlie."

"That's true," you admitted. Then added with a grin: "It took you flirting outrageously with Charlie to get Neville to even admit how serious he was about him."

I grinned at you in return. "Had to show him my Antipodean Opaleye in front of a bunch of perverted women in Neville's shop."

It was Ron's turn to snort. "Show him your what?!"

Rather than answer, I magicked my robe open and turned around as I let it fall to the ground. I could feel your hands caressing my tattoo.

"Draco got this just after we got together. He says the Opaleye is his favorite dragon, but he made the eyes green because he wanted them to match mine."

I turned my head to give you a quick kiss.

The Tiger sighed as if he was thinking that watching us kiss was like watching his son was snogging while in that awkward age where he probably CAN snog, but that still doesn't mean the Tiger wants to see it. We can probably both relate to that, can't we? Hahahahaha!

"Well, since there are obviously enough people here to finish things up, I think I'll start getting ready," Tiger stated.

I scoffed a laugh. "The wedding isn't until 1! What could YOU possibly have to do to get ready that'll take that long?!"

He glared at me. "I'll have you know that I fully plan to get dressed up. I might even do everything YOU do in your daily routine - only it'll take me three times longer because I don't do it every day!"

"Thank Merlin!" The Viper cheered.

I made sure my nose was in the air nice and high. "I'll have you know that I like taking excellent care of my skin. And I'm glad I do as I can see a definite difference in our skin. Yours look like you've never seen the sun and have completely forgotten the meaning and purpose of moisturizer. Whereas I have lovely skin and you'd never even know that I spend as much time as possible in the sun."

You backed me up. "Yeah, we were just in the Maldives for three weeks, wearing as little as possible and swimming, hiking, or just plain old basking on the beach, and the only difference is that my dragon's skin is a bit more golden than usual."

I loved the way your hands ran down my body to illustrate your point. 

Tiger harrumphed. "Lazy layabout! Unlike you, I don't have time for such nonsense because I WORK!"

I shrugged. "I work, I simply chose to own businesses and have a ton of kids as my career."

Viper laughed. "A ton of kids is right!"

This made Delphini sigh wistfully. "I wish Della and Viona could have been here at the very least."

Viper patted her on the shoulder. "I'm really not certain that I COULD take so many people with me, Del. Besides, you'll be back home and back at Hogwarts tomorrow."

"I know..." she murmured.

"As I was saying, I'm off to get ready," Tiger reiterated as he strode away.

Viper chuckled. "It won't take me long at all, so I may as well help you all finish up here."

"We're almost done," Molly assured him.

"I volunteer to go help out in the kitchen!" You cried out happily. "I can even bake a batch or two of your favorite biscuits while I'm at it!"

I kissed you. "If you're going to be baking biscuits for the wedding, bake a batch of cranberry almond, and a batch of garlic lemon for me please."

"Will do!" You agreed before Apparating to the kitchen.

This left me not quite sure what to do. "I suppose I could help..." I called for Muffy, who popped up confused but obedient. "Bring these to the White Room, please, as my Harry and I will be getting ready in there later."

"Yes, erm… Master Draco...?"

"Thanks luv," I praised her, even petting her head. She melted a bit before popping off to do as told.

It was then that Blaise and Pansy arrived with Greg and Millie. They even had Theo, Daphne, and Astoria with them. All of them looked quite fashionable, but also, it was apparent that they weren't in their formal attire just yet. They hadn't (as I'd already said) seen their Draco in quite some time, and so, mistook me for him.

"Salazar buggering Slytherin, Draco! When the bloody hell did you get so many tattoos???" They demanded since I was still in my pants, not having bothered to put my robe back on since no one had insisted.

I decided to mess with them. "Huh? Oh, I've had these forever. My Opaleye represents Harry while all of these represent our kids. Starting at the top of my left arm, this is Elena, Viona, Eris, and Hazel, while on my right arm I have River, Orion, Siri, and Zwei. I have yet to put Zaire, Jaz, Persephone, Lily, or Caelum on me yet, but since I am clearly out of room on my arms, I'll probably have to put them on my back."

Viper smirked at me, probably also finding it funny that his Draco's friends were looking at me like I was a giant insect. "I've been meaning to ask, why didn't you get those tattoos when you went into to get that one?" He swiped his finger across the little Slytherin snake just above my heart on the front of my shoulder.

"I could have gotten one for Zaire - I suppose - since he's old enough to have definite color and style preferences, but I decided to wait until Jasmine is a little older so that I can get them both done at the same time. I'm not certain Jaz could pick a single color at this point."

"Wait, which one is Hazel?" Harrison asked with interest. I pointed it out to him. "Huh... I always thought her favorite color was gold and blue, but her dragon is shades of purple."

I laughed softly. "Even then, she was highly into fashion. She wanted a Dragon that would look good on a runway! But yes, her favorite color is purple, she just tends to wear blue more because it looks good on her and Eris and Viona both like to wear blue too."

"WAIT JUST A BLOODY MINUTE!!!" Pansy demanded in a roar. "Are you telling us that you've had a fuck load of kids and never TOLD us?!?!"

I smirked at her. "Well yes, I have. But if it's any consolation, I've told MY Pansy. She's Godmother to one of my children. So are Blaise and Greg, actually. Erm, Godfathers, that is."

She exchanged a look with her fellow Slytherins. "Erm..."

That's when you just so happened to pop back outside a moment. "Bloody hell, Draco! These stuffed mushrooms are to DIE for! Whattaya think? Should I ask for the recipe?"

I carefully chewed the mushroom, kissing you a couple of times before I was finished. "Mmm, yes, very tasty. Definitely get the recipe."

Tommy stuck his tongue out in mild disgust. "Blech! WHY are mushrooms on the menu?"

Viper shrugged. "Draco loves them, and since it's his wedding too, he gets whatever he wants."

"I daresay he probably would have gotten his way no matter what you said," I hypothesized with a smirk.

Viper laughed. "True! But I was just so fucking happy he wanted me to marry him that I didn't argue anything!"

You laughed. "I was the same way for our wedding! It got to the point where MY Draco got upset and told me to stop agreeing with everything he said."

I gave you a smoky grin. "We've been married 11 years now and I STILL find it hard to believe how agreeable you are."

The Viper put a hand between us before we could kiss again. "Stop before you get disgusting. No need for the guests to lose their appetites this early on."

You gave him a mischievous grin. "Oh I dunno, most people usually find it hotter than the bloody sun when we kiss or shag in front of them."

"I wouldn't mind," Blaise added, unsurprisingly in my opinion.

"Oh, you must be a Veela in this world too," I remarked with a flirty smile at him.

But Pansy was still trying to catch up. "WAIT JUST A BLOODY MINUTE!!! WHAT IN MERLIN'S FLATULENT SPHINCTER IS GOING ON HERE?!?!"

"A wedding between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, of course," I replied with a cheeky grin. "Why? What did you think was happening?"

But before anyone could say anything, the Tiger popped back out into the yard. "Merlin's crooked nose! I HATE to admit it, but I need your bloody help!" He grabbed my hand and Apparated me to his Suite.

The moment we were alone, I decided to wind him up by pulling him into my arms and giving him a thorough kiss. "Want me to give you a pre-wedding blowjob to calm you down?"

This suggestion apparently hit him like a punch to the gut, making him gasp. "Any other day and I'd at least go ask my Harry if he would be okay with that, but today is CLEARLY not the right day for that! BUT FUCK!!! I could really USE a blow job!"

I hummed in sympathy as I rubbed his shoulders. "What's the matter? Your Harry not wake you up with a good hard shag this morning?"

Tiger sighed. "He tried, but the moment I was awake enough to remember what day it was, I jumped out of bed and started running around like a chicken with its head cut off."

I chuckled. "Well there's your problem right there! Oh well, since a blow job is off the table, what did you have in mind?"

"Tying me up - Er! I m-m-mean rope, face, ROUTINE!!!" He blurted out, clearly flustered. "I want you to help me with your beauty routine!"

I smirked at him downright evilly. "Got it! You want me to tie you up and make you look all pretty!"

He managed to compose himself enough to give me a flat look.

"No worries!" I promised, mostly sincerely. Then I conjured a nice thin black rope. "No one will even know you're wearing it until your Harry takes your clothes off tonight."

He looked uncertain for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, do your worst!"

Powerfully tempted to do exactly that, I gave him a lingering kiss until I felt him relax just a bit. Then I quickly stripped him off and put him in a basic Karada harness. For as much as I was giving him a hard time about his skin, it really is on the dry side, but even so, his body is extremely slender and svelte. Almost alarmingly so.

Pressing little kisses to his body as I worked, I murmured: "You know, if you're serious about having a baby, you REALLY aught to eat better."

He spluttered in alarm. "ME have the baby?!?!"

"Oh? Did your Harry say he'd do it?" I inquired.

"Well, no..." he admitted.

I was solemn and didn't make him look me in the eye as I said: "Considering what he already went through, do you really think it's fair to make him carry another child?"

He was quiet until I finished up the harness. "I suppose not. But wouldn't it be bad for a child for me to work such a stressful job while pregnant?"

"So work less hours," I suggested. "I'm not saying quit, simply sort through all of your cases and prioritize them. Unless a case is BOTH important AND makes you happy or fulfills you in some way, let it go until you've had the baby and are ready to work more hours again. And even then, I bet you'll have a healthier concept of the cases you should be working and the ones you should pass along to others. In fact, you're a Malfoy. Why in the bloody hell haven't you hired a fuckload of employees to ensure that all the cases you want worked get worked, just not necessarily by you?"

"Huh..." He uttered in thought. I let him think that over in silence as I went through my entire routine on him. It's one I've been doing since Hogwarts, and so, he still had all the right products. Actually, he even had one I used to LOVE but had been discontinued years ago.

Not that I'm trying to make bad generalizations or stereotype anyone, but I felt like I was channeling one of those 'flaming' gay fashionistas. I caught myself almost saying: "Oh gurl! What *have* you been doing to your hair?! When was the last time you touched a nail file, let alone USED it?!"

Instead, I kept silent as I steadily trimmed his hair, groomed his nails, temporarily magicked his harness off so that I could scrub him up and buff his skin - which is not as fun as it probably sounds; it's an exfoliation thing. After his harness was back in place, and it was probably about half 11 by this point, I started helping him into his wedding clothes. I was interested to note that his robes were similar to the ones I'd worn. Except he'd chosen black robes with dragons embroidered very subtly in black thread.

When every part of him was as perfect as it was going to get - and he was definitely a LOT calmer than he had been (and not likely to get any calmer without an actual blow job) - I found that it was time to leave him for a bit so that I could go to the White Room and get myself ready. You too if you weren't already, but I had to trust you were since your clothes were missing and you were nowhere to be found.

When I returned to the Tiger's side, he was in his designated tent waiting for the ceremony to start. Apparently, he was still in the middle of catching his friends up on his last several years of life. They'd heard some from the Viper and others, but since the both of you had warned his friends to NOT interrupt the beauty routine if they cherished their lives, they'd left us to get ready in peace.

After a quick check to be certain he hadn't fucked anything up since I last seen him, I kissed his cheek and wished him luck. Then I went to find my seat. Except he grabbed my sleeve and prevented me from leaving.

Not looking at anyone, and probably pretending his friends weren't in the room, he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Erm... any... any advice on... well, how to get through my vows?"

"Ah," I murmured in understanding. "You haven't had any reason to practice saying the L word, have you?"

He shook his head.

I chuckled. "I had to practice saying it to my mirror for days before I could get it out without tripping over my tongue. Since we don't have days, I suggest that you look at his hand in yours and pretend that you are completely alone as you say your vows."

"Is that what you had to do?" He wondered.

"Worse!" I exclaimed with a laugh. "I decided to say it in a way he'd mentioned in passing early on - how he pictured his future husband singing a certain song in his ear. So, after making my vows, I sang that song."

Before he could even ask what song I was talking about, I burst out with: "At last my love has come along, my lonely days are over and life is like a song -"

"Hey!" You protested as you barged into the tent. "That's MY song! Don't you DARE sing it to anyone else!"

I pulled you into my arms and gave you a kiss. "I wasn't singing it to him; I was demonstrating which song I sang to you during our wedding."

You gave me one of those looks that made it clear you didn't care about the distinction.

"Sorry," I murmured. "I didn't realize that you were so possessive of our song."

Deciding not to make a big deal out of it at the moment, you looked at the Tiger and tilted your head toward the Altar. "If you linger in here any longer, I'm dead certain that your Harry is going to wring his hands clean off."

"Wouldn't want that," Tiger murmured with a chuckle.

"Escort me to my seat?" I asked with a pretty pout.

The next 20 or so minutes passed in a bit of a blur, if I'm honest. I sat in the front row with Viper's kids and the music started. Ron and Pansy emerged first, followed by Blaise and Hermione, and lastly, you and Greg. I could see that you'd had a chance at some point to set Greg's mind at ease about walking down the aisle with you. He even seemed a little relieved that you were being so nice to him.

The Ceremony started with an officiant I've never met or even seen before. An older witch. She seemed a bit like Grandmama actually. Soft and tender toward 'her' children, but hard as rocks toward everyone else. She ruminated on the qualities of a successful marriage for a bit, and then recited a lovely blessing.

Finally, she got around to asking the all important question: "Do you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, take Harry James Potter to be your legally wedded husband?"

Before Tiger got a chance to answer, the unthinkable happened. The wards - not JUST centuries of wards keyed to our blood, but ALSO the fuckload they'd added at the Viper's insistence - shattered. Clearly, the intruders had enlisted the aid of a few high quality, professional curse breakers/ward specialists.

There was a group of about twenty people now surrounding us. But perhaps they weren't counting on the fact that the audience itself was made up of mostly highly accomplished and powerful witches and wizards, because I wasn't the only one who reacted automatically. Even as I pulled the kids into me and cast a powerful shield to give me time and protection to cast wards and other spells (more on that in a moment), everyone else leapt to their feet and engaged in what was not just a surprise ambush, but a full on battle.

"Find the kids!" A man roared, presumably to remind his minions of their orders.

I knew they didn't have a ice wraith's chance in a Fiendfyre because one Harry Potter is a force to be reckoned with; TWO is more than likely impossible to overcome.

I'm not sure if Viper and Tiger gave any real thought to what exactly they should/would do in this situation, but since we have so many kids and a tendency to find trouble wherever we go, I'd come up with something that I implemented while the intruders were distracted battling the guests.

"Kids, quick!" I hissed urgently. "While we have a few moments of privacy before my wards are discovered and shattered, get into this bag."

"No way in bloody hell!" Delphini hissed in return. "We can help! We know defensive spells now!"

"Good. Save it for if we're all murdered and you need to defend yourselves. In the meantime, bloody do what I say before I have to transfigure you into sticks and toss you in the bag anyway!"

Growling but able to admit that I had a point, they reluctantly let me shove them into a bag I had in my pocket that was greatly expanded on the inside. I'd actually put a whole sitting room in there, complete with a stasis box full of snacks and a never ending pot of tea.

Meanwhile, I'd nearly missed the show. Unsurprisingly, YOU had a rage halo surrounding you. Somewhat surprisingly, so did the Viper. Only his was smaller and much more contained. It was almost like he was wearing a crown of fiery power - as opposed to your entire aura crackling and on fire.

You were using your wand to stun or petrify people. If you saw someone cast a nasty curse, you'd counter with a hex that would probably hurt a lot but not cause permanent damage. The VIPER - on the other hand - was moving at an astonishing speed, going around and physically knocking people out, breaking limbs and causing other extreme pain as he felt necessary, but not quite killing anyone.

I get the feeling that he would have had absolutely NO problems killing them all if it wouldn't put a permanent black mark on his wedding day.

When it was all over and the intruders incarcerated - Viper's halo disappeared rather abruptly. He turned to look at his Draco across the crowd, and called out: "Oi! I'd really appreciate it if you answered that question before I die from waiting - or something ELSE bloody happens!"

Looking a bit like he was feeling like this simply HAD to be a dream - a bizarre worst case scenario sort of pre actual wedding dream - Tiger chuckled, shook his head, and said: "Yes, I bloody well take you to be my lawful wedded husband, Harry James Potter, because I love you so much that I simply can't imagine NOT spending the rest of my life with you."

The Viper looked like Christmas had just come early and he'd gotten presents for the first time. I quickly held up the bag holding his kids so they'd get to see this through the window. At a gesture, the Officiant gathered her composure and continued on as if nothing had happened - despite the entire yard looking like it had just survived a hard battle and all the guests in various degrees of disarray.

"Right. Do you, Harry James Potter, take Draco Lucius Malfoy to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"Yes!" Viper gasped out, Apparating unconsciously to be by Tiger's side. "I do, I SO do! I can't imagine living my life without you either!"

Without waiting for permission, the Viper seized a demanding and possessive kiss from the Tiger. They both got lost in it for a few seconds before the Tiger remembered that they weren't alone. He pulled back and cleared his throat.

"Oi, try to contain yourself until the ceremony is over. Actually, try to contain yourself until we're alone in our room," he admonished.

Viper glared at the Officiant, who immediately got the point. "I know pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss the groom. Erm, again."

Viper did exactly that, and then turned to look at his Ron and Hermione. "Everyone is just going to have to excuse us for an hour or so since there is something important that was started this morning that I HAVE to finish. Right NOW!"

"No problem," Hermione assured him, but didn't get a chance to say anything more before the Viper Apparated the two of them away. She sighed and shook her head. "I guess I'm calling this in then. As the Head of the DMLE, this is technically part of my jurisdiction..." She sort of muttered to herself as she walked over to an area where she'd have a bit of quiet.

In the meantime, I pointed at the waiting band (who had admirably and somewhat hilariously managed to keep calm and play a rousing instrumental piece during the battle, since they weren't in the line of fire nor of any concern to the intruders). They understood and promptly played some lively dance music.

"It's a wedding, right? So that means dancing. Care to dance with me, my love?" I asked, holding my hand out to you.

"Always!" You promised with a happy smile, stepping into my arms and letting me lead you in any way I liked.

And that was how we found ourselves the center of an inordinate amount of attention from a bunch of people who were having a hard time believing that we not only exist, but are so very comfortable being extremely lovey dovey in public.

But now it's long past time for me to go to sleep, so...

You smiled, you smiled oh! And then the spell was cast, and here we are in heaven, for you are mine at last,  
Draco  
P.S. Just in case you were wondering, I left the kids in my fortified bag until the Viper himself decided that the Aurors had indeed taken every last intruder into custody and it was relatively safe for them to come out. I feel bad for them, missing all the dancing, but at least they were able to have cake, hahaha.


	218. Chapter 218

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry talks about the wedding and Draco has a visit from that PPD monster.

Sunday September 19th  
My Love,

I had a lovely time at the wedding, attempted child abduction and subsequent near murder aside, but I am so happy and relieved to be back home where I belong.

Everyone there was mine but not mine. It was Molly, my mum, my home, but she wasn't really my Molly. I went to hug Pansy and she looked at me like I had grown a second head. It's like they were complete strangers wearing my family's faces. I'd have done better with a massive group full of strangers as opposed to a group of strangers who are *just* close enough to my circle to freak me out.

And I think I completely understand why Tiger makes his River, Viona, and Rosalie come with him when he visits here. Logically, I knew we would get home. I knew I'd be able to rip myself across the universe in an attempt to get home to my children. But I had a constant weight on my chest the entire time I was a universe away from our babies. I hated that it happened, but it was actually a bit of a relief when we were attacked because it gave me something else to focus on besides that weight. It distracted me from being so anxious about how far I was from our kids that I might have apparated away in the middle of the ceremony.

I would have hated to do that to the Viper and the Tiger. I can't believe Viper asked me to stand up with them. Did you know that was going to happen? I thought, if anything, he would have asked you to stand up with him. I felt so honored. I was so reserved with him when he first came to us, I didn't trust him, I nicknamed him 'The Viper' for crying out loud! And then he goes and not only wants me at his wedding, but wants me involved? I worry that I misjudged him. Realistically, I think I didn't so much misjudge him as much as he's just changed since he came to us.

Think about it, he had years of being tortured and being tortured into performing torture on others. He kills Voldie, has to search out his own children he's never seen, and then proceeds to raise four children alone. And if that wasn't enough, he had to deal with the wizarding world either outright trying to kill his children or at least looking at them in distrust. I can't imagine how painful it would be to see one of our loved ones looking at our kids like they're just waiting for them to turn into monsters.

All of a sudden he's thrown across universes and somewhere he thinks he could be safe. How could you trust in that safety if you were him? I'd be sleeping with my eyes open, if I slept at all, to make sure no harm came to my kids. No wonder he was so hard and scary. But even with Harrison's abduction, he's become so much softer, so much more loving. He really has become one of my good friends. I mean, we named him Caelum's Godfather for crying out loud!

Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised now that I think about it.

I know we got them an amazing wedding gift. Beautiful silk robes for the honeymoon. A box full of your stamina potions. The whole "we paid for their honeymoon" thing. But uh, I also gave them a nicely wrapped box with our gift from Grandmama in it. I wrote a nice little note explaining who the gift used to 'belong to.' I only wish I was going to be there to see them open it! I'll bet you an hour on the spanking bench that the Tiger shrieks.

I feel like I know Grandmama better than you do. You're surprised she thought this was big enough to … punish Gorman for? You KNOW that children are her soft spot. She keeps her mask on. She acts hard. She raised her daughters to be tough as nails. But when it comes to children, she is a squishy marshmallow inside. Well maybe not marshmallow, more like squishy explosive material. Don't mess with her babies or she will annihilate you. I'm really only surprised that she didn't do it ten years ago when Gorman was first incarcerated. I suppose she figured living for ten years in Azkaban with no access to her child was punishment enough.

I was thinking though, Viper and Tiger had their beautiful wedding, their kids were able to attend, and we were able to attend. But they have a whole group of people here that love them and would have liked to help them celebrate. Should we host a circle dinner for the night get back from the honeymoon but before they go back to Tiger's universe? Kind of a mini reception where our circle can congratulate them and celebrate, but nothing big since they already had their wedding which they wanted small anyway?

What do you think? I figure, worst case scenario, they don't want it to be about them at all and then we just have a regular circle dinner anyway.

Every day I fall in love with you again, every day I choose you again, I will always choose you,  
Harry

P.S. That band, I can't believe they just kept playing while we battled. Like their wedding was a movie and they needed a good song for the "action sequence." We should probably have hired them to follow the boys around on their honeymoon playing "Bow chicka bah wow" sexy times music!

 

Wednesday September 22nd  
My reason,

Damnit! This is ridiculous! I was able to get through an entire wedding and subsequent dancing/partying without needing a mini mental health break - DESPITE literally surviving a battle! But ONE day alone with our youngest five, and suddenly I'm a wreck again!

Today is Wednesday, which is our day to have the babies. I was fine with this. I had no reason to think I'd have any sort of problems. I even managed to get a decent amount of sleep last night in between feedings. With the twins being 4 months and Persephone 5 months, I really anticipated spending the day with them now that they should be in the stage where they're awake for a few hours in between feeding, and able to play adorably. And they can...

It's just that I really think they're all coming down with colds or something. They're being really, REALLY fussy today. I was handling it just fine until about half 1 when you got a message from Tabitha saying that she had an unexpected group of new kids arrive and really needs all hands on deck - including you. So you left to go do what you're best at, and I stayed home with our babies.

Maybe they were distressed to see you go, or maybe they just started to feel a bit sicker, but it seems like the moment you left, their fussing got worse. I tried to tough it out, especially since their elves were doing all the heavy lifting, but it very quickly frayed my nerves.

So I took a health break and felt better enough that I was able to go back in and help rock/nurse/dance the babies to sleep. But it seems that the MOMENT I put them down, they'd wake right back up and fuss even MORE. That wore me down after about an hour, so I took another mini health break.

But even though I'm able to get back to a healthier frame of mind in just a few minutes, after the third one, I started to feel depressed in a whole other way. For our entire marriage so far, I'VE been the one that cherishes the babies. I love getting up with them at night and sleeping in with them during the morning. I love snuggling with them and knowing that there's still a good decade before I have to worry about the teen years.

And even though it may sound horrible, I even love that they can't talk yet. I can have entire conversations with them in which I'm saying things like: "And since your daddy is sleeping, I guess I'll just have to dance with you, what do you think, isn't that lovely?" And then I answer for them: "Yes daddy, it is lovely, please dance with me."

But NOW - probably because of the PPD monster I had (and maybe still have a twinge of) - I start feeling like someone is slowly tearing all my skin off to expose my nerves to electricity or something whenever any of them cries. ESPECIALLY Caelum! He is the quickest to cry and takes the longest to settle back down, so if he even LOOKS like he's about to cry, I just want to hand him off to his elf and run from the room!

Recognizing that I need more than a mini health break - as I was in the loo for the fourth one. I didn't want to take another dose, even though I'm taking low enough doses and they're spread out enough that it wouldn't effect me adversely - anyway, despite the babies fussing and me feeling like I'm a heartless bastard for abandoning them, I ordered their elves to keep taking good care of them while I escaped to the ballroom for a while.

This isn't a mini health break in that I plan to stay in here dancing until I feel completely recovered. Or until you return home and help me relieve my other powerfully frustrating feeling: Horniness. Merlin! We shagged this 'morning' and I already feel like it's been DAYS since we last shagged!

But I'm going to sign off now and practice that dance that's a bit like fighting and dancing at the same time. Come find me when you get home.

Oh me, I fall in love with you every single day, and I just wanna tell you I am,  
Draco


	219. Chapter 219

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is worried, but Draco is fine. Meanwhile, the previous Seventh Years made a pact they hadn't thought through very carefully.

Thursday September 23, 2010

My Own,

Hey, Hey, Hey. You need to give yourself a break. You are doing the best you can. You were left alone with five children under the age of five and three of them were infants. That is a lot for any one person. Especially since you hadn't thought that was the plan at the beginning of the day. We both thought I would be there with you and would have a lovely family day together.

Unity was rough today. No wait, yesterday. It's the middle of the night, I just got home, and I'm a little out of it. It wasn't an all hands on deck situation like we've had in the past. Usually they've been right after the annual muggleborn orphan interviews, or they've come from some sort of raid where children have been rescued. And in those cases it's often many kids at once and some of them traumatized. This was only five children, but it was five newborns. Literally, all of them were less than a week old.

Why would we randomly get five unrelated newborn drop-offs at once you ask? Because some idiot seventh years decided to make a pregnancy pact. They thought it would be so cool to have babies all at the same time. They glamoured their stomachs or wore the undetectable extension charmed pants to hide their pregnancies towards the end of the school year last year. I guess there were ten of them, and between getting pregnant and popping the babies out about a week ago, five of them changed their minds.

Since they had already hidden so much of their pregnancy they tried to keep it from their families completely. They hired an on-call shady healer, rented a cabin for the month of September, and dropped off a basket of babies once the last one had given birth. I'm not kidding. These ridiculous children dropped off a literal basket with all five babies wrapped up and cozy in it. They even put a bow on it before they delivered it to the Unity House safe-drop.

That's why they needed an extra set of hands. They needed to process, medically assess, and find spaces for the babies. So I played with the bigger Kids, keeping them occupied and entertained, out from underfoot. I wish you had messaged me that you were having such a hard time with the babes. I easily could have taken at least Caelum and just worn him while playing and baking over here.

Okay, here's the thing that's worrying me about how hard yesterday was for you ...

Most importantly, as usual, I love you. I love you so much it hurts. You are a wonderful father, but you're not perfect. No one expects you to be perfect. We all have our good days and our bad days. It's just unfortunate that your bad day landed on a day I was called away to help out somewhere else.

Yes, in our parenting journey, you have always been the 'baby guy.' But things change. And you are still the baby guy. But right now we have three infants, Caelum is extra fussy and Persephone might be five months old but her adjusted age for being a preemie is three months old. We've had a set of almost triplets before, but keep in mind we didn't get Haz until she was almost six months old, when Eri and Ori WERE six months old. Babies are needy and we've had stress after stress after stress over the last year. Give yourself a break.

You think I didn't spend a lot of time coming to terms with NOT being the 'baby guy?' Like, what's wrong with me that I don't want to sit and coo at their perfectly gorgeous wonderful baby faces? Nothing. I'm the big kid Dad. I like that. I like sitting with our teenagers for hours, hearing about their lives. I love the early morning hours when I can run through the Manor Grounds just basking in the silence with Siri. I am madly in love with our smallest children, but dancing with a newborn is not my thing. I can only sing so many verses of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' before I lose my mind.

I think you just haven't found your 'thing' with Cael. Dancing and singing has always come so naturally, and the babies have all loved it, and now you seem to have it in your head that that's the only way to get through to a baby. But remember, you rarely danced with Vivi when she was a baby. You were more likely to spend hours in the bath with her, feed her every international dish you could find, and bring her to business meetings to intimidate your business contacts. Find that thing that will just be Cael and Daddy time and I promise you things will feel so much better.

I've been wondering, is there a way to tell magical ability or specific magical abilities before accidental magic starts showing itself? I think Cael might be an empath, or a seer, or something where he can feel the emotions around him. I think that's why he's fussiest for you. Don't take that the wrong way, it's not because of you, but you're so panicked right now about not being good enough and still working through your ppd. If he was sensing moods, he might just be reacting to your emotions. Similar to Jaz petting our faces any time we look upset, maybe he's just trying to join in your emotions. Misery love company and all that.

I think Cael really should have been a singleton! When he was first born he really was easy going and only complained when he was hungry (which was fairly often, but still!) but as he's gotten older it seems he gets quite grumpy when he doesn't feel the center of attention. I remember a certain adorable boy who acted like a prat when people didn't pay attention to him. For all his Weasley-esque hair, my Caelum is an awful lot like his Daddy Draco.

Okay, the harder stuff … I'm going to preface this by saying, what you do with your mental health is between you, your healer, and your mind healer. I've always said I will stay out unless you invite me in. But since you keep telling me about your mini health breaks I feel as though you've invited me in. Please feel free to tell me to butt out if I'm overstepping. I would like you to talk with Rowe and Yesenia, and tell them exactly how often you're dosing yourself.

If your trusted healers agree that it's working and you're not taking too much then I won't say another word. But I'm really really scared for you. I thought it was the ppd that was causing the light in your eyes to dim. Your smiles lately haven't been meeting your eyes. Those beautiful quicksilver eyes of yours don't flash, they're shadowed. I miss you.

Worried,  
Harry

 

Friday September 24th  
My better half,

First of all, I did take your advice and call Yesenia real quick. I told her exactly how much Laudanum I was taking for each dose, and how many doses I'd taken on Wednesday - a total of three because I decided to do something else rather than take a fourth. She - like you - is not super thrilled with my choice to take Laudanum instead of a more acceptable Potion, but that said, she agrees that the small doses I'm taking, even as frequently as I took them on Wednesday, should not be a problem.

She would be far more worried had I simply kept right on taking new doses every hour throughout the day. It's a good sign that I recognize that I am only taking the potion for temporary mood boosts to keep me from spiraling down, and that if that doesn't work the way I intend it to, I try something else. It's also a good sign that I am being so open and honest about how often I take the potion. She's not going to truly worry until I start taking it compulsively and try to hide or minimize how much I'm taking. If I start doing that, then it's a good indication that I've become addicted.

But as I've been saying all along, I don't expect this to solve the underlying problem. I'm working with meditation and occlumency to calm and organize my mind, which is the real work necessary to regain control and stability over my mood and emotions. All I am using the Laudanum for is breaking the downward spiral when I notice I'm having one.

Therefore, my love, as happy as I am that you worry about me, please try not to. I'm not relying solely on this potion to fix me, and I have far more days recently when I don't even take it at all than I have days in which I take it several times.

That said, I have also noticed that when I do take the Laudanum, I'll get a bit, erm… hazy. Unfocused or whatever you want to call it. But it's strange because I also feel like I CAN focus better. I can't describe this very well, sigh. Just know that I am aware that the potion doesn't take away all my problems, and that when I've taken a dose, I'm just a bit off. I also don't plan to take it for very long. If I'm still taking it when the twins are 6 months old, or if I've increased the frequency and/or dosage a significant amount, then I will consider other options at that point, but honestly, I anticipate being off it altogether by then.

So as for today, I'm writing this because Pippa popped into our room to remind me of something important and I didn't get a chance to tell you before I got dressed and took off for the day. See, remember way back in, oh... November? You mentioned a brilliant idea to create a celebration of the various magical cultures living here in Britain.

Well, I did as I said and waited until after the holidays, and then I put out the word that I was looking for event coordinators, and after having Pippa interview several people, she put together a team that I have met with a few times to create a cultural center in London. I felt London was the best place for your 'epcot' idea because it's easy for witches and wizards to access via floo, Apparation, or any other method of transportation they like.

Anyway, after assembling the team, I explained the vision of what was needed in great detail, and then let them run with it. They've been busy bees, finding and obtaining a suitable location, having it remodeled whilst simultaneously finding people to run the different cultural booths. Those people gave input on the optimal design, and I've had Magi-Skype meetings with them via Pippa to make certain that everything was running smoothly.

So today, Pippa came in to wake me up and remind me that I'd actually scheduled a final overview of the more or less finished and ready to go product. I know that the whole thing was dragged out nearly four months longer than I initially anticipated - since I thought it would be finished around May - but I'm not disappointed by the delay because it was spent putting all attention on every possible detail to make the place the best it possibly can be right from the start.

Once I finish this email and actually go do the inspection, they've planned out a pre-opening event for the families of the team, our family, and a select group of others (such as most of the people involved in the various businesses I'm part owner of and their families). That means that on next Friday, October 1st, we'll get a chance to walk around your newest business and soak it all in. We'll have our kids with us, so straight away, they'll be tested on how family friendly the place really is, hahahaha!

Oh! Before I forget! Remember that nice couple in Africa that took the time to teach Elena (and the rest of us that existed when we lived there, haha) all sorts of African dances, not to mention other rare tribal lore and magic? (The couple that Rhys and Saoirse got along swimmingly with but I can't remember their names for the life of me, grr!) Well, Pippa tracked them down and offered them the African booth, which they accepted, thus we can rest assured that that booth will be lively and authentic. Not to mention excellent!

But I'm going to sign off now and go do as I've just described. Then, since I'm here in London anyway, I think I'm going to pop in on my Adventure Park and see how it's doing, and maybe, possibly, potentially, very small chance, use the Ani-juice potion I have in my carryall somewhere to, erm… turnintoadragonandflywiththeonesinthepark.

See you when I get home! Love you!

Don't want to close my eyes, I don't want to fall asleep, 'cuz I'd miss you babe, and I don't wanna miss a thing,  
Draco


	220. Chapter 220

Friday September 24th  
Draco!

I can't believe you! You are going to your adventure park to fly with dragons after your inspection? I can't believe you would do this to me! I told you the last time you transformed that I wanted to see your form. I wanted to see my Dragon be a Dragon. And now you're going to do it again without me being there? Not cool Draco, not cool.

I demand you bring more of the potion home, take some after the kids are asleep, and let me pet you in the gardens. Ooooh, maybe I could ride you! Not like that, get your mind out of the gutter! I mean ride you like the last dragon I rode. Ugh, stop being a pervert, I meant the literal Dragon species I rode last, not you.

Hehe.

I insist that I be allowed some time soon to see my Dragon as a dragon. And then AFTERWARDS I can ride my Dragon. But not during. Not into that kind of thing. I don't know how it would even work. How big IS dragon penis?

Anyway, I hope the inspections go well today. I'm sure they will. A four month delay is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It's not like when we were building Unity or Traditions where a four month delay potentially means four additional months of a child being in an unsafe environment or a child missing out on four months of pre-Hogwarts education preparation. This just means it needed four more months of planning than anticipated. I'd rather this be finished correctly as opposed to quickly.

It doesn't really matter what I think about it. Why is this MY business anyway? Because I thought up a quick idea for it? You put in all the legwork. Well, it's most likely that Pippa did. Why isn't this business in Pippa's name? Although, to be fair, Pippa does a lot of work for a lot of our businesses. I think it's about time for another Pippa raise wouldn't you say?

I honestly had forgotten about the plan for a while. For future reference; being stuck in a hospital for months, having a preemie, and then adding two more newborns a month later will make me lose track of time. I had barely gotten back from my first book tour before I landed myself in the hospital, so that was a bit distracting as well.

Speaking of my first book tour, in November I'm supposed to start promoting the second installment, Harry Potter and Way Too Many Secrets. Most of my first tour was in the States, but this upcoming tour my agent wants me to stick around the U.K. I think it will be perfect, I can bring you along, we can bring kids along, but we shouldn't have to be away from home overnight at all. We could stay a night here or there if we really want to make a fun trip of it. Or even a night away just the two of us. But it should allow us all to stay on a regular schedule while promoting the book.

Don't worry though, like I said, it won't start until November. So I will be able to attend the Hogwarts Samhain ritual. And I will have no issues making the soft opening of the 'epcot?' on Friday. What did you end up calling it by the way? I think it will be fun. I can't wait to show it all to the kids. Oh, should I message McGonagall and see if we can grab Vivi for the walkthrough that day? Growing up with tutors, she's further ahead than most Hogwarts first years so I can't see it being an issue but I'll at least ask. I can't see the Princess not wanting to come with.

You know she'd want to see Mandla and Elna! How many African booths will there be? One for each country? Or is it just going to be separated into Northern, Southern, and Central, or some other grouping? I'm so excited! I can't wait!

Okay, one more comment and I will let you go get back to your meetings … because I know you saw the notification and stopped to read this since you looooooooove me! I'm glad you're being up front with Yesenia about your dosing. I'm relieved it's not at levels that will harm you. BUT you've said that she is also not super thrilled. Not my body, not my business, but I just want to state for the record that I most certainly am not super thrilled about it.

Oh, and … fine, I know I said one comment but I'm going to say two and then I am done! You said Yesenia wouldn't be concerned "until you start" hiding or concealing it. That wording concerns me. You didn't say "if I start hiding it" you said "until I start" that makes it sound like you will eventually. You know how seriously I take the literal meanings, we've had huge fights about this recently, so please tell me if you misspoke or if this is something I should be concerned about.

Okay, I'm off to play in the gardens with our babies and our littles. Have fun businessing!

Loving you,  
Harry

 

Friday September 24th  
The reason I exist,

You're sleeping and I just now had a chance to sit down and read your email. Actually no, I had my magi-devices off and so didn't read your email during my meeting. Also, right after I sent my last email, I changed my mind about the dragon thing at the Adventure Park because I realized that if they're suddenly confronted with a new dragon, they might feel like they have to defend their 'territory,' and I don't want to fight with them, I just want to fly with them. So, I figured that I'd do it some other time when I can have Charlie around to let me know if the dragons are reacting badly and/or take necessary measures if things go all pear shaped. You know, minimize the danger.

So, because I didn't go to the Adventure Park, I came straight home. You were delighted to see me and groped me very thoroughly while kissing me hello. I was delighted by what seemed like it was going to be a lovely welcome home shag, but turned out to be you feeling up my pockets to see if I still had some of my Ani-juice potion left. Since I hadn't used any, I did.

Once I understood that you wanted to see me in my dragon form, I tried to talk you into going away for the transformation, but you realized that I was trying to spare you from seeing the pain of the transformation, and held me so that you could kiss me, bite my shoulder, and remind me that you can handle seeing me in pain from time to time if there's a reason for it.

Alright, fine, so I took the potion. Lucky for you that I retain my mind once transformed because you smelled SOOOOOOOOO good! Like seriously, I wanted to eat you. You smelled like you were going to be the tastiest thing I have ever had in my life. But I also knew that I was only going to be a dragon for about an hour, and if I gave into the urge to eat you, I'd promptly die of a broken heart the moment I changed back into me.

So, no eating, although I'm pretty sure that I licked you and tried my best to eat you without actually eating you. I also probably smelled you far more than strictly necessary. Eventually, you must have gotten fed up with me trying to smell and taste every bit of you, because you ran a hand along my neck as you walked toward my back and climbed up so that you could ride on my back.

The moment you cast a warming charm to prevent you from freezing during flight, I got inordinately excited. It seemed like my intense craving changed from eating you to flying all over the country. As an Opaleye, I would actually sort of blend in with the clouds, and so, I didn't need to worry too much about muggles seeing me on a dark and cloudy night.

Off we went! After a while, I quite forgot you were there. I'd do various turns and rolls, just having a lark, and then the fantastic smell of you would reach my nose and I'd remember you were there and straighten out before you fell off. Even so, you MUST have cast some sort of spell to keep your grip, because there was at least two or three instances when by rights, you should have fallen off - but you didn't.

At one point, I realized that we were flying over the Forbidden Forest and I had an overwhelming urge to land in a small clearing. As I got close to it, there was a flash of light followed by a fireball streaking at us. I somehow knew that this was simply a warning shot and hovered where I was. A moment later, a vivid blue dragon that smelled female to me appeared and gave me a good looking over.

I suppose that I must have reassured her somehow that I wasn't a threat, perhaps by remaining still and not acting aggressive in the slightest. In any case, she eventually sort of nodded her head at us and moved aside so that we could land in the clearing. I am extremely grateful that she did so, because I had reached the end of my transformation without even realizing it. I wouldn't have had time to fly clear of the forest by that point, and we probably would have fallen from a very high height had the reversion happened before she gave us permission to land.

In any case, once on solid ground and back in human form, I was overwhelmed by the need to have you and stripped your clothes off before you could think to protest. My mouth demanded hot kisses, and my hands demanded to feel every millimeter of you. I worked you open before pounding you into a large tree (in which I think *something* was watching us curiously).

We kept on going until you passed out, and then I pumped you full. I waited until I was no longer panting heavily, then gathered up the energy to Apparate us home (thank Merlin we were outside the Anti-Apparation wards) where I gently carried/levitated you to bed. And as I said to begin with, you are sleeping and I had some time to finally sit down and read your email, write this one, and feed the babies.

But now I'm ready to try sleeping.

I want to stand with you on a mountain, I want to bathe with you in the sea, I want to lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me,  
Draco  
P.S. Yesenia said when, but given the context of the rest of it, I assume she meant if.

P.P.S. Of COURSE The Potter Wizarding Cultural Center is your business! It wouldn't EXIST without you! And no, I'll not let you argue me out of this one, it's yours, and that's final! As for Pippa, fine, I'll give her a raise. Instead of making about 5 percent of all the profits of all the businesses I own and she helps run, I'll make it 6 percent, and before you go thinking that's not nearly enough, keep in mind that I make over a million galleons in profit most years, and so she's going from over 50,000 galleons a year to over 60,000 - and that's above and beyond her base salary as my assistant. Plus I pay most of her expenses since she lives in the Manor and is always traveling with us. So, I really feel that a simple 1 percent increase is more than enough.


	221. Chapter 221

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Trigger Warning*** Draco's email contains an event concerning Mahafsoun using inappropriate behavior as a result of her past sexual history.

Saturday September 25th  
My Love,

You did not seriously name it the Potter Wizarding Cultural Center did you? That's not even my name! Dracooooooooo, you know how I feel about taking credit for your work! All I did was say we needed a cultural center, you and Pippa and the people who signed on to run booths did all the work. All I'm going to do is show up, eat all the different foods, take a million photos, and tell anyone who will listen that they should visit it.

I can't even tell you how excited I am to go see it Friday. I was thinking, can we bring anyone else with or do they need to wait until the official opening? I just thought, it's been a while since we've done much for just our Godchildren. I had been talking with Andi, the Quartet, and Pansy, seeing if we could have them for an entire weekend sometime soon. I just thought it might be neat to bring Teddy, Rod, Bee, and Pearl with to the opening and then have them the rest of that weekend.

I could always go pick up Teddy and Vivi from school on Friday morning, and one of the Quartet or Pansy can portkey the Russian Godchildren to you at the same time. Then we can all go to the Cultural Center together. And when we get home we can have big kid board game night. I can take the kids dirt biking Saturday. Saturday night we can take them to the theatre. Either a film, Legend of the Guardians looks good. Or we could take them into London for stage theatre. We could take them to see Oliver!

But for right now, I am going to climb into the bathtub with the babes. I need to heal up my skin, and what better way to do that than to add one of your healing potions into our tub and swim around with three giggly babies and two little kids? That shag in the forest was amazing. I was so hard while you flew, actually you know what probably what kept me from falling off while you barrel rolled? I bet I was hard enough that I got caught in your scales. I wouldn't have wanted to do anything filthy in that form, but knowing it was you, knowing all that power was between my legs, ugggggghhhhhh so hot. But the result of that shag was a back covered in bloody scrapes.

Worth it.

We'll soak and play for a little while I'm sure, I'll get them all squeaky clean. I'll get all of us ready. And then I will awaken my sleeping dragon so we can head to Dudley and Donna's for Donnie's seventh birthday party. I feel a bit like a monster being thankful people died, but I love that we can just attend anything for Dudley and Donna and not have to worry about exposing our children to my aunt and uncle. Their wedding and that first Christmas was enough interaction with Vernon and Petunia for the rest of my life. I can't believe Donna put up with their nonsense for so many years.

I am quite glad that Sirius came back AFTER they had already passed away. I can't imagine what he would have done if he had access to them after he got out of the veil. Probably the same thing I did to Zaire's abuser.

I know, I know, I have been to enough therapy to realize I should NEVER try to play down or justify their abuse by saying "well at least they never …" or "this other person had it worse" all those tricks that our abusers play into. It's why I didn't realize I was abused until I was an adult. But while my aunt and uncle were abusive no doubt about it, Zaire's abuser was a whole other level of monster. I'm still working through my own rage and regrets about our little boy. I wish we had found him sooner. I wish I had hurt that monster more. I wish I could take away every bit of pain he ever experienced. But mostly I am just thankful he's finally where he belongs, in a loving family, healing and growing into this amazing little person I'm proud to know.

And now I'm crying. Yikes, Zaire is not going to be happy with Daddy when we get into the bath. He's going to ask about my scratched up back, by the way I am going to tell him we were wrestling, and now he's going to ask why I was crying. He's too perceptive sometimes.

Probably because he's brilliant.

Oh, speaking of brilliance, our Pippa is brilliant. Just so you know, while I definitely think she deserves every cent she gets and more, I didn't actually realize she was earning a percentage of the profits. All I knew was her base salary, and the fact that we covered her living expenses and travels. She does so much work managing us, and then having her finger in the businesses, that she's still gone over and above and I'm glad she's well compensated for it. But you know that she's going to retire in STYLE some day! She essentially has zero expenses, earns a good salary, and has a percentage of multiple profitable businesses. Some day she's going to lounge around, doing nothing, and having her own personal assistant or two.

I should really head to the bath now, I have some squirmy babies wanting my attention. If you wake before we're done come join us! Otherwise I'll see you when it's time for you to get ready for the party.

With everything I am,  
Harry

 

Sunday September 26th  
Silly puppy!

Of COURSE I named it Potter Wizarding Cultural Center! We make an average of ten percent more profits off of something if I can work your name or something associated with your name (such as Unity House now is) into a business name. Besides, you also encouraged me to open up a hotel right off Diagon for wizarding families to stay at when they come to London for shopping and or playing at the various Theme Parks that now exist (that we own in one way or another), and so, I now have a large hotel that has accommodations ranging from inexpensive to highly luxurious ready to open on October 15th - just in time to be ready to start booking for the Christmas Hols.

It's called Eltanin, in case you were wondering.

Side subject tied into my businesses, I've decided to take a different tack with Viona than I did with Elena or likely will with the rest of the kids. See, with Elena, I simply sent her an allowance every month while she was at Hogwarts. She got a rather large allowance, yes, but still not unlimited access to her own money like she had when she graduated and I gave her her own vault.

I will probably do that with most of the other kids, but with Viona, you made me think when you suggested giving Pippa a raise - since Pippa handles a lot of my business - that Viona ALSO handles a lot of my business (such as always attending the quarterly meetings with me), and so she probably also deserves a raise. Except I don't pay her.

So I went back and did the math. Even if she earned just 1 percent of the profits for every year that she's been going to meetings with me - minus large expenses she's insisted on over the years (such as that massive replica of a volcano that she just HAD to have when she was five, used once, and then basically never touched again, sigh) - she would still have quite a tidy sum if she'd been getting paid. I feel a bit bad that she hasn't been. So, rather than give her an allowance, I'm giving her a vault that has all the money she should have earned in it, and she will continue to get a percentage each quarter. But since she deserves a 'raise,' I'm going to base the past amount off of a simple 1 percent, and give her a raise from here on out of a half a percent.

She's been managing Hazeris for more or less free, letting Hazel and Eris keep all their profits, so I'll toss in a bit of a bonus to pay her for managing their business too.

But as for the others, Orion will eventually get the same allowance Elena got - as will Eris and Hazel and all the rest - but he will also be allowed to keep all of the profits from his business just like the girls are keeping theirs. This way, even if I lost all my money tomorrow in some sort of horrible market crash, I know they'd probably have enough in their vaults to keep them living comfortable for several years if they needed to.

Ugh, but now I have to stop thinking about this subject as it's one of the few irrational worries I have that I just can't shake. I wake up terrified on average of once a month that we've lost all of our money and the kids have to survive in near poverty levels without us for whatever reason. It's the reason that I actually have put a little money in trust for each of our kids - not too much, just enough to buy a house if they were suddenly out on their own. That way I know that if anything WERE to happen, they'd at least be taken care of. For a while.

Even better, I also know that if anything happened to me/us, our kids still have a fabulous network of people to take care of them, and very likely both our fortunes to ensure their future success and happiness. So yes, I recognize that the fear is irrational, but still...

Moving on.

The Viper and Tiger will be returning from their honeymoon tonight, and since it wasn't quite enough time to organize a full circle dinner to celebrate their marriage (unless you did and I didn't realize it because I was too busy with my own things this week), we can always have it the next time Tiger will be in our world for a visit - which he'll be here October 24th through the 31st, so the 29th or 30th would probably work.

I absolutely LOVE the idea of having our Godkids over next weekend! And they are our family, so why wouldn't we be able to bring them with to an event at a place you OWN? That would be a bit like Café Exquis telling us that we couldn't have Harrison sit at our table with us because he's the Viper's child rather than ours.

I also vote for Oliver.

Alright, so, after avoiding it the whole email, I guess I should probably explain what happened this morning (afternoon, whatever) with Mahafsoun. I understand completely why you were NOT pleased when you walked into the room to give me a sample of your newest creation (an absolutely fabulous cherry cheesecake with a dollop of Sanguinaccio Dolce on top just for me), only to find her in our bed.

Yes, it probably looked bad, but I hope you trust that is wasn't as bad as it looked.

It started rather disturbingly. I was sleeping and having a dream in which I had you over my knee and was warming your arse to a lovely glowing shade of red. I'm almost certain I moaned out your name, and then I was being kissed. I assumed that you were in the room for whatever reason, heard me calling out for you, and decided to wake me up in my favorite way.

Except one of my hands got tangled while my other encountered more softness than there was supposed to be. This made me open my eyes in confusion to find out why things weren't right. That's when I discovered Mahafsoun, who was running a hand up and down my chest and had shifted her mouth from mine to right next to my new tattoo.

I felt like a bucket of ice had been dumped over my entire body, and shuddering in revulsion, pushed her away enough to look her in the eye.

"WHAT ARE YOU *DOING*?!" I demanded in shock. Side note, why do people who want to seduce me always think it's a brilliant idea to do so when I'm just about due to wake up?

She pouted at me. "I'm just trying to thank you in the only way I can."

"What are you talking about???" I asked in bafflement.

She looked down and real tears started leaking from the corner of her eyes. "You saved me... You changed my entire life! You're the reason that I now get to live my dreams and have a sort of family who loves me. I can never thank you enough, and yet, I have to try or I'll feel guilty - like I'm nothing but a burden."

I shook my head, sighing because I feel like I should have seen this coming. She was crying quite hard now, making me want to comfort her. So, I pulled her until she was crying on my shoulder so that I could pat her and make soothing sounds.

"Oh, luv... You have it all wrong. The ONLY thanks I want from you is for you to be happy. So long as you always do those things that make you happy - and not those things you feel you have to because you're afraid you won't be able to take care of yourself otherwise - well..."

I sighed again and rubbed a hand up and down her back. "Think about Elena for a minute. You've been going to her school for about a week now, so you know that she's following her dreams and living life on her terms. She's my daughter, and from the moment I adopted her, I've done my best to make her feel like there was nothing she couldn't do. Now that she's an adult, she's doing what she loves."

I pressed a kiss to Mahafsoun's head. "Do you understand?"

She shook her head. "Not at all! HOW can you want NOTHING from me?!" Her tears seemed to flow harder for a moment as she lifted her head off my shoulder to look me in the eye.

I was silent for a long moment as I wondered how to say it in a way she would understand. "I want you..." A prickling up my spine made me pause and look over to see you frowning at me. You quickly set the tray in your hands on the table, and then Apparated away. I sighed, feeling like I was about to face an Inner Circle Crucio Squad.

"I want you to focus on making yourself happy. If that means dancing, singing, playing piano - or hell! Doing all of the above in the rain - then do that and THAT will be your thanks to me."

"That doesn't make sense!" Mahafsoun wailed against my shoulder.

I rubbed her back once more and pressed another kiss to her head. "It's called parenting. Someday you'll understand. In the meantime, I'm going to have Pippa call up your Mind Healer and have her come over today so you can talk this through with her until you hopefully understand. Also, I need you to promise me that you will NEVER try anything like this again."

"But this is the only thing I have that I can give you!" Mahafsoun protested, still rather weepy.

I shook my head. "No luv, it's not. I promise you that I honestly and truly don't want any of this from you. Even if I DID let you guilt me into doing something like this so you could 'properly thank' me, I wouldn't enjoy it, I'd feel like a monster afterwards, and your goal of thanking me would not be achieved. Trust me, if you truly want to thank me, then do so by being happy."

Still looking confused and rather disbelieving, but no longer sobbing, I waited for her to nod in understanding. Then I slipped out of bed to go find you and hopefully survive the hex you're more than likely going to toss at me. Bear in mind that I'm naked and not planning to defend myself, so please try not to make the hex TOO disfiguring.

Can't explain why your lovin' makes me weak,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hesitated on posting this today and leaving y'all with a mini cliff hanger, but decided that since I didn't post at all yesterday, you'd rather have a cliff hanger than nothing. 
> 
> Also note, this situation happened because I felt Draco deserved a chance to prove that he really isn't interested - since it *did* sound a bit like he is but trying not to be. Hopefully this bit clears that up definitively :-)


	222. Chapter 222

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gets to say it.

Sunday September 26th  
Draco Lucius Malfoy,

What in Merlin's name am I going to do with you? My wayward little dragon.

Wow, that was a really long message you sent me, full of all sorts of interesting tidbits, each of them trying their hardest to distract me from the situation at hand. So, I am going to follow suit. I know what I want to talk to you about. You know what I want to talk to you about. I know that you know what I want to talk to you about. And so on. But, instead, I am going to ignore the enormous elephant in the room and reply to all those juicy tidbits you tried to distract me with.

Oh, before you panic … I am at the Burrow. I am safe and sound. I have not left you. I am not even really angry. But I needed space away from you and away from Mahafsoun to collect my thoughts calmly and rationally. I will be home tonight. It will probably be after dinner though, Molly's making me shepherd's pie and treacle tart!

As always, no matter what happens for the rest of our life, I love you. Yes, I said life. I've nothing without you. My life is yours. My heart and soul are yours. Please be gentle with them.

Alright, concerning your irrational fears that our children will end up penniless somehow. It's not irrational. And I'm not saying that to give you permission to freak out about this. We have so much money it's ridiculous. Even spending it on nonsensical modes of transportation, taking ridiculously extravagant vacations, buying islands like a bunch of lunatics, and donating as much as we possibly can to charities near and dear to our hearts, we still have more money than any one family should have. We could never make another cent and we could all live happily and well for the rest of our hopefully long lives.

But more importantly, if it all went away tomorrow. If we were left penniless. We would have each other. We would have the ability to get jobs that will pay us enough to survive. We have house elves that are so loyal to us I'm a little worried that Muffy will want to be buried with you. I have talent in gardening, I'd be able to grow food for us. We have a Greg who would build us a new home with his bare hands if we had nowhere to live. We have so many people who love us, and love our children, that I think our real concern would be it appearing like we had favorites if we chose to live with any of them over the others.

We have so many people who love our children, do you think if you and I were to perish tomorrow they would have any shortage of aunts, uncles, godparents, grandparents, or friends who would do anything in their power to help them heal from our loss? We are surrounded by love and support. I'm not going to be a naïve moron and say "we don't need money, we have love" only people who have money can utter nonsense like that. But we could survive on almost nothing as long as we have each other, our family, our circle.

And if all else fails, I'll just let you put my name on anything that can possibly make us money to make up for anything we'd lost. I can't believe adding my name or a name associated with me really increases profits by ten percent. That's just so ridiculous. I'd think if anything your name would be more likely to increase a business since it's no secret that you are the investment mastermind in our partnership. I get a good idea or two and then hand it off to my two favorite business moguls, my Princess and my Prince.

Or my Master I suppose. Gods Draco, you've given me spankings, we've played, but as soon as I feel ready to take a weekend away for just the two of us I need to be owned. I need to be reminded who my Master is. Two or three days where I don't so much as take a trip to the loo without your permission. You know I don't want a 24/7 TPE. I'm much too hardheaded for that. But I could really use a solid 48-72 hours of being able to give you complete control where I don't have to do anything but fly for you.

Pull yourself together Harry, you're supposed to be getting your thoughts out, not tenting your trousers in the middle of the kitchen!

Breathe.

Oh, the circle dinner. No, you did not miss any planning for a circle dinner set for tonight. Can you imagine if I hadn't told you AND I took off to the Burrow and left you to deal with a surprise circle dinner on your own? I'd be in so much trouble, I wouldn't get spankings for months!

I decided that having a surprise circle dinner the day they got back from their honeymoon may be a bit overwhelming for the Viper and Tiger. Tiger-Viper? Hmm. So, I am going to schedule it for when they're back at the end of October. And if they hate it, we can always pretend we scheduled it to celebrate Lainie's birthday and aren't they so full of themselves to think it's for them anyway!

I knew we'd be allowed to bring our Godchildren to the Cultural Center eventually, I just wasn't sure about the plans or the available space for the soft opening. If each booth were literally expecting say thirty people and we showed up with four extra, that could really mess up their plans.

Yes! We're going to see Oliver! I knew I'd make a Musicals Lover out of you! Bwahaha, everything is going according to plan my pretty.

I know you said that Eltanin (and I am SO in love with that name!) would be opening October 15, but would they also want a little preview before the official opening? Maybe a preview of one giant family and their Godchildren for one night? Say, Saturday second October right after we see Oliver? Wouldn't that be fun? No pressure, it's not like it would be hard to come back home afterwards, just let me know where we'll be.

So … are you ready for the Elephant?

I. Told. You. So.

I have been saying this for months. Draco, I says, this girl is going to think she owes you sexual favors. Love of my life, I think this girl is going to think her only worth lies in giving sexual favors. Husband mine, this girl is mentally unwell and needs something that your and River's flirting can't give her. But noooooooo, "Harry how can you think that of me?" "Harry it's not like that!" "Harry, we can't tell her not to flirt and make her think there's something wrong with her."

MmmHmmm.

I think everything you said to her was right on the nose. I just wish it hadn't taken her climbing into OUR BED, and kissing or groping you, to get you to see what I've been seeing since day one.

She needs extensive therapy.

She needs consistency in rules, expectations, and limits.

She needs to be reminded constantly that her worth lies outside of her charms, and her happiness is wanted even if no one else ever benefits from it.

And she needs to stay the hell out of my bed and keep her hands off of my husband. Not just for my own jealousy issues, but she should have learned by now that climbing into the bed of a married man, adult or not, feeling indebted to them or not, is absolutely inappropriate. Which means she is still struggling to learn normal limits and parameters.

And you need to NOT remind me that you were naked when she climbed into bed with you.

MY BED.

I'm quite focused on it having happened in our bed if you can't tell.

So, enjoy your evening with all the children. I already miss you so I'm sure I won't stay much past treacle time!

I love you Draco,  
Harry Malfoy

P.S. I TOLD you so!

 

Sunday September 26th  
Alright fine!

You told me so. But for the record, I never said you were wrong - I agreed that she needs to continue her therapy and have clear boundaries - I simply said that I believe that part of her flirting is inherent and that trying to strip it ALL away from her would be damaging. Which I still believe.

She's been seeing a therapist Yesenia recommended who is good with victims of sex abuse. Portia even had floo and Magi-Skype calls with Mahafsoun when she was in Russia. It seems - from the brief and not too detailed chat that I had with Portia before she left today - that she's been waiting for Mahafsoun to have this exact situation come up. She says that in her professional opinion, Mahafsoun was never going to understand that gratitude doesn't equal sex until she tried it and was refused.

Then she gave me kudos for resisting the seduction of a little girl. Can you believe that?! What sort of man did she think I was??? Seriously, if THAT was what I wanted from Mahafsoun, WHY in the bloody hell would I have bothered to save her from her slavery?! I'd have just done it and called it good, and MERLIN!!! Just *saying* (writing, whatever) that leaves a nasty taste in my mouth!

Blech!

I think Portia understood I was offended by the look on my face because she hastily apologized and mentioned that Mahafsoun has another Appointment on Wednesday before rushing off on 'sudden and urgent business.' I'm going to have her talk to you because I think she can actually give you a few more details of the issues and therapy involved since Tabitha officially transferred guardianship of Mahafsoun to you.

So, with that cleared up, I'm just going to change the subject and say that I called up the manager of Eltanin and asked about a pre-opening trial run for our enormous extended family next weekend, and they were actually delighted for the opportunity. It seems that new branches of chain hotels will offer early access rewards and benefits to their regular customers, which they know because the managers were hired from successful other hotels (poached via an excellent benefit package, haha), but that since this is a stand alone hotel, it doesn't have any built in regular members to have a trial run with.

Thus, knowing that WE wanted to do so AND that we're wealthy snobs who are sure to be challenging (or at least some of us are), they look forward to ironing out all the kinks they can, hahaha.

And actually, once I mentioned that the Potter Wizarding Cultural Center was doing a soft opening for family and select business partners and their families, well, it turns out that all I had to do was give the Manager of Eltanin the contact details of the PWCC, and suddenly, the trial run for the hotel is going to be open to *everyone* who attends the soft opening.

And buggering hell! If I write soft opening one more time, I'm going to have to drop everything, hunt you down, and have my way with you!

Changing subjects yet again, Viper and Tiger returned from their honeymoon just in time to have dinner with the rest of us. Honestly, you didn't really miss much as the Tiger said that the vast majority of the details were highly unsuitable for young ears and left it at that, but then he DID ask me to thank you for the box of potions, which led to a discussion of why and how I made the potion.

Unsurprisingly, he thinks I'm brilliant, hahaha!

But now I'm thinking about the Viper and Tiger in bed having hours of down and dirty sex, and that's the straw that broke this camel's back. If you're not back from the Burrow in five minutes, I'm going to Apparate in and abduct you!

How many licks does it take 'til you get to the center of the - oh, oh,  
Draco  
P.S. So... *when* are we having that weekend of domination and torture???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Draco is a little bit torn because he already promised Harry that he wouldn't mention details about Mahafsoun such as her hair - and notice how he mentioned that his hand got tangled but did NOT mention her hair? lol - Thus Draco also did not mention that Mahafsoun (in her determination to seduce Draco) was also naked. I mean logically, it makes sense that she would think she should be in that situation, right? Just as it's been established that Draco never wears anything to bed so even if he hadn't mentioned it, Harry should have understood this on his own. But based off Harry's description of being upset that Draco was naked and it was in their bed, Draco now feels like he did something wrong by not mentioning a detail Harry previously said he didn't want to know. But he has enough self-preservation to not mention it after the fact either, lol. That said, Draco DID say that he encountered softness that shouldn't have been there, which clearly implies naked breasts. Draco's just going to chalk it up to Harry ignoring anything he doesn't want to know, lol.


	223. Chapter 223

Monday September 27th

My best friend,

We might be the two most ridiculous people on the planet. I swear, our antics yesterday were something out of an old cartoon. Last night after you sent your email, true to your word you came apparating to the Burrow to come find me. Unfortunately, I had apparated home roughly five and a half minutes after you sent the email. So by the time you got to the front door of the Burrow, I had already gotten home. You chatted with Molly for about a minute or two and then followed me home.

That should have been the end of things. Except I found Viper and Tiger being all cute and cozy, asked them where you'd gone off to and they mentioned you had followed me to the Burrow to "Do unspeakable things to you that we may want to hear all about later." Side note: ooooh they want to hear all about the filthy things you do to me, do I sense some fun times in our future? Anyway, I assumed Molly would distract you with chatter so I popped back to the Burrow just in time to miss you again.

I think we were each about three apparitions deep before you were smart enough to realize we could probably do this nonsense for hours and waited for me at the Burrow. When I popped in, looking flushed, embarrassed, and all mussed up you told Molly, "Goodnight, I'm off to deal with this troublemaker." Then you threw me over your shoulder and brought us home to our bed.

Well, one of our beds. The bed in the playroom to be more precise. Where you tortured me for what felt like hours. And not torture the way others would think of it, but your own brand of torture designed to make me lose my mind over you. You tied me to a chair naked. I figured you were going to flog my front, or torture my cock. Oooh, maybe you were going to give me one of those bollock spankings I love. No. You sat at least five feet away from me. Close enough to hear every single sound, but far enough away to not be able to touch you.

You slowly stroked your own gorgeous shaft while making me tell you every single way I wanted to serve you when we managed to get away on our Dom/Sub weekend. I had to tell you all about wanting to kneel at your feet for every meal while you fed me little bites from your hand. I described in vivid detail, how I wanted you to tie me up in such a way that you could access my hands, my mouth, my cock, or my arse to use for your own pleasure but my pleasure would be an afterthought if a thought at all. Just a pretty sex toy for you to use as you please.

I had to tell you my most humiliating fantasy, about you keeping me in a cage or a cock ring all weekend long. Really only using the ring when you want to ride my cock, but keeping me from even enjoying an erection unless you want it. And the thing I have never mentioned, but admitted to wanting desperately, I want you to bind me before we sleep so I can't even move unless you will it.

Telling you all of my filthiest fantasies while you stroke your beautiful dick was the worst torture of all. And then you did the one thing you never want to do, but have done for me once or twice before. As you got closer, you stood up and continued to stroke yourself, upping the pace the closer you got to my face. "Open your mouth, my pretty little mutt" you drawled out in that fancy and filthy tone of voice.

So I did. Most of your release made its way into my mouth, but just enough of it dribbled out of my mouth to make me feel humiliated and therefor perfectly loved. I could taste you in my mouth, feel you dripping off my lips, and starting to stick to my chin. I don't know how I lucked out, ending up with someone who knows me well enough to give in to my desires. I worship you Draco.

And then, after all of that, you sent me to bed hard, desperate, without release. What did I do to deserve such a perfect man?

I don't know much, but I know I love you,  
Harry

 

Monday September 27th  
My light,

My plan to leave you exceedingly horny and frustrated last night worked. First, I knew you'd have a bit of a job getting to sleep. I figured that you'd still be awake for the first feeding of the night, and I think I was right. That probably relaxed and soothed your need for me by giving you something else to focus on, but then you probably fell into a light sleep, taking the second feeding as well simply because you were able to wake up before me.

At that point, I'd like to think that your horniness reasserted itself so that once the babes were all fed and sleeping again, you lay staring at me. Wondering what I'd do if you woke me up. Then you remembered that I have a somnophilia kink and love the idea of you just taking what you want from me while I'm sleeping.

At that point, you must have cast all the quick prep spells, and maybe even a gentle levitation spell to help you rearrange my body without waking me up. The next thing I know, I was being shagged good and hard and loving every second of it. We were both eventually making loud roars and grunts, and babbling things like: "Oh yeah! Harder!"

You made that noise you make when you're close and sped up just a little. I buried my head in the pillow and roared as the knowledge that you were about to fill me triggered my own orgasm, probably making yours feel even better. I felt a hot puddle form under me even as I was flooded with your heat.

As I said, my plans were going perfectly, until we heard a voice say: "Daddies, stop doing that weird thing you're doing and come with me."

I turned to find Zwei eyeing us with a look like he honestly could not figure out what we were doing, which is great because I don't think he really needs to know yet. Deciding to keep my composure, I helped you pull free and roll onto your back so that I could give you a quick kiss.

"I've got this, love. You sleep damnit! And try not to wake up too early," I commanded.

Grumbling in halfhearted agreement, you drifted off to sleep. I'm almost certain that you NEEDED sleep by that point. Meanwhile, I followed Zwei to his room.

"Jaz is whimpering in her sleep," Zwei said as he pointed to her. Zaire was wrapped around her and holding her tight, but yes, she was clearly whimpering.

"Probably night terrors," I murmured, and whether or not I was right, I decided to handle the situation as if I was right. So, I carefully (using just a bit of magic) pulled Jaz free from Zaire and carried her to the bathroom so that I could set her on the toilet. I'd read once that night terrors can be caused by a potty trained child needing to go to the loo, but too asleep to wake up and do so. Even if that's not true, a potty break certainly can't hurt.

After she finished her business, I carried her back to Zwei's room and sat in the rocking chair so that I could rock her back to sleep. Not that she was truly awake. She'd barely woken up enough to use the toilet and was already drifting back to sleep, sounding much calmer. She placed her hand on my chest for a moment before making the sign for milk.

Kissing her adorable little face, I shifted her so that she could latch on and have the comfort of nursing until she was sleeping again. It didn't take long before she was too out to even suck. So I pulled her off and lay her back in bed next to Zaire, who promptly snuggled back up to her as if he considered her his personal pillow.

I gave him a quick kiss and shifted to kiss Zwei too, which was when I realized that he was still awake and watching me. "Alright there, love?"

He shrugged. "I guess. I just... Would you rock me back to sleep?"

Smiling, I picked him up and carried him to the rocking chair so that I could hold him in my arms and rock him as he requested. He seemed to relax right away, even purring just a little bit. You know, I think you might be right about him - when you said that you don't think he was fully ready to be out on his own, but that he insisted he was because he wanted to be a big boy like Siri. It doesn't happen often, but there are definitely moments when he reverts to my precious baby boy that just wants to snuggle with me forever.

Once he was snoring oh so softly and adorably, I lay him back in his bed and watched in amusement as he promptly rolled and snuggled up to Zaire.

Then I came back to our bed and sat typing this up as I watched you sleep. I'm going to take a break from typing and preemptively feed our three babies before they can wake up and fuss.

-

It seems that after feeding the babies, I fell back to sleep while Caelum suckled in his sleep. He was definitely out by that point, but fussed every time I tried to pull him off, so I suppose that I was a bit of a paci for him. I slept well enough despite having a baby feed from me the entire time. Then I woke up briefly when you woke up and must have decided to free me from the adorable leach.

To my relief, the sun was up - which is later than you normally sleep. I hoped this meant that you'd gotten some good rest after our middle of the night playing. Kissing you, I murmured something along the lines of have fun on your run, and then drifted back to sleep.

The next thing I know, you were bringing me breakfast - which I'm sure was lunch for the rest of you. You kissed me awake, reminded me that the Tiger had returned home last night, and that we were due to drop the babies off with my parents so that we could have some quality time in the ballroom. This had me awake and excited faster than probably anything else would have.

So that's what we're doing. I threw on a gorgeous pair of dragon printed pants but nothing else as we were going to be dancing, so what would be the point? Then we brought the babies, who were apparently also recently fed and happy enough to coo and play, to my parents, who took them joyfully. Sheesh, you'd think they never saw them!

And now we're in the ballroom dancing. Well technically, you just stopped to take a loo break and I remembered to finish up and send this email, but you know what I mean.

Love you with all my heart,  
Draco


	224. Chapter 224

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is embarrassed and Draco needs a massage.

Monday September 27th  
My love,

I am so mortified. I can't believe Zwei walked in on us … doing that weird thing. I keep having to remind myself that we probably haven't traumatized him for the rest of his life. It's a bit of a right of passage for kids to walk in on their parents. Right? Right?!? It can't be too bad, remember Lainie walked in on you licking jam off of me and this couldn't have been weirder than that.

Oh Merlin, it could have been SO much worse. You and I both know our less than vanilla antics are consensual. Hell, if anything it's me pushing you into being so rough on me. But can you imagine the discussions we would have had to have with our six year old if he had walked in on you beating my arse black and blue? I think it might be about time to double check our warding on the play room, make sure it still doesn't allow anyone under the age of adulthood in the door.

I certainly woke up this morning feeling wonderful. I woke rested and refreshed, like I was ready to take on the world. I felt sated. Thoroughly pleasured and content. While sex is not the MOST important part of our relationship it is still pretty important to me, and there's something about you and I coming together that just settles me right down to my bones. When we have gone longer without being intimate, I sometimes feel like I'm going to shake into a million pieces. As if my skin is the only thing keeping my bones from rattling apart.

Mostly I woke up feeling loved. Even in your sleep I see the way your face turns towards me. I touch your fingers and your hands start reaching for me. And the first thing I saw this morning? You, curled around our baby, with a sweet smile on your lips and your hand stretching towards mine. You take my breath away.

I did have a lovely run, thank you. But my mind was full of worries for our babies. This may shock you, but I worry about them constantly. I worry about Cael and his neediness. Is he alright? Is he just a grumpy old man in a baby's body? Do we not give him enough attention? While running I came up with a few ideas that may help. I know neither of us particularly like pacifiers for babies, but he may just need more sucking than the average baby. And while it's very sweet you let him latch all night, I can see this easily becoming something that could aggravate your PPD.

My other thought was even if he gets enough attention, and you know he does since he's a baby in a house full of older siblings that want him to be their little pet and he's one of his Grandmothers' little darlings, perhaps he is touched starved. Or rather he needs more skin on skin contact. I've already spent quite a bit of time today after we finished dancing wearing him in one of the wraps while he was down to his nappy and I was shirtless. He seems pretty content so I'm hoping it helps.

I think we've made the mistake of thinking since we already raised so many children, we've already taken care of so many newborns, that we know how to handle all babies. Perhaps our little man just needs something different than the other babies we've cared for. He's allowed to be a little weirdo, he's my kid it comes with the territory!

And my sweet Jaz, I feel so bad that she was having nightmares, or night terrors, or whatever the problem was. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it was a one off and she was just having a rough night. Poor lamb. At least she had her big protectors with her to keep her safe. Zaire kept her safe and secure while Zwei went for help. Those boys sure adore their little sister don't they? We have the best children to ever exist you know that?

Zwei, my little big-boy. Or my big little-boy. He wants so badly to be a big kid, wants to run with the wolves a bit. But he's just so gentle. He is mischievous and loud, rambunctious and full of energy, but he is one of the softest little ones I've ever met. I think sometimes people don't see his fragility because he's covered in dirt and launching himself out of trees, I just hope he knows he's allowed to be rocked to sleep, or to climb into bed with his little siblings, or whatever he needs and it doesn't make him any less of a 'big kid.'

I should really head to bed now. I'm sure the almost triplets will be awake for a feeding sooner than I'd like. And I was planning to stop in at Unity for a few hours if that doesn't mess up any plans you may have already made. I'm not planning on doing anything other than playing with the kids, so if you need me to take a baby or three or you need me to come home, just send me an insta-owl.

I'll see you in my dreams,  
Harry

 

Tuesday September 28th  
My better half,

Oh wow! Today was INTENSE!

I'm unclear as to whether you are training for a marathon that is coming up soon, or if you're getting an early start on one that is coming up next summer, but after we dropped the babies off with my parents today - which was after you'd come home from Unity and woken my arse up - we went running.

Now don't get me wrong, I've gone running with you a lot lately, and you've also gone dancing with me. All in all, I'd say our exercise levels are pretty good, which might explain why we're both starting to look pretty close to our prepregnancy shape. Yes, we both have this swollen puffiness on our chests because we're nursing, but the rest of my body no longer makes me want to run screaming from the room when I pass a mirror.

Mostly.

Anyway, with you getting serious about training for a marathon, and me having absolutely no desire to do anything today without you, I thought: "What the hell, couldn't hurt to try to keep up - or if that's too much for me, at least jog at a slower pace while you run circles around me."

So, I tried my best to keep up. I made you promise not to change your pace to accommodate me, and I mostly felt the pace was fine. It was the endurance part of it that kicked my arse. Literally, I feel like someone kicked me in the arse with giant's feet clad in steel shoes. I didn't quite realize it at the time, but that last lap or 20 probably should have involved me cheering you on from a nice cushy chair as you ran around the track.

But I'm not complaining as I actually feel really good - mentally. Physically, not so much. I just sent an Insta-owl to Aya to come over after she's finished training River for the day. And since she's agreed to come over, she'll probably bring Angella too, and they'll devote the rest of the day to massaging anyone here who wants it. So, if you think you might need a massage too - and you probably do - I'd suggest reserving the spot next to me. Aya can work on you and Angella can work on me. And you know, River will probably have his hands on us as well.

What say you?

As for tomorrow, since it's our day to have the babies, I vote we bring them someplace nice. A mini day trip where we strap them to us and go hiking or something so that they have something interesting to look at. Someplace a little out of the way so that if they should happen to fall asleep, we can use the time they're napping to make love out in all that glorious nature.

As for now, I'm going to sign off and try to relax in the tub so that my muscles are all nice and warm when Aya gets here to work on them.

We got everything and more than we had planned, more than the rivers that run this land, we've got it all in our hands,  
Draco  
P.S. Before I forget again, I should tell you that I did take a mini health break today, but ironically not because I was mentally in need. Rather, my body ached just a bit more than I could handle, so I took a slightly bigger than my usual dose of Laudanum so that I can hold out until Aya arrives. But before you go worrying about me, keep in mind that it's been almost an entire week since I needed a dose.

P.P.S. How are those infants that were dropped off at Unity doing?


	225. Chapter 225

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chrissie and I both had a friend who was super into Drarry and vocal about her passion. She and I have chatted over the years about Drarry, and to be honest, she's the reason I started reading fan fics and then writing them. Prior to her talking about them and reccing some really good ones, I basically was too busy writing my own (other) stuff, that I never even read things anymore. But she lured me in, lol. To be clear, she never had to sell me on Drarry, I already was convinced of that.  
> Then one day, Sh'tara created a secret Facebook group consisting of just three members: her, me, and another friend of hers that was super into Drarry. That's how I met Chrissie. I friended her on Facebook, and the cool thing is that we all lived relatively close together here in Minnesota.  
> After a while, Chrissie and I collaborated and our friendship just took off! ^_^ And we have Sh'tara to thank ^_^  
> Recently, Sh'tara was staring in our local theater as Ursula the Sea Witch in the Little Mermaid. It's a musical, so she was singing and sounding so good! She finished up a performance one night, went home happy as can be, and didn't wake up the next morning.  
> So this story is dedicated to Sh'tara. Without her, Oi Life literally would not exist.

Wednesday September 29, 2010

My Fellow Adventurer,

We survived the day, although I think I should apologize for not looking too hard into our destination.

When I read your idea of going on a nature hike I was immediately hooked. You know I'm such a sucker for the outdoors and finding new natural beauty. Some hidden treasure that only a few eyes have seen while nature just kept solidly existing as centuries pass. While you were getting your second massage of the evening yesterday, I did some research.

The first thing I saw was The Peto Gardens at Iford Manor. Beautiful gardens and nice walking paths. But it didn't really have the 'middle of nowhere' feel that would be needed if we were going to sneak away for some outdoor shagging if the babies managed to nap at the same time. I still think it would be a really nice place to visit in the future, but not for what we wanted for today.

Then I saw the Hope Nature Center. It looks amazing. The center itself is pretty, and there are so many animals to view and interact with, learning all about them. I was probably three or four pages deep on their website, falling in love with the pictures of the baby goats when I realized that not only was it not a good choice for today's trip, but that our bigger little kids would be heartbroken if we went to visit animals and didn't bring them. Again, I think we should keep it in mind for some day soon. I think Zaire and Jaz would go crazy petting and loving on all the fluffy creatures.

Eventually I came across the Ridgeway National Trails. Over eighty miles of gorgeous pathway that goes through ancient landscapes, secluded valleys, and gorgeous woodlands? Yes please! I was so excited! I told you where we were going and either you would have been fine with whatever I chose, or you were not paying attention to anything I said as you were a puddle of goo under Aya's clever hands. So, Ridgeway Trails it was!

A few hours into our excursion this morning and it was clear this was less of a 'walk through the woods' and more of an 'intense and beautiful hike.' Phew, I am in good shape with all the running I do and it was definitely straining my muscles in multiple locations. It could partly be that while I run often, I rarely do so with babies strapped to my chest. They're not particularly heavy, but they're wiggly and it threw off my balance.

I loved showing the babies all the beautiful nature. It's going to be getting colder sooner rather than later and these long outdoor trips probably won't be happening much over the next few months. They're finally at ages, where they're noticing their surroundings and babbling away in nonsense baby talk.

I enjoyed our time with them, but was quite excited when we noticed all three of them snoozing away at the same time. Yay! Time for shagging in the woods!

I would have spent hours taking you apart to the sounds of nature. But even though we hadn't really seen many other travelers, I didn't want to chance someone walking up on us shagging. I practically threw you at the soft mossy ground, shot quick prep spells at my arse, and rode you until we were adding our own natural sounds to the woods. Mmmm. On our next 'us' day, we should find a nice secluded spot on the Manor grounds and I will take my time turning you into someone who can't remember their own name.

I'm glad we had those massages last night or I might be a mess of stiff muscles right now between yesterday's run and today's hike. I don't have a specific marathon in mind yet. Once I started feeling better from my depression symptoms, my priority was to get to where I felt I COULD run a marathon again. I had no idea how long that would take and I didn't want to set myself up for failure by giving it a timeline. But I am finally at a point where I feel I am ready to get back in the game. So, I will be looking into local marathons coming up soon. You did fantastic yesterday, you wouldn't have to go at the same pace I did, would you want to run as well?

You're so absolutely ridiculous, you 'mostly' don't want to run screaming from your body's reflection? You are fit as hell, you gave birth four months ago to twins, and you're still more beautiful than anyone else on the planet. How are you both the most arrogantly vain man I know AND this self conscious? Your body makes ME scream! Although I want to run towards it, not away.

Oh, you asked about the infants dropped off at Unity last week? Surprisingly, there is still one infant there. You know how it is, those fresh newborns don't last long at Unity. If it hadn't been so many dropped off at once, they'd all be adopted by now I'm sure. The last little honey is very sweet, I might stop over tomorrow and give him a snuggle or two if he hasn't been snatched up by then.

Well, I may have had a massage yesterday, but I'm still a bit achy. So I think I am going to go have a nice soak in the Onsen. Come join me?

Love you,  
Harry

 

Friday October 1st  
My one true love,

I'm so exhausted that I would fear that I died at some point today, except I think the afterlife wouldn't FEEL quite so achy and real.

Today started earlier than I like. Pippa had to wake me at ten so that I'd have time to get ready and be there by noon. Fine, any other time of my life and I'd have probably been grumpy but more or less okay with starting my day early. Except that I'd been up quite often during the night because Caelum is being extra fussy. I think he's going through a growth spurt.

Seriously, he wasn't content just using me as a pacifier either. He practically DEMANDED that I get up with him and walk him around, dance with him, sing to him, and basically not get a wink of sleep for about two hours at a time, then he'd drop off and I'd get a little sleep before he woke me up again.

Lest you forget, you were up on and off with the girls, so I know you saw me with him. Even though I may have been happier if we'd switched so that I had the relatively not as fussy girls (although yes, they seemed to wake an extra time and be a little hungrier too) and you had Caelum, but I had already been woken by him and was mid nurse when Persephone woke you, so it just worked out how it worked out.

Whatever. So, I finally got him down for good, or at the very least, I got a solid 4 hour stretch of sleep from about 6 am to the time Pippa woke me up. I was grumpy but since I knew it was going to happen, I didn't hex anyone or anything into oblivion.

I got out of bed and was perfectly content getting dressed and ready, except when I went into the loo to do a bit of business, you were in the tub with the five littlest and Caelum was wailing. I know we have spells on the tub so that none of them can drown, and I also know that their elves were on hand to help out if needed, but just HEARING him crying again, *already,* pushed all the wrong buttons.

I finished up my task and left to go to the closet. Where I had a mini mental health break. It was the first one since last week when I had three in one day... but it wasn't the last one of the day.

Once I was calmer and dressed, you and the elves had gotten the littles ready. For my peace of mind, considering that I'm sort of working (for the soft opening of the Potter Wizarding Cultural Center), you agreed to drop the babies off with Molly and Arthur since it is technically their day and I'm not certain Molly would let you get out of it anyway.

After dropping the babies off, we took the rest of the kids/Godkids to the PWCC. You'd already gotten Viona and Teddy from Hogwarts, and the Russian Kids had been dropped off at the Manor shortly after breakfast, and so, before I was even awake.

The day was actually going rather well. Our kids were fairly well behaved (aside from River, who snogged at least two girls that I know of), the booths were extremely interesting and fun, and the crowd was on the lighter side.

But... A lot of the people running the booths had never met you before. We went for Authenticity as much as possible, so if people could be hired directly from each culture, they were, and if not, we found genuine descendants from a culture. For example, Padma and Parvati were offered the Hindu Booth but turned it down because they're both insanely busy with their own things, and besides, there are plenty of Hindu witches and wizards interested in running that booth.

In any case, the people running the booths were very excited to get to meet you. It was amusing at first. They all wanted to shake your hand and hug you and thank you, and a few wanted to give you kisses on the cheek as is part of their various cultures. You looked squirmy and embarrassed, which I found amusing.

But then I realized that we were in the middle of a much larger crowd than I thought there'd be, and even that probably would have been fine, except that a few people were holding fussy babies, and the fussing got to me. I hastily excused myself to take a second mini break - which was the last one of the day.

Fortified, I was able to return to your side and take control of the situation. Help thin out the crowd. After that, people seemed satisfied that they had met you and mostly left you alone, which meant that we were able to finish up the day in peace. That was my favorite part of the day, walking hand in hand with you and looking at all the amazing things - not to mention sampling a rather astonishing variety of food. Our kids were still behaving (except River was now snogging a boy), and everyone else's attention was properly back on the booths.

Had I not still had residual grumpiness from my rough night and early wakeup, I probably would have just enjoyed our time - which is not to say I didn't enjoy myself, because I did. I simply... got snarly. Er. Snarlier. As the day went along. Until - much like a toddler, unfortunately - I had a bit of a breakdown.

Two little boys who were maybe six or seven started having a row about something stupid - a stuffed animal perhaps - and their parents were basically just ignoring them as other guests sort of hurried on by the family to get to the next booth.

Normally, I probably could have sympathized. After all, we've had more than our fair share of children squabbling and throwing fits in public. But today was an unlucky day.

I burst out in full strength Hurricane Draco.

"Kindly get your unruly children under control or remove them from the building! Can't you see what a nuisance they're being? How other - well behaved - families are going out of their way to avoid yours?! Buggering Merlin!!! I have FOURTEEN kids with me today, two of which are younger than yours and two of which are about the same age, and you don't see any of THEM acting like BRATS, do you?!"

I probably could have gone on like that for quite some time, but you rescued them from my wrath by spinning me around and thoroughly distracting me with a hot kiss. Meanwhile, River and Teddy were already helping to calm the bickering kids and mediate their fight. I'm pretty sure Teddy even morphed a few times for their entertainment.

Side note, is it just my imagination, or was Teddy PURPOSELY trying to look both male and female today. I mean I knew it had to be him based off the fact that he was part of our group and wearing his name pendant that you gave him forever ago, but he looked... very equally male and female. Like so hard to determine that a person might be tempted to strip him off and check for those parts which indicated gender - sort of like checking a puppy (and yes, I'm tired and now babbling, I think).

But back to the recap. Viona was proving all over again that she's going to be very capable boss someday by talking to the parents of those boys in a no-nonsense and only very slightly apologetic tone. She explained that I was tired and cranky from having three babies fussing all last night, and that while I perhaps could have tried a bit harder to keep my temper, I had a point in that it should have been made clear that such behavior is not acceptable in public - even if it meant removing the children until they were behaving again.

I'm not sure what all she said because my attention was being held utterly captive by you. Whatever it was, it was probably brilliant. She certainly managed to send them off to another booth without a fuss, especially since the boys were happy and laughing at River and Teddy.

Then you broke off the kiss, making me feel a bit woozy and even slightly drunk from your kiss and the sudden removal of it. You really are very brilliant yourself, because you said: "I think it's time to go out to dinner and get some real food in our stomachs."

Which was the perfect excuse to end a lovely day in a lovely way. Tomorrow, we have Oliver and then the pre-opening trial at Eltanin. I'm actually sort of hoping to be cranky for that too, as it will certainly give the staff a lot of practice before they officially open, hahaha.

But in the meantime, I'm not so patiently waiting for Lily to finish nursing and join her brother and sister in slumber so that you can shag the snit right out of me. Who knows, maybe you'll be in the mood to punish my bad behavior. Or MAYBE you'll be in the mood to mark my entire body again. I guess we'll see.

I'm outta my head, hopelessly devoted to you,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No seriously, I promise you that Chrissie and I are resolving the Draco taking Laudanum arc. He is NOT getting addicted. The reason he said that this was his first break since last week even though he had *just* had one in the previous chapter is that he doesn't count the one time he took it for pain as being the same as a mental health break.  
> A tiny reassurance is that the newest chapters we're writing are coming up on Halloween and I plan to have this arc fully resolved just after that. :-)


	226. Chapter 226

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend with their Godkids continues.

Sunday October 3, 2010

Husband Mine,

What a whirlwind of a weekend we've already had huh? And it's only Sunday morning. I'm currently enjoying a ridiculous array of breakfast options from room service with some of our earliest risers. You, on the other hand, are still snoozing away with the sleepyheads.

Friday was wonderful at the PWCC. I was truly impressed with the extent of the cultural representation. I knew the vision I had in my mind when I first talked about the idea. And you never do anything on a small scale. But I was a bit nervous, I hadn't been to any of the planning meetings, and you kept using the word 'booth' to talk about each individual space for the different cultures. I started picturing something looking very small scale, like a school science fair. Or maybe like the 'booths' selling different things at festivals like Glastonbury.

Nope. It was more like an open air permanent market. There weren't just set rooms to go through, because each 'booth' had to be crafted according to their own desires of what to display. And I can see why you use the word booth now, there's not really another way to describe the spaces. They're not rooms, they're almost miniature cultural islands in a wide open space. Everything was separated, so you never had to wonder where the items you were viewing were from. But being able to view the surrounding booths meant everything was a cohesive space.

It's how I feel the world should be. It's ok to notice differences and separations. It's good to acknowledge the culture that makes up these different places in the world, while knowing you can view a dance from one culture while sampling a dish from a second place, while holding onto souvenirs you've purchased from a third.

I think Haz and Eri purchased fabric from every single booth that was selling some. I can't wait to see what they'll be putting together. And I saw Viona, Hazel, and Eris speaking with a few different booth vendors, pointing towards their clothing, and Vivi had on her negotiation face. I wonder if they're planning to design something for the vendors, maybe they were asking permission to use a style. I'm not sure what the negotiations entailed, but I am so excited to see the outcomes.

All in all, I am so proud of you, I am so proud of the center itself. There were a few slight hiccups in the day that I hope will be fixed a bit by the official opening, although nothing was bad just room for improvement. There were so many food options, but very little in the way of substantial food. I feel like we were snacking all day, and definitely needed a meal by the time we were done. It seems like many of the booths were highlighting desserts or small snacks. If we'd like people to make a full day of the center, it might be nice to have some of the booths doing full meals. Perhaps have a cafeteria of sorts with a specific schedule? Say each day of the month will highlight a specific area, so the first of the month could be catered by the South African booth, the second by the Japanese booth, the third from Sweden, and so on.

The other thing I think might help is something specifically for smaller children. While I agreed with you a bit that those children should have been removed by their parents, I can also understand that walking around booths nonstop for hours can be a bit much for a child. Perhaps a play area with different playground equipment from parks around the world. Or scheduled performances of dances or fairy tale story telling throughout each day. It could break up the monotony of booth wandering for those little attention spans.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to Bee, Rod, and Pearl at the Russian booth. Pearl has lived there her whole life, but Bee and Rod have only lived there for such a short time, I was quite surprised to see that both of them had become fluent in Russian in that timeframe. Although I'm not really sure why I was surprised. Their mother is Hermione Granger for crying out loud. And you know she probably had them learning the language as soon as she knew moving there would be a possibility, if she hadn't already started to teach them when she realized Kisa would end up being a permanent fixture in their lives.

Yeah, I think Teddy was certainly going for an androgynous look Friday. I think it's really fun how Teddy likes to cycle between all the different gender spectrums. Yesterday he was adamantly male presenting. I think it's because we went to Oliver! so I'm interested to see what Teddy has in store for us today.

After we managed to feed the circus of children Friday, we snuggled in for a pajama party movie night. It was so fun to play some board games with the older kids and our Godkids while the littles were distracted watching 'Up.' Poor Siri and Zwei, couldn't quite tell if they wanted to join the big kids or watch the movie. They eventually found the best of both worlds, popping back and forth between the two. Siri was on my 'team' and Zwei was on yours, so them leaving the game didn't actually upset any gameplay. They're just at such hard ages, desperate to grow a bit more but afraid of leaving babyhood behind. My sweet boys.

Once the games and the 'baby movie' were finished, we sent the littles to bed. And yes, that included the mischief twins. I knew they'd both be up at the crack of dawn with me, and I knew the following day was too big to have them go into it overtired. Then you, me, and the bigs watched December Boys. It was so good. You could tell the nine and ten-year-olds were super thrilled to be allowed to watch a PG-13 movie.

Once they all fell asleep in a great big cuddle puddle, you and I headed off to bed … A bed.

You took your punishment so well darling. I think you had a different punishment in mind, it sounds like you were thinking spankings or markings. But what kind of punishment would it truly be if you were expecting it hmm? I think four hours of edging you while I got off multiple times in and on you might keep you from another strop in the future yes? Let's hope so. I won't be nearly so nice the next time you deserve a punishment Darling.

And, knock on wood, but so far it seems to have worked. I'm not sure if it's the fact that you passed out due from an intense orgasm the night before, the punishment having worked, or the solid hours of sleep you managed since the elves took care of the babes all night, but you were a damn ray of sunshine yesterday!

You seemed to have a blast with the kids who didn't feel like dirt-biking yesterday. They said you spent most of it dancing? I'm not exactly surprised you chose that activity or that it put you in a good mood. I had a fantastic time. It was loud and exciting. Siri and Zwei have become impressive on those bikes. They're already doing tricks that make my heart leap out of my chest. Pearl didn't stay long, but she did do a few loops around the track. I think she liked being included, and definitely enjoyed the fact that we'd gotten each of the Godkids their own dirt-bikes even if they aren't here to use them often, but she was definitely more excited about spending time with HER Draco, dancing.

Teddy's dirt-biked with us before, and had a good time, but seemed happy enough to watch or help out the little or newer bikers instead of doing death defying stunts like our mischief twins. But oh my goodness did Rod and Bee LOVE it! I would be very surprised if they don't get home and use those big puppy eyes of theirs to sweet-talk their parents into getting them bikes for at home. I deny all allegations that I might have told them exactly which parent to ask and the best way to ask them.

After we all cleaned up, the bikers cleaning off layers of mud, and the dancers rinsing off hours worth of sweat, we headed off to see Oliver! It was so good! It was fun and I really enjoyed introducing the kids to my love of musical theatre. "As Long as He Needs Me" was gorgeous. As expected obviously, but still.

Eeeeek! I'm hearing stirring from the sleepyheads' room! Hopefully see you in a moment!

Love,  
Your Harry

 

Sunday October 3rd  
Mon coeur,

Today has been lovely. I woke up in a good mood and have been pampered atrociously by both room service and the hotel spa. Side note, the way it's set up, the top 4 suites have a valet to attend to all their needs, and so, when you called for room service, it was actually the valet who responded and came in to ensure that everything we could possibly desire was promptly provided.

The best part of all has been when we took advantage of the pool room. It's an indoor room charmed to look and feel like a large, warm pool right off a gorgeous ocean beach. They've even charmed the air to be a constant light oceany breeze.

As we were all swimming or lounging around - another charm replicating the beautiful sun without the potential for burns - the other guests of the hotel were doing their own things. Some were in the pool room with us. Others were in the buffet room. Quite a few were taking advantage of the free spa services for this event - even for the lower income guests.

River said he was hungry enough that he wanted to head over to the buffet room while the rest of us were still more than happy to swim or lounge. It can take a while to eat, so none of us really thought anything of it when he was still gone an hour later. It was about a half hour after that that I thought it might be a good idea to go find him.

Kissing you, I murmured that I was going to go check on River. You waved me off with a smile, in the middle of a water battle with the other kids. I first went to the buffet, where a server confirmed that River had been in there for about a half an hour, but then he started chatting up a girl and they left a while ago.

My heart was rather close to my stomach when I heard that. I cast a Point Me and followed it all the way back to our suite, letting myself in quietly. Part of me wanted to sneak up on him, catch him in the act, and then ground him for the rest of his life. The other part of me fervently did NOT want to see anything he was doing and sort of wanted to just wait in the sitting area until he was done and went to rejoin the rest of the family - and THEN ground him for the rest of his life.

I sort of hesitated as I paced the sitting area for a bit, which means that I heard voices from the alcove next to the balcony.

"That was an excellent massage!"

"Thank you," River said in a surprisingly humble tone of voice. "I'm in training to do this professionally, and giving massages makes me happy."

The girl laughed. "You know, I really thought you were just trying to talk me into getting naked for you for OTHER reasons."

River gasped out: "No!"

I heard a soft rustling and imagine that she ruffled his hair. "Just so you know, I agreed because I am not opposed to the idea."

"No," River said, sounding like he was probably red in the face from embarrassment. "I'm not interested in that!"

"Not interested at ALL?" She asked curiously. "You DO have me naked under a thin sheet on a table..."

"I'm only 14," River told her. "I'm not going to have sex until I'm with the right person and am a bit older."

"Oh. Too bad," she sighed with clear disappointment.

Then River stammered. "B-b-but... If you like, I can make you feel good..."

"Mmm," she purred, and I heard the sheet shifting followed by what had to be kissing.

I quickly cast a spell to quietly open the door to the suite and slam it shut. "River! Are you in here?!"

I heard a soft growl of frustration, followed by: "Yeah dad! Please just give me a minute and I'll be right there!"

I decided to let him have the requested privacy. He actually emerged from the alcove quickly, reassuring me that he had been fully dressed. Blushing very red, he even told the truth. Mostly.

"I was just giving a massage - as Aya assigned me to do. Sorry I didn't think to send you an Insta-owl so that you didn't worry about me."

I raised a brow, which should have let him know that I knew (or suspected) more than he was letting on, but decided to let the matter drop since the inappropriate part was interrupted.

"As soon as your guest is ready, we'll return to the pool room until it's time for facials in the spa."

River shrugged, looking over his shoulder at the alcove nervously.

A minute later, a fully dressed girl of about 16 emerged from behind the curtain that gives the alcove and balcony a bit of privacy when desired - and blocks out the sun if it's too bright. She smiled at me, also looking a bit nervous, but mostly innocent.

"Just so you know, he really was only giving me a massage."

I put an arm around our son and gave him a kiss on the temple. "I know. He's passionate about the art and hasn't misused or abused the opportunity. Yet." I gave him a mildly challenging look.

He looked away and then nodded, understanding that I expected him to continue to be a perfect gentleman during the massages he gives, no matter who he is massaging or how tempting they may be.

With the matter settled, we all left the suite.

I spent the return trip to the pool room thinking in silence, and I am not happy about it, but I think that we might have to just let this matter go and trust River to do what is right for him. I mean, he technically hadn't done anything wrong in inviting a person to a place where he could give them a massage. That IS what he's training to do, and that IS what he's going to be doing more and more in the future. I DO take issue with his not telling us - so that we could be certain the person wasn't intending to harm him - but I suppose that we have to believe that he is intuitive enough to know when to trust a person and when not to.

My point is that even the part I interrupted wasn't technically wrong as it was officially after the massage had ended and thus, wasn't an abuse of the massage itself. In fact, he had to be talked into doing anything else, and so, clearly wasn't thinking about it prior to that. Obviously I do not WANT him to be as active as he already is, but if he's so determined to do those things, and has already admitted to pleasing girls with his tongue, us outright forbidding it from happening in the future will just make him hide it from us even more, and so, I have no idea what to do except trust him to be safe about it... right?

UGH! I really hate having teenagers!!!

I am going to sign off now, but before I do, I just wanted to let you know that had you watched me dancing yesterday, you probably would have been proud of me. See, Mahafsoun had come 'home' with Elena for the weekend, and was in the ballroom with the rest of us who were dancing. She was overjoyed to have a time and place to practice some of the things she'd learned recently, and she clearly wanted to monopolize me as she did so.

But as you said, my little Pearl ALSO wanted to monopolize me, so I managed to compromise and get them to stop glaring at each other by taking clear turns. Not to mention, I did dance with the others too. And thus, I did not give into any of their manipulation, and you know Pearl was trying to manipulate me every bit as much as Mahafsoun was.

But shite! I think I just heard something crash, and so, need to go investigate.

Love forever,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as a Massage Therapist, I know that what River did is ethically wrong. I know that in real life, River should have completely shut down the entire conversation and left the room. But I wrote it the way I did to give River a chance to be clear about his desire to wait until he's older.   
> And yes, it can actually be a grey area because once a non professional massage is over - and keep in mind that River wasn't getting paid because he is practicing for his training - if at the point that a non professional massage is over and it's agreed that it's over by both parties, then it's not wrong to agree to do other things.   
> So, for example, if I offered to give a massage to a hot guy at a bar - for free - because I was hoping to entice him back to my place for playing, then after I give him that massage, if he was interested in playing, we could. That's sort of what was going on here.  
> But I also want to make it clear that River does know that during a professional massage that he is getting paid for, absolutely no shenanigans are allowed. I don't want to imply that River plans to be a very ethically bad Therapist. He doesn't :-)


	227. Chapter 227

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has the hard talk with River.

Monday October 4th  
Draco,

I just had a lovely conversation with our delightfully sweet and wonderful son River.

Did that sound honest? No? Probably because it was actually painful to write that big of a lie. It was not lovely, he can be delightfully sweet but he wasn't, and while he's a wonderful person he was not displaying any of that during our conversation. He's just so defiant with me. And I know, you don't have to tell me, Harry Potter deserves every single moment of obnoxious teenaged defiance his children can throw at him.

After your description of the "pleasing the massage client" nonsense from yesterday, I decided to talk with him. Not necessarily about that but just check in with him. Unfortunately he's much smarter than I'd like him to be and he saw right through me. "Dad told you what he heard and saw yesterday didn't he?" He asked with his eyes so narrowed and his body so stiff I could tell he was ready for a fight.

I took three or four deep breaths, "He did, but I come and talk with you all the time, it's not like I only ever talk to you when there's been an incident."

He rolled his eyes at me! Rolled.His.Eyes.

"I'm fourteen, I'm not a child. I'm sure you were snogging and groping at my age. With all of your fame I know the girls, and guys, had to be throwing themselves at you. And Dad got my mum pregnant on his fifteenth birthday, so I know he was doing stuff when he was fourteen. So why is it all so wrong for me?" By the time he got to the end of his rant he was shouting at me.

I'm the adult. I'm the adult. I must remain calm. I need to be the responsible one and remain calm. Deep breaths Harry. "First of all River, whether or not we behaved similarly or worse at your age in irrelevant. I had no less than six attempts on my life by the time I was your age, and I certainly don't want that for you. And for your information, even though it shouldn't matter, no I had not had so much as a single kiss before I was fifteen."

"Not my fault you had no game Dad!" he snapped out at me.

"River Lewis Malfoy! That is absolutely inappropriate! I understand you're a teenager and it's natural to push at your parents but I'm trying to have a mature discussion with you since you are so adamant that you are practically an adult and you're throwing out insults. You are only proving my point. Your Dad and I are really worried about your behavior." I began responding less calmly than I started.

"That's not true. YOU are worried about my behavior. Dad is proud of me." He spat out.

"Well, I'm proud of you too. I'm proud of you every moment of the day. But he and I are both worried about your choices when it comes to sex." I took a few deep breaths after this because I could tell I was getting worked up.

"No, Dad taught me all about how to please a woman. You're just being uptight. With how you and Dad touch constantly I wouldn't think you were a prude. God." He sneered at me. My own son, my little buddy, my sweet River SNEERED at me!

And I rest my case Draco. You have such a good Malfoy mask that despite your insistence that you want him locked away in a Dragon guarded tower for the rest of his teen years, he thinks you not only approve but that he is impressing you with his prowess.

I think I just sat there staring at him for a solid minute. Me with my jaw practically on the ground while he glared daggers at me. Alright, my feelings were hurt, I was upset with you, I was upset with him, but I had to be a father not a kicked puppy.

After another minute of deep breathing to keep my temper in check I was able to speak, "River, you've been a Malfoy long enough to know that when you resort to name calling and temper tantrums it's because you don't actually have anything to back up your point. You can keep pushing me, you can keep calling me names and trying to hurt my feelings, but I'm not backing off and I'm not going away. You are too important to me, you being your best self is worth my wounded pride." He opened his mouth to argue but I put my hand up to stop him. "I wasn't done. Your dad references locking you away in a tower for the rest of your teen years because he has no idea what to do about your behavior. He attempted to invent a potion that would freeze the aging process so he can skip the teen years of the rest of your siblings. Hell! He succeeded but I wouldn't let him use it! He's terrified for you, and has no idea what to do about it. And what does he revert to when he doesn't know what to say or do and feels immensely uncomfortable?"

River's eyes popped open wide and he gasped, "Bloody Hell, he lays on the Malfoy Mask!"

Ding Ding Ding, tell the teenaged Casanova what he's won!

"Buddy, he's so worried about doing and saying the wrong thing, he's terrified of making you feel the slightest bit bad about yourself, that he's going the other direction. He didn't WANT to teach you how to pleasure a girl, he was worried you would anyway and figured he'd rather tell you than have you find out some other way. Also, he was pregnant and I think he just really wanted some peaches." River blushed to the tips of his ears when I started talking about the peaches.

I kept on, even though I was probably blushing just as much at this point. "It is totally normal at your age to be thinking about sex, it's normal to wonder about girls or boys or both or neither. But you are too young to be doing the things you're doing. There are ways to make people happy that aren't sexual in nature. You're amazing at massage, that makes people feel good. When your Dad threw a hissy fit at the PWCC, you were wonderful with the little kids who had been behaving terribly. Your siblings look up to you. But at your age, your sexual experiences should include a few stolen kisses under the quidditch stands and a great working relationship with your hand." More blushing on both sides. "But. It sounds like you know you don't want to have sex. You tried saying no. You gave clear boundaries that you wanted to be older and care for your partner. But she didn't respect your wishes, so you gave in and offered something else. Sex is not a negotiation. Sex is not a compromise. If she wants everything and you want nothing, that doesn't mean you meet in the middle. It means nothing happens."

"But Dad! I'm good at it and the girls like it!" He whinged.

"And I've managed to murder everyone I've set out to murder, doesn't mean I'm going around AK-ing everyone who annoys me!" Oops, I didn't mean to say that. I'm going to plead temporary insanity from dealing with a teenager.

"Ok, I should not have said that. I should NOT have said that! But I'm not wrong. Being good at something doesn't mean you have to do it ever and it definitely doesn't mean you should do it when you're fourteen! And from now on, you and I are going to be besties. We're going to hang all.the.time. Joined at the hip. Harry and River BFF's! We'll have one of those cool smushed names like Rarry, or Hiver."

"Oh God, you're not going to let me alone for even a moment if we're somewhere there are girls my age are you?" He sounded terrified.

"Or boys your age!" I said excitedly "You've proven to us over and over that we've been a bit sexist in our discussions of your sexual behavior. I don't want to make THAT mistake again now do I?" I was finally having fun with this.

"Well, at least I know you'll leave me alone if I'm anywhere near Maha, since you hate her." And I was done having fun.

"That's another thing River. She is too damaged for you to do anything sexual with her. Maybe some day when you're both older and she's healed. And in this instance, your dad wants you to be with her even less than I do. And I do NOT hate her! I hate what's happened to her and the way everyone is responding to her. I've gotten the argument that she is 'naturally' a flirt but we have no idea what she naturally is. If you truly care for her don't you think you should give her the space to find out who she really is? Maybe she's a natural flirt, or maybe it's been forced upon her. How will we ever know if you don't give her space to learn about herself?" Now River was done having fun too.

"Dad, I've never felt about anyone the way I do her. I don't know if I CAN stay away from her." He was so sincere that his beautiful eyes were almost spilling over with tears.

"Unfair River, you know what your sad eyes do to me. Have since the moment I laid eyes on you." Annnnnnd now the tears spilled over. "I love you, and I want the best for you. And if you want Mahafsoun, then I want her for you. But at your ages and her current mental health, it needs to be friendship for now. Help her. Help her learn what SHE wants and what SHE needs. Be her best friend and maybe someday she'll be ready for more. And so will you."

Then we just sat on his bed a while, my little boy wrapped in my arms. Alright, he's taller than I am, but he will always be my little boy.

So, in case you're wondering why I'm going to spend the upcoming months following River around like a lost puppy, this is why.

Infuriatingly Yours,  
Harry

 

Monday October 4th  
My better half,

THANK YOU so much for having the awkward conversation with River! I know he's in essence a mini me, but I never know what to do. On the one hand, I can remember being his age and he's right in that I was rather active, but... as a parent, I want him to make smarter choices. He tries to use his conception as an example, and claims that he's old enough to do some things because I was obviously doing them at his age. But does he REALLY want to be in the situation I was? Finding out YEARS later that I had a son because I was being stupid one day?

Ugh...

Also, thank you for pointing out that I do not handle my conversations with him well. That I sort of freeze and opt for my Malfoy mask because I don't know what else to do. I think he sort of knew that, but didn't truly understand it until you made it make sense for him.

But moving on before I drive myself mad.

What in the bloody hell are we going to do about Sirius?!

I feel like I'm his parent too, only he's worse than a teenager because he's an adult! ARGH!

But you know what? I have a little bit of good news to throw in with all the drama. Remember when you told me that I just had to find my thing with Caelum? Well I think I found it.

See, he was fussing and since I was still up anyway, I just grabbed him and started walking around. Then I brought him to the ballroom and started dancing with him. Then I strapped him to me and brought him for a run.

During all of that, I noticed that he seems to like the loud noises when we're in the ballroom with the music blaring, and he also seems to like the jostling when I'm dancing or running with him, but it's just not enough. I felt rather desperate; WHAT in the seven levels of hell would soothe him?

Then I remembered that other parents around the world have mentioned things like having to drive their kids all over town to get them to go to sleep. Well, I wasn't certain that would work since my options are a super smoothly quiet sports car, or an also rather smooth flying carpet. Or...

Your bike.

Yes, I tried your bike. Caelum was already strapped to me, so I cast a slew of safety charms on him, and then took him for a ride on your fairly loud and rumbly motorbike.

Caelum LOVED it! He loved the noise. He loved the rumbling vibration. He loved the view - again, he was charmed to the teeth, and so, while he could see where we were going, probably couldn't even feel the wind on his face.

So now... I guess I'm going to be taking a LOT more rides.

Whenever, wherever, we're meant to be together, I'll be there and you'll be near, and that's the deal my dear,  
Draco


	228. Chapter 228

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snape and Padfoot are fighting again and Harry and Draco have to figure out how to fix things.

Tuesday October 5th

Draco Lucius,

You took my baby - My teeny tiny practically a newborn - Preemie baby (just not as preemie as his sister) on my flying motorcycle? But But But …. he's so little and fragile and tiny. Alright, so in the grand scheme of babies, at just a few weeks short of five months old and 7.5kg (16lbs) he's not all that tiny. He's going to have your height, thank the Gods for that.

Fine! I realize that you might even be more of a worrier than I am when it comes to infant safety, and if you say he was charmed to his tiny little teeth I will believe you. Is there anything sweeter than his two little sharp teeth when he gives his big grins? It almost makes his nighttime festivities bearable when he flashes one of his naughty smiles at me. It's like he's saying "you want to be mad but you can't because I'm too cute!"

He's not wrong.

Anyway, I feel like I'm putting out fires left and right. First with River, then with you, Sirius, and Snape. For crying out loud, one of them is dead and the other one came back from the dead, you'd think they'd be over these ridiculous childhood rivalries. You and I grew out of our immature rivalries, why can't they? Not that I recommend them growing out of theirs the way we grew out of ours. Ugh, gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking of that.

Brain bleach!

I feel like you've only managed to get Severus' take on the whole situation, and while I am not in anyway saying Sirius' behavior was acceptable you need to realize you got a very very biased version of the events. So, as far as I can tell from the OTHER portraits and from listening to both men's stories, I think it's a mixture of them both being obnoxious arseholes that were both in the wrong.

My best summation of the entire story is this. You and I have been pretty distracted over the last few months. Viper and Tiger are madly in love. Almost everyone we know is paired off and in love. I think Sirius has been achingly lonely. For a while he was just getting used to being back in the land of the living. Then, while they weren't romantically involved in any way, he had some companionship with the Viper. Over the summer he was as distracted as the rest of us dealing with travels and helping the older kids get ready for Hogwarts and especially caring for Viper's kids whenever he was in his original world. But recently I think he's been feeling a bit useless and unwanted.

Maybe not unwanted, but definitely unneeded. And then we had the five naming ceremonies, Sirius becoming Lily's Godfather, and I think he felt a bit more special and necessary. But now that we've both been healthier, we haven't been leaving the babes quite as often, and Sirius never had a dedicated day with them anyway. Which I think we should definitely start scheduling him a dedicated day, if not with all of them, then at least with his Lily.

Well, after the ceremony, I guess Sirius confided in Andi how lonely he was. He even alluded to the fact that he was embarrassed to talk about missing the love of his life to said love's former mother in law. Well, Sneaky Snape heard the whole thing from a nearby portrait. He spent a solid three days torturing Sirius with his solitary existence.

Sirius insists that he was the bigger man and didn't respond at all for three days. Severus insists he was most definitely not the bigger man and responded with comments about Snape's looks and lack of any love life ever. I think it's probably a mixture of both, Sirius probably tried to rein himself in but still managed a number of hurtful comments. They're both immature babies.

Eventually Sirius had had enough and decided to get his revenge Marauder style. It was immature and ridiculous. A bit hurtful. And very icky for me to hear about. And Snape fell for it hook line and sinker.

I was really curious this past week or so with Severus actually being kind to me. It was awkward and made me uncomfortable. At some point he must have heard me talking with Teddy about Sebastian. Teddy actually adores Sebastian, and Teddy is one of the few people Sebastian seems to really enjoy. I made some side comment about loving "my little brother 'Bastian" and I heard Snape gasp from a nearby portrait.

He got all weird and choked up, asking me, "he is your brother, truly?"

"Uh, yes Snape, Sebastian is my brother. You know this." I couldn't understand how this was the first time he realized I considered your siblings my siblings as well.

Yeah, except that's not what he meant at all. Apparently, Sirius has spent the last month plotting his revenge, spent the last three weeks enacting it, and my own comment while the Godkids were here sealed the deal.

Sirius convinced Severus that Sebastian was not his only biological child. That he had a child many years before Gina Mitchell's crazy self went anywhere near him. A child he almost got murdered by telling Voldemort about an overheard prophecy. Yeah, Sirius told Severus that *I* was his child.

For the first few days Severus argued the ridiculousness of such a thing. That I looked exactly like James; Sirius explaining that away by insisting the dark hair was from Snape. That he CERTAINLY would have remembered sleeping with my mum; ew ick ew. And Sirius explained to him that my mum was so distraught at having cheated on my dad, that she obliviated Snape's memories of the conception. The only person besides Lily to know the truth was himself, as Lily didn't notice the dog napping under the coffee table.

He spent weeks reminding him of the way he treated me during my school years. Torturing the poor man … er portrait. And when I acknowledged Bastian as my brother, Snape pretty much lost his mind. Once I got the truth out of him Sunday, and explained in no uncertain terms that Sirius was just messing with his head, and that there was no way he was my biological father, he has spent the entire time since following Sirius no matter where he goes in the Manor singing badly at the top of his lungs the most obnoxious songs he can come up with.

So, yes, you're quite right. Sirius might as well be a teenager and I think we need to ground him. But Snape was certainly an arse by taunting Sirius about his depressing loneliness. They may as well get over their animosity the way we did. Those two arseholes deserve each other.

Love,  
Harry

 

Wednesday October 6th  
My fire,

I seem to be in a bit of luck, just as I was charming Caelum with every safety charm in existence so that we could go for a bike ride tonight, he fell asleep. The last thing I wanted was to wake him up, so I'm leaving him in his cozy carrier and dictating this as I do a little light dancing in the ballroom.

I think I might have a solution for Sirius. It's a bit more of a reward than he really deserves, but maybe it'll solve the underlying problem. Plus it'll get him out of our hair for a bit.

So... how's this...

We send him on an LBGT singles' cruise for a couple of weeks. Maybe a month.

Think about it. He'll be in a great place to meet someone, whether that person be male, female, or something in between. This'll be a chance for him to have a bit of fun without anyone else wanting or needing him for anything. Thus, he won't have to worry about trying to start a relationship while taking care of someone else's kids. Plus, he won't have any arsehole portraits harassing him. (Unless you slip my godfather's portrait in his luggage, hahahaha!)

I think it could work.

Before he leaves, we could make a point of telling him that he's going to have as much time as he wants with any or all of our kids. If he wants just Lily for a couple of hours on a Sunday to take her to a park, great, but if he wants to take them ALL to the park, so be it. Who are we to tell him no?

Oh, we can go one step further and ask him to plan out fun things to do so that he feels he's being included, and maybe we imply that he'd really be helping us out by doing this.

Then he goes on the cruise, meets a nice person to meet his other needs, et voila! He's happy and no longer acting out. I'd say it's a pretty good plan.

What do you think?

OH! Our little lordling is already awake and demanding more activity than a smidgeon of dancing, so it looks like I'm going for a bike ride after all.

'Cuz you mean the world to me, you are my everything, I swear the only thing that matters, matters to me, Oh baby baby baby baby baby, 'cuz you mean so much to me,  
Draco  
P.S. When I get back, I'll try to talk with Sev. Maybe I should invite Yesenia over to talk with him to at some point. Maybe he could benefit from a little therapy.


	229. Chapter 229

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco overhears something.

Thursday October 7th  
My Rock,

That was an absolutely amazing idea. You are so sweet! Sirius was being an obnoxiously immature brat and it was directed at your Godfather, and you still managed to come up with a plan that was special for him and took into account his needs. I am a spoiled boy with the most amazing husband to have ever existed.

I walked into his rooms, I would have knocked but I knew he was in there and not doing anything he enjoyed. How did I know that do you ask? The deep baritone singing about how he's "Henry the eighth I am, Henry the eighth I am I am!" gave me a bit of a clue that nothing was happening that Sirius wouldn't want interrupted anyway.

"Professor, I am here to deal with this troublemaker, Draco has requested your presence in the sitting room across from the play room if you've the time." he gave me the stink eye when I called him 'Professor' but he took off so I'll count it as a win. We may be the most therapy-happy family to ever exist! We've brought in a mind healer to help out our portrait! Oh well, I always say therapy is never the wrong answer.

"Sirius, you took this one too far you know that right?" You would have thought I was the Godfather and he the Godson with the way he hung his head and nodded.

I sat on the bed next to him and put my arm around his shoulders. "We've talked about this before; he's a lot to handle, he's hard and has a knack for knowing exactly what wound to poke that will hurt the most. Believe me, I know. But you won, don't you get that? You're alive, he's not. You get to go anywhere you please, he has to stay within a set of frames. You get to have a relationship with HIS Godson and HIS Son, he only sees Draco when we're here and he never even met his son. You've GOT to be the bigger man here."

He sighed, "I know it Haz. I remind myself of it all the time, but as soon as he starts in I immediately revert back to that sixteen-year-old bully I once was; desperate to deflect from my own insecurities."

"Draco had some wonderful ideas to help you fill your days instead of plotting teenaged mischief, but you have to promise me that you will give Severus a break!" I pleaded with him. When he nodded again I continued, "You know I love my kids Sirius, I live for them, but right now the babies are so needy that I worry I'm neglecting the other kids. They insist I'm not, we go running together and dirt-biking, they all come bake with me or at the very least come find me and steal biscuits out from under my nose when they think I'm not looking. But I think any of them would really benefit from some individualized attention from an adult they love, trust, and adore spending time with."

"Sure Haz, anything you say, I can kick around the Manor giving them each a bit of attention. Say no more!" He seemed really excited by the idea but also completely missed the point.

"No! Well, not no, but no that's much less than I meant. I think I'm babbling. Alright, I'll start over." Oh rambling Harry how much have I not missed you. "You can just kick around the Manor with any of them any time. You've never needed our permission to do that. Unless you don't want to. But what we meant was taking them out in singles or pairs, heck you can take the whole circus if you'd like. Go take Lily somewhere to spoil like I know you did to me when I was teeny. Take her shopping for fluffy dresses or leather jackets, make all the salespeople go gooey eyed with how fit you look when you're wrapped around her little finger. Take the mischief twins or Zaire and Jaz to the park."

"You'd trust me to take them out somewhere?" Oh Draco, my heart just about shattered. Sirius doesn't think we trust him with our kids!

I was able to keep going but I was definitely shaky. "Sirius, you think we don't trust you with the kids? Is that why you've never asked to take them anywhere? Until recently I thought you just didn't want to have to drag around a bunch of ankle biters. I'd trust you with any of them. I trust you with my life, and theirs!"

He and I broke into tears and just hugged each other while we cried. I'm very glad Severus had gone to talk with you and Yesenia by that point because we both would have been teased mercilessly I'm sure if he had viewed that.

Once we calmed down he seemed to get a second wind and told me about a million ideas he had for spending time with the kids. He was so excited I completely forgot to tell him about the cruise. I think I'll let you tell him about that one. It was your idea, you may as well get the brownie points. Or chocolate points, whatever you want to call them ;)

Oh! Speaking of leather jackets, I think I should get my biker boys some matching leather jackets. Wouldn't you and our little lordling (how cute is that nickname?!) look so sweet in matching outfits when you go for your midnight bike rides?

Loving you with all of my heart,  
Harry

 

Saturday October 9th

My passion,

How in the bloody hell did we get so old that WE are more adult than some of the adults in our lives???

So, the moment Sev came into the sitting room with me and noticed Yesenia, he nearly walked right back out. I had to use a few of my Slytherin manipulation tactics to more or less guilt him into staying. And then I explained that I expected him to have a long and lovely chat with Yesenia. He grumbled and groused for a bit, but eventually agreed.

At that point, I was politely asked to leave the room by Yesenia - who takes her job seriously despite the fact that her client is a portrait.

I knew that you were still busy talking to Padfoot, so I decided to take advantage of my free time and simply walk around the Manor. As I was strolling along, I heard a bit of a disturbance. Curious, I picked up the pace until I could hear the actual words being shouted.

"She's NOT a real Malfoy!"

"She was an upstart who married WELL above her station!"

"She tainted the Malfoy line!!!"

"HOW BLOODY ***DARE*** YOU?!" That indignant screech was from our usually calm and mature Viona. I sort of stopped in my tracks, unintentionally held captive by curiosity and the need to know what would happen next if I didn't intervene.

"Oh shut up!" A portrait I recognized as sounding like my great Aunt Hortentia Malfoy commanded. "YOU are not even a real Malfoy!"

"Or did you THINK we didn't know you were adopted out of the goodness of our generous Draco's heart?" A different great Aunt asked snidely.

"Bloody fool child, that one is! Disgracing the family name by adopting mudbloods and foreigners!" My grandfather Abraxas added.

"YOU LEAVE OUR DAD OUT OF THIS!!!" More than likely all of our children who can speak roared.

I hadn't rounded the corner to get a clear view of them yet, but I imagine that our petite little pixie Eris squared her shoulders and straightened up to her full height, such as it is. "***I*** AM a true Malfoy, and I ALSO think you're a bunch of bigoted arseholes who need to grow the bloody hell up!"

Abraxas had the gall to scoff. "Psh! You're not a Malfoy, you're a *Potter* who happens to have Malfoy blood!"

I was a bit rankled by this point, and was mentally gearing up to go give them all a steaming pile of hell, but a quiet voice stopped me from moving.

"What about me? According to all the family bylaws and traditions, ***I*** am the next Malfoy heir - head of the family to be, the one who will inherit all the blood wards and secret vaults," Orion pointed out.

There was a moment of silence. "Well yes, you are clearly a Malfoy with your tall, lithe body and your silken blond hair, not to mention your signature family looks."

I couldn't help but take a peek at this point. Orion had a very serious expression on his face, but he wasn't overtly irate like the rest of them. Instead, he was quiet and rather composed.

He harrumphed very softly. "Funny how you can acknowledge me because of my looks despite the fact that I was born from Harry Potter Malfoy - the one you just disparaged my twin sister for looking like - and yet can't acknowledge HER despite the fact that she literally came from your Precious Draco Malfoy."

Abraxas looked like he was thrilled to be dealing with someone who can make intelligent arguments. "Be that as it may, in the wizarding world, it's well known that it doesn't matter WHO carries the heir, the Heir will be known by his family traits. YOU are the first born male that is the product of a valid marriage, and thus, you are most definitely our future family head."

Orion gave him a soft and mildly evil smirk that looks so very familiar somehow, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

"Well then, you've just disproved your entire argument against poor Brighid," he pointed out. "You just said that it doesn't matter who carries the true heir as his looks are all that matter." He pointed to the portrait of Angus Og Malfoy - Brighid's son. "HE most definitely had the Malfoy looks and was unquestionably the next Malfoy head, after his father. And as the future head of the family ***I*** order you all to stop harassing and ostracizing my Great Great Great (and so on) Grandmother Brighid and if you can't bring yourselves to be welcoming, AT LEAST be civil to her!"

There was a look that circled all of the great Malfoys who had gathered in a sunny landscape on the third floor corridor. They seemed to have a silent conversation that lasted a few long seconds, and then returned their attention to Orion.

"Fine," Abraxas growled unhappily. "We'll honor you as the future head, and be civil to the Irish woman who married into our family, but I can promise you this, we WON'T be happy about it."

Orion gave them a genuine (and rather relieved) smile. "I'd die of shock if you were."

And with that, our kids reverently placed their hands on Brighid before nodding respectfully (well, mostly, our girls especially had a bit of attitude left in their expressions) to the rest of the Malfoy ancestors. Then they migrated toward the entertainment room - Orion leading the way.

He stopped short and blushed vibrantly when he saw me standing just around the corner. "Dad!"

I pulled him into a tight hug and kissed his head. "I am so proud of you!" I murmured, kissing him again.

He blushed a bit harder and pulled free of my grasp, groaning in embarrassment: "DAAAAAD..."

"I think today would be a great day for the lot of us to go out for ice cream. What do you say?" I asked with a huge grin.

This suggestion was unsurprisingly met with cheers. So that's where we disappeared to for a few hours. When we got home, I caught up with Padfoot. I spotted him as I was striding through the library and pretended as if I wasn't interested him in the slightest until I 'remembered' something.

Stopping, I turned back to look at him. "Er, say, Padfoot?"

"Yeah, little cousin?" He drawled in amusement.

Huh... I sort of like him calling me that. "I received a brochure in the post for a nice long cruise. I know this may surprise you, but it made me think of you. You do so much for our family, quietly keeping us together when there's drama and upheavals - such as Harry being in the hospital. Don't think I didn't notice you keeping the older kids entertained when I couldn't. In any case, I really appreciate it and I think you deserve a wonderful holiday, all on your own, if you'd like. Who knows, maybe you'd even meet a nice bird - or a bloke - and have a bit of fun to keep you occupied."

"Yeah?" He questioned, sounding interested.

"Of course!" I confirmed. "Just say the word and I'll arrange everything!"

He laughed. "You mean have Pippa arrange it!"

"Same thing," I murmured in mild confusion.

Still laughing, he nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks Cuz!"

"No problem," I replied, and then was surprised when he gave me a bit of a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I know I thought you were a little shit who wasn't good enough for my godson, but I am so happy to be wrong. You really are perfect for him."

I may or may not have been a bit teary eyed and trying hard to hide it as he made a quick escape before either of us had to confront any squicky emotions.

And so... that's that - ALL of that - sorted.

I feel like we deserve rewards for being brilliant, and so, I'm going to sign off now, hunt you down, and carry you off to our play room for some very thorough rewards.

You get me closer to God,  
Draco


	230. Chapter 230

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is incensed at the paintings and Draco is talking potions again.

Sunday October 10th  
My Mature Adulty Adult Love,

I'm not sure if you're referencing Sirius or Severus when you ask how we got old enough to be more adult than the adults in our lives. And we aren't THAT adultish. I watch more kids movies and play on more playgrounds than most ten-year-olds. But I know what you meant. I hate to stick up for the two ridiculous men in this situation, but we have to keep in mind that *technically* neither one of them are really all that much older than we are.

Sirius was thrown in the veil and didn't age when he was only thirty-five, and that's not counting the twelve years he spent in Azkaban when he should have been maturing into a responsible adult. Severus was … what thirty-eight when he died? So they're really only five and eight years older than we are. Or in Sirius' case you could make the argument that he's really in his mid twenties and therefor we are his adults.

Also, we're only thirty. I'm sure ten years from now we will look back at this time and think about how young we were. I know I do that when I look back a decade and think about us at twenty. Imagine how ridiculous we'll eventually be compared to us being in our hundreds!

And Sirius is obviously quite mature and brilliant despite his pranking, he's smart enough to see how good you are for me! He's not wrong, you make me a better man. I love you.

You know who I do NOT love? Those bigoted, terrible portraits. I know what family I married into. I am aware of the history of inflating their self worth. You actually live up to the hype and truly ARE better than everyone else. And your father has spent the last decade really changing and I think he's living his best life. But those disgusting racist arseholes are making me furious.

I was up in arms when I thought about how they were bullying Brighid. She certainly didn't deserve it while she was alive or afterwards. She TAINTED THE LINE?!? Centuries of marrying their cousins was fine, but Merlin forbid someone dare to marry a beautiful Irish woman? But then those cretins had the nerve to disparage OUR CHILDREN?!? I think I'm going to start wandering the ground with black paint and accidentally slip a few times.

How dare they call our children names? Mudbloods and foreigners? Adoption makes them not worthy to be Malfoys? Not having blonde hair means they're not really Malfoys? Are you kidding me? I am so proud of Viona, Eris, and Orion for standing their ground and telling those portraits exactly what they thought of them. It sounds like their real criteria for being a "True Malfoy" is being narrow minded, judgmental, and unwilling to look past their exceptionally pointy noses!

Sorry love, you know I love your pointy features. Your angled face makes you look aristocratic and beautiful. Theirs make them look stupid.

If those are the criteria for being a Malfoy, then it sounds like NONE of our children meet that. I think some of them deserve to spend a century or two inside some vaults like they forced poor Brighid to do. Or maybe I should introduce them to some muggle technology. I'm thinking a wood chipper, maybe a shredder. How upset do you think your parents would be if I mutilated Dear Aunt Hortentia or Sweet Grandpa Abraxas?

If they say no and you say no, I know a certain evil smirking blonde boy who might help me on my quest. Our Orion is such a sweetheart, but he's also reserved and tends to observe instead of speak. Strong and silent. But when he speaks, his voice holds such weight. I am so proud to be his father. And I also adore the wonderful man who gave him that evil smirk. Not sure why it was familiar? You see it every so often, I'd say every time you walk past a mirror.

Thank Merlin you're pretty.

Anyway, I had better run. I have to find Pippa and make sure we don't have plans this afternoon, I got a message from Dudley and Donna that they wanted to come talk to us. It sounded important. I hope everything is alright!

Love you,  
Harry

 

Sunday October 10th  
The beat of my heart,

I'm so sorry to have left you on your own with Dudley and Donna.

Alright, so, as you know, Sebastian and I had recently brewed a bunch of potions to possibly fix werewolves. Those particular potions wouldn't be observable until the next full moon. Pansy worked with Laila Marley to document the volunteers, and they decided that the potions were more than likely a one moon at a time fix - as opposed to a permanent fix. You know, if they worked at all.

So, they set up a place so that it was as safe as possible while containing three werewolves. During the full moon. Which was September 23rd. Side note, the next one is on Oct 22nd.

The reason it took over two weeks for me to hear about the results is that Pansy and Laila wanted to analyze all the information they had, including the ingredients for Wolfsbane potion that they all *normally* take - but didn't this past month as they didn't want to risk mitigating the effects of the new potions they were testing. This could be important because the residual traces of the Wolfsbane *could* potentially interact with the test potions.

So here's the bad news. None of the potions 100% cured werewolfism. Which is fine as it's basically what we expected. We were only able to test three of the four potions (so there is still a chance), and of the three, one had no effect at all. The woman turned into a werewolf and stayed that way all night, trying her best to escape the impossible to escape enclosure and raging because she couldn't. Until Pansy banished a chicken into the enclosure with her and she had a blast tearing it apart and eating it. And then went to sleep.

The second potion acted much the same as Wolfsbane - and in fact is very similar in composition to Wolfsbane. However, Severus and Sebastian were already aware of the similarity and had tried to see if they could simply improve the potion using knowledge of the original that wasn't known previously. (Meaning that Wolfsbane was created before anything was known about the original Werewolf potion.) In that vein, results are a little cloudy. The man reported feeling rather clear headed from the potion, but regular Wolfsbane does the same thing. The only big difference he noted was that the transformation was a bit less painful. So...

Silver lining?

As for the third test potion... It apparently... worked???

See, it successfully prevented the man from turning into a full werewolf, but the trade off is that he turned into a regular wolf for the night instead. Pansy and Laila are fairly certain that the potion is not a full cure, as he will still be a werewolf who transforms every full moon, but that IF he opts to take this potion on those nights, he can turn into a wolf instead.

I personally think I would prefer to be a regular wolf over a were, but who knows, maybe he is so used to being a were at this point, that being a regular wolf is hard on him.

The woman volunteer plans to come back and test the fourth potion at the next full moon, and the two men said they would think things over and make decisions as to whether they want to continue at all, and if so, with the same potions or another one. After all, ideally, each potion should be tried by all three of them to verify that the potion has the effects on all of them as it does one. Who knows, the one that failed completely on the woman might work on the men.

But the reason I had to leave you with your cousin and his wife is that Pansy is going back to Russia until the next full moon (little less than two weeks at this point) and insisted that debriefing me was utterly urgent. I believed her until we were done, and then I realized that I could have learned all the same information she told me by simply reading the report she wrote, but I suppose that what she REALLY wanted was to chat with her bestie and have tea and crumpets, and a bit of a spa day.

And... a full on wine drinking session... which I actually turned down.

So, I'll be home shortly - I'm dictating this as I receive a massage at Pansy's favorite spa, Pansy just called me a sodding git and told me to say hi to you from her. The massage is lovely and all, but it just isn't Aya quality. And saying that earned me a hard elbow to my left calf! Apparently I would have relaxed and enjoyed it more if I wasn't being a co-dependent bitch writing to his husband. This therapist is lucky I don't own this spa, else she might find herself short a job.

Oh! Apparently Pansy has partial ownership in this spa - which is why it's her favorite. I told her she needs to let River get his hands on her the next time she's visiting.

But anyway, as I was saying, I'll be home shortly.

Sometimes I'm happy, sometimes I'm blue, my disposition depends on you, I never mind the rain from the skies, if I can find the sun in your eyes, sometimes I love you, sometimes I hate you, but when I hate you, it's just 'cuz I love you, that's how I am, so what can I do? I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy when I'm with you,  
Draco  
P.S. Yes, I sang that to the dictation device and now Pansy is tempted to drag me off to karaoke, except she really has to be getting home soon.

P.P.S. The Massage Therapists working on us got shockingly flirty after they heard me sing. Go figure.

P.P.P.S. NO, you may NOT deface my ancestors!

-

Overheard by Harry while Draco was up with Caelum before taking off with him to ride Harry's bike.

"Sweet Merlin, luv! It's after midnight, why in the buggering hell are you calling me so late??? … Hang on, I'm trying to change Caelum's nappy, so I'm going to put you on speaker, but please speak softly so that you don't wake up Harry. He tries to hide it, but he hasn't been sleeping the best lately."

"Alright, how's this, too loud?"

"Should be fine. Better yet, Caelum seems to be interested in his Auntie Hannah's voice, don't you my little lordling?"

"Bloody hell! You call him a lordling?! hahahahaha!"

"Of course, he's a Malfoy!"

"You bloody prat! I miss working with you, you know?"

"Hannah, I hope that's not why you're calling me. I told you the last time you called that I'm not going to be working on cold cases with you anymore."

"Yeah yeah, you don't want to upset Harry. I get it, it's hard to be married to someone who does what we do. My husband doesn't like it either, if I'm honest."

"That must be rough as it's literally your job!"

"Hahaha, yeah, a bit. But he knows who he married and he's dealing with it."

"Out with it already! I'm changing my son into his: 'Daddy's bringing me out for a bike ride' outfit, and I want to get him to fall back asleep before it's time for Harry to wake up."

"What about your girls?"

"They're sleeping, I managed to deal with them before Caelum woke up for his feed. Stop avoiding it."

"Sigh... fine. So... well, we found a little girl. She's maybe two. She was not abused that we can determine. Her autopsy report came back as in perfect health until she drowned. BUT... no one has come forward to say that they're missing their girl. And until we can either identify her or... until someone comes forward... we have no idea if she fell into the river and drowned on accident, or if she was thrown in on purpose for some stupid bloody murderous reason."

"*Hannah…*"

"I know I know!"

"I'm not working cases anymore."

"But just this once? PLEASE??? I promise I won't tell Harry!"

"Hannah! That would be worse! I'm not doing it."

"But I know you want to! I KNOW you want to know what happened to this little girl every bit as much as I do!"

"GRRRRR….. Of course I bloody want to know! But I'm not doing it!"

"But Draco..."

"Listen! You don't understand how big our fight was! If I'm not wrong, it nearly broke our marriage, and that's twice in a YEAR that I have been so stupid as to nearly break our marriage! I'm not going to do ANYTHING that upsets Harry for the rest of our lives! Got it! So don't call me again unless it's to chat about babies or an invitation to tea!"

"But!"

"I'm going to hang up now so I can bring my son out on a flying motorcycle so that he'll bloody well go the fuck back to sleep so that ***I*** can bloody fucking go back to sleep. Let me know if you have any major breaks in your case, otherwise, just leave me alone. PLEASE?"

"Sigh... alright. I understand. Good luck getting your boy to sleep. Goodnight Draco."

"Night Hannah. I really do hope you solve your case soon."

"I'd solve it sooner if you - " CLICK.

"Come on love, let's go for that ride, shall we? Lovely..."


	231. Chapter 231

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is helping Dudley and Draco is downsizing a bit.

Sunday October 10, 2010

My Heart,

It's alright that you left me with Donna and Dudley, it's been a while since you've had quality friend time with any of your snakes. I know it's hard with Pansy in Russia, and now with Blaise in Russia as well, that's two of them far away. But you haven't really spent much time with Greg or Millie either. I know we've been crazy busy but you need to take more time for yourself and your friends.

You should have gone drinking and karaoke-ing with Pansy! Oh my goodness, the two of you absolutely pissed and singing together? I think that should happen soon, and possibly be recorded. Definitely recorded. I think it would be fun to watch you start the evening singing beautifully in your gorgeous voice and slowly turn into a slurring singer though still with a pretty voice. Or do you think you wouldn't slur but maybe just choose different songs? Hmm, I think this has to happen …. for science. Yeah, for science.

Science! Or potions actually. Toe-MAY-toe, Toe-MAH-toe. I think the results for the werewolf potion sound great so far. Even the failure of the first potion is a result. It just means you know that version failed and you can focus on the ones that gave results. Potion number two sounds like a good thing. Even if the only benefit is an alternative to wolfsbane that's a success in itself. You never know if someone is allergic to a certain ingredient and it could be helpful to have multiple options for the same treatment. And they did say it was slightly less painful of a transformation, and again even if that was the only change it's still a good one.

But the third potion sounds great. You could be right, maybe that person would prefer their already known were form, but this could be awesome for people to even have the option. Quick question though, did they retain their mind like they do on wolfsbane? I would think even if they were full wolf, they'd be easier to contain in wolf status, but if the option is wolfsbane and keeping your head through the transformation versus being a wolf and going full animal mind maybe it's not as good as it could be. Perhaps the second and third can be combined in some way if that's the case?

Sorry, I know you're the potions guy, just babbling the things coming to my head!

My conversation with Donna and Dudley went well, although it would have been nice to have you there. Not that any of us were upset you couldn't come, but you do know more about magical history than we do and I think you would have been helpful. No worries, I will just tell you all about the problem and I'm sure you'll come up with some solution. If not, I can always tap my other favorite research tool and see if she's up for solving a mystery.

Well, despite Donna's assurance years ago that squibs basically never have magical children, one of their children seems to be performing magic. Which one you ask? No idea. They haven't seen it happen yet. The first few things that happened, they thought they were just imagining things, the kids were being sneaky, or they were being forgetful. They walked into the kitchen to find the three kids eating cookies, when Donna asked which one of them climbed to the top of the refrigerator to get to the cookie jar they assured her that the cookie jar had been sitting on the counter. That one she chalked up to the kids banding together to not give up the guilty party.

There have been a few older kids in their neighborhood messing with kids' toys. Taking bikes, leaving cigarette butts in sandboxes, just being obnoxious youths. So they've been locking the kids' stuff up when they weren't using it. A few days ago, the kids were asking to get to their bikes but neither Donna nor Dudley had the time to unlock the shed. When Dudley finally had a few minutes, he went outside to unlock the shed only to see the kids had already gotten to their bikes. When he asked, they said it was already unlocked. He chalked that up to having forgotten to lock it the day before.

Then, three times last week Donna burnt their dinner. Following her usual recipes that she's made for years, she managed to burn them. She thought it was maybe an issue with their oven's temperature regulating or something like that. Until she realized that the three dinners that were burnt were all things the kids didn't like. And that the night she made their favorite, everything turned out just fine.

Now they're panicking, because if it's one of the older two, they should really get them into Traditions now. But the only way you can "test" for magic is to put the child in situations where they will be emotional enough to pull off accidental magic. No one wants a "throw Neville out the window and hope he bounces" situation.

I offered to have two of their kids stay here for a few days at a time so they can just be around one at a time until the magical culprit is found. I know you won't mind, more kids for you to force into dancing, but just thought I'd let you know that we will have Donnie and Dustin for a few days this week, then Daisy will come for a few days while Donnie goes home, and if neither of them displays anything we will have the two oldest for a few more days while they spend time with Dustin.

I'm really curious about why this would have happened since squibs rarely ever have magical children. Do you think it's because the two squib lines converged? Like squib plus muggle equals muggle but maybe squib plus squib equals magic?

Hopefully you got some sleep last night after biking Cael to sleep. I heard you talking a bit, but you sounded upset. Everything alright?

Better go get some rooms ready for Donnie and Dustin!

Your Co-Dependent Bitch,  
Harry

P.S. I don't want to deface your ancestors, just their portraits. It's not like I'm going to go throw paint at their graves or anything. I just want to destroy someone who disparaged my babies!

P.P.S. Don't forget Eliza's birthday dinner tonight, your mum will murder you if you forget and lock yourself away with potions.

 

Sunday October 10th  
Mi Corazon,

You heard me being upset last night? Ugh, I was just frustrated. There's nothing to worry about.

I got up a few minutes ago and am writing a quick email before I get ready for Eliza's birthday dinner. Wouldn't want my mum to murder me, right?

So I have Pippa in here and we've been talking about how to consolidate my schedule so that it's as light as possible, and she pointed out something wonderful. Over the years, I've basically invested in several businesses by being a sort of silent owner. For example, Café Exquis. These businesses all have contracts to pay be back over time plus interest, but they also love using me as a bit of a bank because I give a damn about them. So if any of them ever need repairs or upgrades, they just ask for a bit more money and I (Pippa) rework the contracts so that their payments increase and things like that.

It's beautiful for everyone involved, especially since we ALL get together once a quarter to brainstorm and make sure that all of my businesses are running smoothly and making a lot of profit.

Well, even though it's very hands off for me - for the most part - it DOES still take up a lot of my time - and Pippa's - because we're on call should there happen to be emergencies (like when the Café had to replace their freezer that went out in the middle of the night about three months back, which Pippa handled). My point is that a handful of them are close to fully repaying me, and Pippa had the brilliant idea that we could offer them deals so that they're paid in full and no longer MY businesses. Which would ease our load a bit and make life just a tiny bit easier for us.

Don't worry, we'll still own the café.

I also have two businesses that have consistently underperformed, and prior to now, I've just let that slide because I make enough off all the others to mitigate the very slight loss. Pippa suggested that it might be time to simply sell them off to other investors who might be more hands on with them. She's going to handle that as well.

So that means that when it comes time for your tour, I won't have quite as much to worry about. Pippa will naturally coordinate with your schedule to make sure that any meetings I need to attend during that time are either while you're not working, or when you're going to be so busy with something that you won't notice me gone anyway. Win win!

In the mean time, I'm looking forward to helping Donna and Dudley figure out which one of their kids has magic. My money's on the youngest - since this accidental magic is a new 'symptom,' and one would think that if it's the older ones, they would have exhibited something sooner. But we'll see.

As for now, I'd better sign off and join the rest of the family before my mother sends a nasty hex my way to get my arse moving. See you soon!

If you're lost you can look and you will find me, time after time, if you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting, time after time,  
Draco


	232. Chapter 232

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry thinks Draco is gorgeous when he's asleep, and Draco is impatient.

Monday October 11th  
Mine,

For the love of all that is good and right in the world, you are breathtaking. I've taken the first midnight wakeup of the babes, and since they aren't being loud I decided to stay right here in bed so we could be with you even if you are sleeping and missing it. I can't get over the fact that this many years later, my heart still skips a beat when I see you. You're obviously handsome, there's no doubt about it, but your looks are probably the least beautiful thing about you. That is saying something!

I see your mouth, soft in sleep, little puffs of air coming out. All I can think of when I look at your mouth is the smile you give me when I catch you off guard. That slow slide into grinning when you look up and notice I've been staring at you. Well, I suppose that's not the *only* thing I think about in connection to your mouth, but it is the loveliest of my thoughts.

Your arms are something else. Did you know when you're sleeping but you can hear one of us you automatically reach out? You've covered your arms in tiny dragons, tattoos that even knowing how much you like control you allowed your children to design their own. These arms are my home.

Alright, I have to stop myself. I could go on for years about your inner and outer beauty if given the chance. But then I wouldn't get to tell you things you don't already know! I'll just save it for our next worship session.

Eliza's birthday dinner tonight was lovely. Nothing big, she had a fun day yesterday with her friends at Hogwarts, but it was nice to come home today and celebrate with family. Which of course means we got to see our Princess as well. I miss her so much. I love that she's settling in so well in the castle, that she seems to have found such good friends, but I can't help but selfishly wish for more time with her. When she was just a tiny baby, eleven years old seemed so far away, but it flew so fast.

Stop blubbering Harry, you're supposed to be talking about Eliza's birthday!

Our little Eliza is fifteen! I can't believe it. I think I'm just going to spend the rest of my life going around in disbelief at everyone growing older around me. I'll be that little old man wandering around confused and telling people how things were 'back in my day.' You're just going to have to follow me around, rolling your eyes, and promising people you'll get me back to the home.

Donnie and Dustin seem to be settling in really well so far. They seemed to enjoy the birthday party. But I think they were a bit too excited to go right to sleep afterwards. Or really just Donnie, Dustin's only two and they're easy enough to get to sleep if you get them tired enough and are willing to read a dozen bedtime stories. I had to go in to Siri's room and settle him and Donnie down a solid four times before I stopped hearing their whispers. As the parent I know I have to worry about their sleep and how awful they'll feel tomorrow if they don't get enough rest, but I just love the difference of my childhood to theirs. My boy and my cousin's boy, snuggled up under a blanket fort and whispering past bedtime. It's very sweet. I wish Dudley and I had been able to have this as boys.

It was nice of McGonagall and Fatima's parents to let her come to the Manor for the party. I can imagine even if it's only a family dinner, it must suck to be without your best friend on your birthday. She seems very sweet. I can't imagine my years at Hogwarts without my best friends, I'm very glad Eliza has her.

And I'm really glad I'll have more of you in the upcoming months. Are you truly going to back off some of the businesses? I know they're a lot of work, but you seem to really enjoy the businesses. Although I think you dropping the two unprofitable ones sounds like a good idea even if you weren't downsizing. What fraction of your businesses are you going to close out their contracts potentially? A quarter? A third? As much as I selfishly want this, I just worry you'd feel adrift without so many businesses to care for. You're just so wonderful at it.

Well, whatever you choose you know I'll support you.

You know I'll definitely support any efforts to continue owning Café Exquis!

Mmm, now I want their spinach ravioli. And bread! Now that the babies are asleep maybe I'll sneak off to the kitchens for a little midnight snack.

Hungrily yours,  
Harry

P.S. You may be right about Dustin being the wizard, but late accidental magic isn't completely out of the realm of possibilities. Look at Neville, he's quite the wizard but most of his childhood his family worried he was a squib.

 

Monday October 11th  
Light of my life,

You want to know the best part about my parents being eager to continue watching our babies on a Monday afternoon? It's the fact that we can shag until we drop out in the North Field after making several circuits around your running track.

We were in the midst of training for your marathon, that you haven't settled on yet, but are leaning toward one in the spring. When suddenly I just had to have you, so I cast a spell to give me an extra burst of speed for a few seconds so that I could not only catch up to you, but lift you off your feet and throw you over my shoulder so I could carry you off to a secluded spot.

I'm dead certain you were only protesting for the fun of it because you certainly didn't stop me from stripping you off, nor did you Apparate away. You were simply babbling things like: "Wait! Draco! I'm in the middle of a run! Wait until we're done! Come on Draco, you can be patient for - fuck! That mouth never fails to make my insides twist up in knots of pleasure!"

I vigorously milked every drop from you, and then cast a spell to instantly make you hard and ready to go again so that I could ride you at my leisure - this time with a denial spell so that you had no choice but to beg me to eventually let you have a second orgasm. Lucky for you, I was able to keep going after my first covered you in a hot mess, and was already close to my second. When I felt it reach the point of no return, I countered your denial spell and let you finish with me.

Then I curled up around you and took a nap in the glorious sunshine. AHHHH... Days like this are perfect! Too bad it's been rainier and rainier lately. Soon enough winter will be here and we might well have to go back to the Maldives or maybe somewhere new - somewhere warm and gorgeous. Both could be equally fun, but at least on our private Island in the Maldives, we won't have to talk to anyone else on the planet (aside from our kids and support staff) as we lounge naked and just bask in the sheer heavenly light of the sun.

Speaking of the sun, are you ready for tomorrow? We have that appointment with Neil to tattoo me with one of your love bites. I've decided that I'm definitely going to have you suck a fairly large bruise onto my hip, and then once he has outlined that (and healed it so as to not ruin the actual tattoo), I'm going to have him get a print of your lips kissing the spot so that he can tattoo them over the love bite.

But as for now, I'm off to the ballroom with the girls - who are still small enough that I can wear them both on my chest - to dance them to sleep while you get to pace the room with Caelum. Ever since Brighid noticed him, she's been in our room a lot just cooing at him, so I have no doubt that the two of you will probably have a long chat.

Come dance with me if you manage to get Caelum to sleep before I return from dancing.

I wanna make you holler and hear you scream my name,  
Draco


	233. Chapter 233

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gets drunk and Draco finds it hilarious.

Draco,

Dray-Ko! Did you know your mane neams Dragon? That's why I call you Dragon. And your name is in the Hogwarts motto; never tickle a sleeping dragon. But I think at some point I have probably tickled a sleeping dragon. Wait, have I? You are the growliest of dragons when you are awoken, I don't think I'd risk your wrath by tickling you awake. I would be more likely to suck you awake. Good thing the motto isn't 'never fellate a sleeping dragon' or I would be a terrible Hogwarts Alumni.

You know what other word is fun? Wednesday. Wed. Nez. Day. If you say it fast without spelling it, it almost sounds like Wensdy. Ooooh, Wendy! Wendy Moira Angela Darling. That's the name of Peter Pan's Wendy. Did you know I had quite the crush on Peter Pan when I saw the movie through the slats in my cupboard door when I was a boy? I didn't realize that's what it was but I totally did. I thought he was cute and I liked that he had a smart mouth. I liked his pointy little chin and his false bravado.

That's weird right? To think a cartoon character is cute? Am I a weird little perverted deviant? I mean I KNOW I'm a weird little perverted deviant, I just wanna know if this is part of my deviancy.

Oh! You are still at Unity after the movie tonight, you stayed back to do Krab Manga with some of the older Kids. Then I came home and all of our babies fell right asleep. So I says to myself, "Harry my boy, should I go to bed?"

And then I heard a voice over my shoulder saying "No Harry, you should spend some quality time with your husband's mum and daddy."

Well and then I panicked and said, "Merlin???"

But it was NOT Merlin. It was your mum. And that wiley minx talked me into drinking with your father. And after all these years I can still drink him under the table. I think he actually drank, drunk, er … had more to drink than I have. But I am under the table. So that means I win. I think. It at least means I have fallen off of less chairs than he has. I have only fallen off of my chair one time, that's how I ended up under the table. But Papa dear fell over three times before he gave up and came under the table with me.

But THEN Sirius found us drinking. So he decided to join us. And then he was under the table. But why am I all alonely under the table right now with oodles of time to write to you? It's because your daddy and my goddaddy decided to go find blankets because we are going to make a FORT!

I was going to help find the blankets, but every time I tried to stand up I hit my head. So we all decideded that I should stay here and make sure the table is still here when they get back.

You know what would make the fort more fun? If you were here. And then we could be under it and we could smooch and rut. Mmm, I am laying on my tummy right now, so I could rut against the floor, but that's not as fun as grinding my cock on you. But mmmm, it does still feel good.

Ow! Ok it does not feel great when I rub against my zipper of my jeans. You know what I should do? Take my pants off! Don't worry, I will leave my shirt on, but I am going to take off my bottoms. No one will know what's happening because I'm under a table.

Ow. I hit my head again. But now my bum is all cold on the ground. It would feel good if my arse were nice and red and sore from a sound thrashing, but alas I am unreddened. So now it's just a pale booty on a cold floor. I should probably stop typing and hold on to my penis so it doesn't get cold.

If you come home and can't find me, I will be in the fort!

I love you Drake-ity Draco the Dancing Dragon,  
Harry (Your little sexy slave boy)

 

Thursday October 14th  
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

(Takes breath.)

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

(Falls out of bed, finishes laughing, crawls back into bed, then wipes the tears of laughter off his face.)

Okay, so - hahahaha - so my mum - hahahaha - my mum, she - hahahahahahahahaha - she was laughing - hahahahahahahahaha - SO HARD!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - because you - hahahahahaha - YOU were under the table - hahahahaha (coughs and wipes more tears away) - HOLDING your flaccid penis - hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha (more coughing and nearly falling off the bed again) - to keep it warm. NOT wanking it and keeping it WARM, just - hahahahaha (snorts, wheezes, holds sides) - cupping it, protecting it from the cold of the floor -

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - AH! (Falls off bed again.)

(Gives up and finishes dictating while rolling on the floor next to the bed.)

And then - hahahahahahahaha - MY DAD AND PADFOOT - hahahahahahahahaha - came back and - hahahaha - built the fort - hahaha - and then crawled in it with you and - AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

(Pounds fist on floor.)

And they - hahahahahahahahahaha - THEY decided that there must be a very important reason - hahahahahahahaha - reason that you were half naked and holding your penis - hahahahahahahaha - so THEY stripped off their bottoms and - hahahahahahahahahaha - and cupped THEIR penises!!!!!

(Dies of laughter for a few minutes.)

So - hahaha - so I - hahaha - I arrive home - hahaha - and find my mum - hahahahaha - laughing her arse off - hahaha - at you, my dad - hahahahaha - and Padfoot - hahahaha - lying on the floor and holding your penises - hahahahahahaha - and trying to have a rather deep conversation on the purpose of chilly floors - hahahahahahahahahahahahaha - and shrivelly penises - hahahaha - and how much more alcohol you'd need to drink to stop feeling the cold - hahahahahahaha - which you three were apparently testing - hahahaha!

(Laughs, coughs, wheezes, and repeatedly wipes away tears for a few minutes until he finally sobers up, then crawls back into bed.)

I could see that you were drunk enough that you were on the verge of passing out, so I crawled into the fort under the table with you so that I could ask you if you were ready to come to bed with me, but all you saw was me, which apparently made your drunk little nutty mind happy, because you lit up like a Christmas tree and pushed me over so that you could roll on top of me and try to tear my trousers off.

You were excitedly babbling something along the lines of: "My dragon! Let me suck it and keep it warm! I can't stand it being cold, let me keep it warm in my mouth for you!"

"Wait wait!" I cried out because I knew full well that my mother was stone cold sober and still laughing as she watched your antics. But you weren't having it; you wanted to warm me up and you wanted it NOW!! So I cast a mild sleeping hex on you, and then levitated you to bed.

After tucking you in nice and cozily, I went back and had an amusing chat with my mum. Merlin and Salazar! I haven't laughed like that in YEARS!!!

(Shakes head and giggles until falls asleep. Dictation device turns itself off after a few minutes of silence.)

-

So, it looks like I haven't sent my email yet. Which is probably for the best as I have something rather serious to add. Once again, I have no idea what to do.

Earlier today, sometime after lunch I gather, Elena noticed that Mahafsoun wasn't in class. This is unusual since Mahafsoun really LOVES her classes and is a model student. So naturally, Elena was concerned and went looking for her.

She used a quick Point Me Spell and followed it to a broom closet where Mahafsoun was busy riding a fellow student - a boy who was about 16. When questioned, they both insisted that it was consensual, and so Elena can't really do much about that aspect of it, but she ALSO knows that Mahafsoun has issues she needs to work through before she can consent to anything. And really, by law, a person has to be at least 16 to *legally* be able to consent.

Because of this, she brought Mahafsoun home and called in Portia. Portia suggested a 'family' session so that Mahafsoun *might* understand our concerns better. I suppose since Mahafsoun hasn't really had any sort of privacy when it comes to her sex life, she agreed to a family session - whereas most teenagers probably would have rather died than have any sort of parental figure in the room during her Mind Healing session.

Thus, you, me, and Elena all sat in as Portia asked Mahafsoun why she was shagging a boy in a broom closet.

"I don't understand what the problem is," Mahafsoun murmured with a light frown. "I was horny and he was willing. We used protection."

Portia sighed a little sadly, and since she deals with victims of sexual abuse as her job, I'm willing to bet it saddened her that Mahafsoun didn't understand why this situation is a problem. "Listen sweetheart, I know it seems to you like no big deal, but you haven't *recovered* yet. You still think of sex as a tool to use to get what you want."

Mahafsoun gave her a puzzled look. "But... doesn't EVERYONE use sex as a tool to get what they want when what they want is to stop feeling horny?"

"But was that really what you were feeling?" Portia asked with a probing look. "Or were you hoping to secure his partnership for future dance practice?"

"No... he's not a dancer. I think he's focusing on singing," Mahafsoun murmured, obviously trying to remember exactly what classes he takes.

"Actually, that much is true," Elena chimed in. "Morgan comes in during his lunch hour to have a bit of voice lessons. He's not one of the students who live in the school."

"And he's really very cute," Mahafsoun added, sending a very 14-year-old-girl look toward Elena, who sort of nodded in agreement.

This seemed to take Portia aback. "So... you saw a cute boy and all you wanted from him was a shag?"

"Yes," Mahafsoun stated quite seriously. "I know that everyone keeps telling me that sex is bad and flirting is bad and I need to stop doing all of that, but... I don't know how... When I see cute boys, I REALLY want them!"

Portia sighed again, rubbing her temples. "This is actually common with victims of sexual abuse who are trying to take back their power. They feel that if THEY are the one in charge during sex, then they are no longer a victim. BUT..... Mahafsoun, I need you to understand, even if you shagged every cute boy you see, the fact that you feel the need to take your power back by doing so MEANS that you are still struggling to cope with what happened to you and move past it."

I actually feel sort of bad for Mahafsoun. NOT bad enough to let her stop therapy as she clearly needs it, but bad in general because it so obviously makes her uncomfortable and unhappy. She crossed her legs, crossed her arms, and lightly glared at Portia.

"Sometimes I think that none of you can see anything in me other than some sort of victim with no mind of her own," she grumbled, pouting. "No matter what I say or do, you filter that through my past and assume that I am damaged and acting out. I get horny and shag a boy simply because he is cute, and suddenly I'm using him to take back control of my life."

She growled softly and flung out her hands. "But what if I'm not?! What if I am just horny and want to shag?! If I was any other girl who had NOT been a sex slave, would we all be here in therapy talking about it?! NO!!! I'd have just been grounded or something!"

She crossed her arms again and switched which leg was crossed over the other so that she could face slightly away from Portia and look out a window.

"I've told you! Yeah okay fine, so not all of it was fun. Some of the men were rough and scary, and I never once got to CHOOSE my client as I had to accept any man willing to pay to shag me, BUT most of them were actually really nice to me. They saw a pretty girl and they wanted to pamper me a little, give me little gifts, and just cuddle a bit. After the shagging, that is. Plus, most of them were, you know, normal. Gentle. Erm... not interested in hurting me and just wanting to get off. And the best ones... the best ones were interested in seeing to MY pleasure first."

She then glared at Portia rather darkly. "So when I say that I was horny, I actually DO know what I'm bloody talking about! I wanted to use him to give me a fantastic orgasm and I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THAT'S SUCH A BAD THING!!!"

"Mahafsoun…" Portia responded in a very gentle and sympathetic tone. "At your age, if a girl genuinely gets horny, she should use more appropriate methods to relieve it, such as masturbation."

"BUT I DO THAT!!!" Mahafsoun cried out in frustration bordering on aggravation. "I do that for HOURS every night!!!"

"I did NOT need to know that," I muttered, suddenly questioning the wisdom of being part of this session. Honestly, it's exactly how I feel when I overhear River talk about the things he's done. You had a look on your face like you were thinking the same thing.

But at least Elena looked like she had a much better understanding of the situation.

Portia nodded slowly in understanding as she thought this over. "Hmm... well... it sounds like the underlying problem might actually be an excessive amount of sexual need cultivated by being expected to be ready to go constantly for years. How long did you say you were a sex slave? Two years?"

Mahafsoun nodded. "Yes. My mother died mere days after my 12th birthday and my father sold me about two weeks after that. I turned 14 on June 7th and Draco rescued me on July 1st, so almost *exactly* two years to the day."

Portia nodded in understanding again even as I had the *strangest* feeling. Yesenia had once said that I see a bit of myself in Mahafsoun and want to protect her from the bad in the world because of it. Having her birthday be so close to mine makes me feel like maybe Yesenia was on to something and I just didn't quite realize the full extent.

"Here's what I think is the best thing to do," Portia announced decisively. "Mahafsoun, I REALLY think you should be taking potions until you have worked through all your issues."

"What sort of potions," Mahafsoun asked warily.

"Well, one potion to promote a healthy mind in general, and one to manage your excessive horniness," Portia explained.

Mahafsoun cast me a rather alarmed look and I knew in that moment that I could not be the one to make the decision, because I would have given anything to comfort and reassure her that she never had to do anything she didn't want to.

Feeling like a heartless bastard, I turned away from her to look at you. "You were given legal guardianship of her, so I suppose the decision is up to you."

You looked at me solemnly. "You know how much better I felt after starting my potions. If her Mind Healer feels strongly that they will help, then I have to agree."

I shrugged and kept looking at you because not only did I NOT want to look at Mahafsoun's pleading puppy dog eyes, but you also know how I feel about potions that alter or change a person's emotions. It's the reason I refuse to take them. I would much rather take the excessively harder route of mental exercises such as meditation - with the occasional dose of Laudanum if I feel I need a quick boost - than to take any substance that can potentially mess with my mind and my emotions.

I am NOT saying that I feel they are wrong, and I support that you feel better on them. I'm glad they work for you, but remember the lengths I have gone to in the past to control my emotions? I don't like doing it and I refuse to even risk it. So how in the bloody hell can I ask a girl I think of as an extra daughter to take something I don't even want to take myself?

I can't.

So I stood up. "If you'll all excuse me, I need to go to the loo." And no, that was not code for taking Laudanum. It was code for I needed to escape like a bloody coward. "Mahafsoun, luv, I legally have to defer to Harry in this matter, so please listen to him and abide by his decision."

I kissed you, squeezed her hand comfortingly, did my absolute best to ignore her woebegone expression, and left the room. I went straight to our room so that I could write you.

I love you. I trust you. Please make what you feel is the right decision.

Every beat of my heart,  
Draco


	234. Chapter 234

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry explains what was decided for Mahafsoun, and Draco finally explains his aversion to taking Mental Health Potions and why he opted for Laudanum.

Thursday October 14th  
My Only,

Just as you went straight to emailing me when you left the appointment, I came to our suite to talk with you once it was finished. But when I saw you weren't in our rooms, I checked my email, and decided to respond this way. I probably would be fine speaking with you about it in person, but it seems like you need the space to deal with your feelings internally. So I'll follow suit and we can talk this way until you feel ready to communicate differently.

My biggest concern, that I wasn't aware of, is the way you feel about the potions and what you think they do. As someone who is taking them, I feel a bit like I was just slapped. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, you even specifically went into detail about how you're supportive of me taking them, but it still hurt. I got quite defensive when I read what you had to say. I felt as though you think I'm too weak to do this another way; that I'm taking the easy way out. Or that I am someone different because I'm altering my brain with them.

These potions have quite literally saved my life. I know you hate thinking about this, but I don't think I'd still be here if I hadn't started them. I was barely hanging on by a thread. And I tried everything before I decided to take them. I was in regular therapy, I meditated, I ate well, I was in good shape, I have a loving and supportive family, and it wasn't enough. But knowing that you'd rather struggle than risk being "altered" as I am is a rather bitter pill to swallow.

However, I understand that you're coming from this as someone who hasn't taken them. I understand your feelings because I obviously was worried about something similar since I took so long to start them. I felt as though I needed to exhaust every avenue before I started this regimen. Even being someone who's on potions, who's been in therapy for years, I still have those internalized stigmas against mental health therapies. So I promise, as much as I had an initial feeling of hurt, I really am not holding your feelings about the potions against you.

I am not trying to talk you into taking the potions, that is your decision, I don't even know if Yesenia would recommend you take anything because your health decisions are between you and your healers. But. I need my husband to understand what the potions do FOR ME. When I wore glasses were you ever worried that I was altering my vision or messing with my sight? I'm going to assume you scoffed and thought "of course not." That is what potions do for me. They don't alter my emotions, they clear the blurriness. I still have my normal feelings, I am still myself, I still have highs and lows, but I'm not trying to see my way through the fog of depression.

In truth, all these potions are doing are giving me the chemicals my body should be making on its own. For some reason, whether it's a genetic factor, or my past, whatever the cause my brain is making the wrong mixture of chemicals. It's not even a matter of "my brain wants more serotonin" or "my body doesn't make enough dopamine." I just need something in there that will give me the ability to feel all of my feelings instead of just the sad ones.

I'm very thankful that you recognized you couldn't handle the rest of the conversation and excused yourself. I am so proud of you for knowing that and following through. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for trusting Portia. I really do think the choice that was made is best for everyone involved.

At the risk of feeling disgusted by talking about a teenager's sex life, here are my concerns with the whole situation. I understand the bodily craving for sex. And I will even go as far as to say orgasms are pretty close to a necessity for some people. But if she is actively fulfilling those needs for herself every night and it's not enough? That sounds like a problem.

While I prefer sex with you to anything else, even when I was hormonally randy at all times during a pregnancy, I didn't NEED to have sex with you. When you weren't feeling up to it, when I was on bedrest, none of it was necessary. Masturbation was enough to keep everything else at bay. I recognize we are different people, but the fact that it isn't enough to keep Mahafsoun's desires at bay is a massive red flag to all of us. At 14 years old, able to have orgasms when alone, even a person with a naturally high sex drive shouldn't need it the way she seems to think she does.

So what does this mean? There are a few theories that Portia discussed, and hopefully the potion to help with the physical desire will help us become aware of where her needs are coming from. We may have to alter the plan as it progresses, but this is the plan as we see it.

1- She is going to take the sex-drive reducer at a fairly high dosage. That should build up in her system and her drive should be nothing within two weeks. If that is the case and within two weeks her desires are at basically zero, we will know she just has a hyperactive drive. Then we will have another meeting to figure out how much of the potion she should continue to take. At fourteen, she shouldn't be spending hours each night trying to take care of herself, she should be sleeping. So we will probably lessen the potions so that she still has some desire as is normal for her age, but still have her take some dose so that she can have an active life outside of those needs.

2- If this does not take care of the drive we will know it is a mental health issue that needs addressing, and Portia will be upping her mind healing sessions to a minimum of twice weekly. Portia's concern, and mine as well, is that Mahafsoun is craving relationships, intimacy, and human connection. Up until now her interactions with other people consisted of sex. So, while someone who feels sad may find a friend to talk to and get a hug from, her first thought is sex. If I'm feeling lonely, I can visit with my friends or spend time with the kids, or go to Molly's and have tea in her kitchen. Mahafsoun wants sex when she's lonely. If I'm frustrated I will go for a run, you will go dance. But when Mahafsoun is frustrated at the adults in her life treating her like a victim, she finds a boy to have sex in a broom cupboard. Portia wants her to be able to build meaningful connections that have nothing to do with sex or flirting.

3- Portia suggested Mahafsoun go shopping for … individual sex aids … with a trusted woman in her life. There's a possibility that if we solve the connection issue and the overactive drive issue and Mahafsoun is still feeling unfulfilled that perhaps there's an aid or device that will help her become fulfilled with herself. Lainie snickered a bit when I started cringing. Then offered to take Mahafsoun shopping. Or what she said was "For the love of Merlin Dad, untwist. I'll take her shopping, you can stop looking like you want to cover your ears and hum."

I suppose that's the plan. Have her start a potion regimen and then alter it as needed based on her reactions. I'll keep you updated obviously. But just know that every single person in that meeting cares for Mahafsoun and we all truly want the best for her. I promise you, I am doing everything I would have done if any of our children had the same issues.

Alright, that's it for the tough stuff.

Thank you so much for hexing my arse asleep when I was a drunken lunatic. I was sitting under a table with no bottoms, holding onto my cock, with my father-in-law and my godfather doing the same. Because the floor was cold. Thank Merlin for being drunk enough to not actually remember that part. But don't worry I guess, because your stone cold sober mother was there to witness the whole thing. I can only hope that she did not take any pictures or throw that memory in the pensieve for people to view. I always manage to embarrass myself when getting drunk with your dad. Your mum is really a terrible influence!

Come find me after you've read this if you'd like to talk about anything.

My love for you is boundless,  
Harry

 

Thursday October 14th  
My love,

I guess I haven't explained this to you. I suppose that I thought you just magically understood.

First of all, I'm in the Crystal Room, but don't worry, I'm not upset nor destroying anything. It's actually where I've been going to do my meditation because it's a place no one goes unless they are upset and need to destroy something. Also, actually, even when I'm not upset, destroying things can be meditative. It basically gives my body something to do that doesn't require thought so that my mind can do what I need it to.

But today, I am simply sitting cross-legged on the floor. My Occlumency shields have been almost completely reorganized and repaired. I suppose that part of the problem of WHY I got PPD this time when I haven't before is that over the years, I have simply been too busy to maintain my Occlumency shields. And I don't mean the extreme sort in which I lock all my emotions up. No, I mean the regular sort in which I use meditation to organize my mind and keep everything clean and healthy.

But back to the potion problem - or rather, the problem *I* have with taking potions. I recognize that they are helpful and that they do help you. I NEVER want you to feel like I am judging you or thinking badly of you for taking them.

It's just that - as Yesenia explained it - neither Muggle Therapists nor Wizarding Mind Healers quite fully understand the brain and how it works. There isn't just one potion or pill to take, there's a rather large variety of potions and pills to choose from because while they all do similar things, no one can predict exactly how it will work on an individual person's brain until they try it and see what happens.

Yesenia went through all the side effects of all the options at my insistence. The less horrifying things were things like weight gain, loss of appetite, loss of hair, loss of bowel function, and loss of sex drive. The more horrifying things - to me - were things like brain fog, mood swings, panic attacks, and persistent lethargy. Or conversely, insomnia.

Basically, the reason I refuse to take the potions (or even the muggle pills) is the same reason I feel that brain fog is a worse symptom than loss of sex drive - and you know how much I cherish my high sex drive. It goes back to Seventh Year. The year I had to do things I still can't quite forgive myself for.

Remember when I told you that during the course of that year, I locked up all of my emotions a little at a time until I couldn't feel anything at all. That it got to the point that I started casting the Cruciatus Curse on myself just to FEEL something? Well, during that time, I got a very good look at what life is like without any emotions at all. I also realized that it's not a simple matter to shut away the emotions I don't like because eventually, I have to let them out again, and then they are so much worse for being suppressed and built up rather than dealt with.

That's why I am taking the hardest option possible - in which I struggle with my emotions until I finally deal with them and get past them. It's why I haven't taken the easiest route (for me) of simply Occluding them. It's also why I am taking small doses of Laudanum only as needed. I recognize the fact that it's an easy thing to become addicted to, and I fervently DO NOT want to become addicted to anything - as that would be a form of losing control of my emotions. So I take doses when I need to and not at any other time.

To be clear, I chose Laudanum in low doses because it is a substance that does not need to be taken regularly in order to work the way I want it to - such as the traditional potions need. You said it yourself that the potions you're on needed to be taken for about a month before they reached their full effects, and that you need to take them daily to continue the benefits. Even if Yesenia managed to prescribe me the exact perfect regimen for me on the first try with a minimum of side effects, I would still be depending on something else to control my emotions for me, and that really does horrify me.

That said, I do not feel that taking them is a bad thing or even the wrong thing, just not the right thing for me. I would support you through all of the ups and downs of taking potions that occur for the rest of our lives if you feel you truly need them and they are working for you. If the potions work for Mahafsoun, I will be strong and insist that she takes them as agreed on by you and Portia.

To use your analogy of using glasses if I needed them, my feeling on the subject is that glasses are marvelous and useful devices that help people and there is no shame in using them, but that there is a risk for *me* if *I* used them that they would not only help me see clearly, but also fog my brain and influence the direction of my thoughts in ways that *feel* out of my control - even if they are perfectly in my control, it just - bah! And now I'm explaining it badly.

Alright, moving on.

I feel like I need to reassure you, my adorable little worrywart. I understand that the longer a worrying thing exists, the more you worry about it. This is a useful instinct if the thing was something like a small cut on my hand that never stopped bleeding. In that instance, clearly something is wrong and we'd need to figure out what. But in THIS instance, the thing that you are worrying about slowly IS resolving itself. My meditation is working by helping me have less PPD symptoms and they're farther apart when I have them. Things like my sex drive have returned in full force. I am clearly getting better.

But that said, the things that trigger my bouts of PPD remain. The biggest trigger has consistently been Caelum's crying. Now don't get me wrong, I am by no means suggesting that we need to get rid of Caelum. He's adorable and I love him dearly. I'm currently finding my way to bond with him by taking him for rides on your bike. I am working through my issues with him, but that doesn't remove the fact that him crying makes me want to hide in my closet and cry too.

I am fortunate in that I have so many people (and elves) to help me out when I need it. If his crying makes me feel like running away, I am able to hand him off to someone and go take a quick break. I imagine things would be so much worse if I didn't have that ability. But I do, and my chosen methods of coping are also slowly working, so I am slowly getting better. Please try to worry a bit less about me.

And since I don't have a smooth transition to end this email on, I'm just going to sign off now and get back to my meditation. You know where to find me if you need me or even just want me. I won't mind at all if you want to turn into your fox form and curl up in my lap so that I can stroke your soft fur while I meditate.

Love,  
Draco


	235. Chapter 235

Saturday October 16, 2010

Hello Lovely!

Eeek, so many things to mention, where to start?

I believe you about your individual feelings about taking potions for yourself, and I am feeling a bit better now that I understand it's your own use of them you're not alright with. I'm sick to death of beating the long-dead horse of how each of us is dealing with their own mental health issues, so I will say only this. You thought I would magically understand your reasonings? Draco, I barely understand certain things when they're explained to me with color coded charts, how in Merlin's name was I going to understand the inner workings of your brilliant mind?

Ya loon.

I have no idea what you mean about my worry levels. I don't know as if I have ever worried a single moment of my life … alright fine, I'm a liar. I worry all the time. So I decided last night to just sit with my thoughts, let my worries go crazy, and see if I could really get to the heart of my worry and fear. My brain mostly managed to stay on task, but it brought me some clarity.

You can skip this if you'd like, but this is the meandering path through my psyche … I was worried about your PPD, how it's caused you to feel inadequate as you were so invested in being the "baby guy," then I worried about the future effect of your relationship with our Caelum, then I tried figuring out what it was about Cael that was different besides his fussiness. That's when it kind of hit me, his cries sound different.

No, hear me out, I'm serious. (No, HE's Sirius, yes I am, haha shut up Padfoot! Sorry, had to get that out of my system). As parents, I think it's pretty cool how I can tell from their cries which baby is crying. And when we've had multiple babies at the same time I have still been able to tell. But babies that aren't ours just sound like any baby crying, and I feel like they all sound the same. Caelum's cries have a different tone to them, he almost sounds like he has a gruff little old man voice already. You know that smoky raspiness some older people get? His cries have that grit to them. I wonder if there's something about the tones of his cries that grate on you.

After thinking on that a while I decided to call my personal research assistant. She said there's actually a syndrome where a specific noise, or a handful of noises, may be grating to a particular person. Sometimes it's called Selective Sounds Sensitivity Syndrome, also known as Misophonia. 'Mione also said that there's almost no research being done on it and so while they know it's an actual thing, they don't know the cause. However, it's not the sound but the perception of the sound that seems to cause the anxious feelings. What if his cries, which sound different from most babies and seemed to increase in frequency and volume when you were at your lowest point of PPD, trigger a reaction in you that brings you back to the helpless feelings you had when you were suffering so much?

Long story short, I know you love our son, you know you love our son, but his little screechy self may be particularly grating for you. Your plan to spend quality time with him while the sound of a motorcycle dulls his voice may be the best plan. Eventually he will cry less and everything will be great. But until then, you have plenty of eager hands ready to cuddle him when you need a break.

Whew! I can sure babble can't I?

I just had a fantastic time in the toyroom with the kids. And I think I may have solved part of the Dursley magic problem. I think the magic has to be one of the boys. Because something happened while we were playing and I don't think it was any of ours.

In your email you said I could slip into my fox form and sit on your lap while you petted my fur and meditated. That reminded me that it had been a while since I'd been my fox. Jaz and Zaire in particular have always loved my fox form, should I be insulted that they seem to like me more when I can't speak? Hmm, thoughts for another day. Well, at five and six months old, the babies are old enough to sit up with just a little assistance and I thought they'd enjoy watching me bound around the room. Maybe give them some kit kisses to make them giggle.

Is there any better sound on the planet than baby giggles?

On my way to the playroom where Jaz, Zaire, and Dustin were playing I ran into Siri, Zwei, and Donnie. I told them my plans and they decided to join us. Once they were all settled on the floor I transformed and began to play. I was right, baby giggles and smiles as far as the eye could see. I probably played with them for ten minutes that way. I think, it's so hard to realize time passage in Animagus mindset.

So here's where the magic came in. Our sweet little girl Jasmine is one of the most mellow, generous, giving souls. She shares her toys, she shares her Daddies, she shares kisses and cuddles when anyone wants them. But. She gets a little territorial when it comes to animals. After a few minutes of play, she decided to stand up, scoop me up, and try to take off with me. I honestly thought it was hilarious, her little legs desperately trying to run her as fast as she could out of the room. Until I went flying in the air. The rug was pulled out from under Jaz's feet, she went sprawling and I went flying. But no one had their hands on the rug.

I swapped back to my human skin and tried to figure out what happened. Oh and Jaz was fine, she was just mad I stopped being her fox. Yes, HER FOX. She just kept signing "my" and "fox" over and over again with a mad little sassy face.

She is so damned cute!

As far as I could see, the rug was distinctly pulled towards where Dustin and Donnie were sitting. So it sounds like a bit of accidental magic to me, one of them wanted Jasmine to not take away the fun toy and tried pulling her back towards them.

It's not definitive proof, and even if it were we don't know which of them it was, but I think it's a start in the right direction!

Jazzie's Fox,  
Harry

 

Thursday October 21st  
My dearest love,

You know, I think you might be right about why I react to Caelum. I'll think it over and see if I can work through it. In the meantime...

So today is the day before the full moon, and Sebastian and I are going to be spending the day with Pansy and Laila going over their notes from the first test. Sebastian has already used some of their notes to tweak the second batch of potions he was in the midst of brewing, with the hopes that maybe he can improve them. Thus, even though I will not be at the test - because I'll be spending the day with Elena for her birthday - Sebastian will be there to observe things first hand.

And before you go wondering how he's home on a weekday, yes, my parents approved the time off and wish him luck with the testing. Of course, they had to have Pansy swear to them (and show them her memory) that the test site is utterly safe and that Sebastian will be in no danger at any time. They also made Sebastian make an unbreakable vow that he will use an emergency portkey that they had made for him to leave the site immediately if it looks like there might be the slightest hint of danger.

He wasn't happy about that, but he made the vow, and so, he gets to be on hand for the test. Plus, he's bringing his father's portrait with him so Severus will be on hand to witness the test as well.

In other news, as I was getting ready to leave with Sebastian, Elena arrived home with Mahafsoun. Elena 'dropped' Mahafsoun off in our suite so that she couldn't go find River should he happen to be home. I actually think he's off with Aya for his daily lesson, but I'm never quite certain when he comes home each day, and so, I guess better safe than sorry, right?

Anyway, when Elena left Mahafsoun with me, I was in the bathroom working on my face and hair. I'm used to our kids coming in to chat while I perform my routine - such as Elena did - so I assumed that Mahafsoun would come in to tell me how her school's been going. But she didn't. In fact the suite was eerily quiet.

So I went to investigate, and immediately understood why Elena looked a bit concerned when she told me that Mahafsoun was feeling a bit ill and had the day off. Mahafsoun looked very pale. Almost grey. She simply sat there staring off into space, and I couldn't truly gain her attention no matter how much I tried. Even waving my hand in front of her face and calling out her name only resulted in a vague response of: "Hmm?"

Extremely concerned, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to her bed, tucking her in and giving her a kiss on the forehead. I hope that she's just coming down with a cold - although she didn't have a fever - and that some good rest will help her.

Would you check on her for me while I'm gone? If she's not better by tomorrow, I think we really aught to have Rowe come take a look at her.

Your love is the greatest gift,  
Draco


	236. Chapter 236

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Circle dinner followed by a little bit of doppelganger playtime.

Sunday October 24, 2010

My beautiful Husband,

Oh my love, I am so pleasantly exhausted. We've had such a wonderful couple of days. With Lainie's birthday on Friday, the Circle dinner reception for the Viper and Tiger last night, and then last night's after dinner festivities. I think I might just sleep the day away.

Okay, before I get gooey and babbly about last night I should probably address a few other things. You know if I start in on the sexy times I will completely bypass everything else. While I might like that now, I will probably regret not having the rest of the information when I look back on this years from now.

First of all, Mahafsoun. The poor dear. She doesn't seem to be getting much better. She definitely didn't seem to be herself, but the family dinners each night seemed to revive her a bit. Since she wasn't getting worse and there was seemingly some improvement, I consulted Rowe and she said she'd see her Monday if she wasn't any better. I just messaged her and told her to definitely set some time aside in the morning.

It's just so weird, she perks up a bit when we're sitting down to meals, although she's definitely not quite herself. But she didn't really eat much. And then I go to wake her up in the morning and it's the same glazed look on her face. But all of my basic healing scans show her vitals as completely alright. You'd think if she was having an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the potions or something like that she'd have a detectable medical issue.

She almost seems heartbroken, but when she was talking at dinner she wouldn't admit to anything bad having happened to her. Elena said she even asked around at school and there wasn't any incident. Hopefully we get some answers tomorrow. Perhaps she's not reacting well to the antidepressant potions. You said it yourself, not every potion is right for every person and sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get the right fit for each brain.

Something I didn't think I'd say; I miss her sweet smile. The real one, not the fake flirty one, but the one she'd get when she dances or plays the piano. Oh! It's supposed to rain this evening, I think I'll see if I can interest her in a walk through the gardens in the rain. If anything is going to lift her spirits it would be that!

Elena's birthday was so nice. It was very sweet of her to humor us and stay overnight at the Manor the night before her birthday. Zaire and I had a lovely morning making her breakfast. She must really adore her tiny brother, because she didn't seem to mind staying the night in her childhood bedroom, and being woken up on her day off by sticky toddler kisses. He covered her face in smooches and when she cracked a smile at him he stage whispered, "Daddy's calendar says it's Lainie Day! Happy Lainie Day!"

How could you possibly wake up crabby with that kind of alarm? 

Then the three of us sat on her bed while she had her breakfast and those two discussed their classes. Zaire is finally big enough that he's taking some beginner homeschooling lessons with Saoirse, and even though she owns the school you know Elena is never going to stop taking dance classes for the rest of her life.

I really hope she enjoyed her day. I worry that she felt obligated to spend it with us instead of with her friends. She did spend the night hours going out drinking and dancing with them, so it's not like she didn't do anything young and foolish, but I worry she spent most of HER day trying to make US happy. I'm probably overthinking this aren't I? We just have an amazing daughter who wanted to spend her birthday with her family don't we?

Then Viper and Tiger got here yesterday afternoon. We told them the Circle dinner was happening and they offered to stay away if we didn't want them there. What? Do they still not realize they're family at this point? I think Viper is well aware he is, but I think Tiger is still completely unaware of his place in our home. Or, well, he probably was until last night! Mmmm.

Shh, circle dinner not smexy times.

It's probably a good thing that Lainie's birthday was the day before the dinner. It made it possible for Kisa to attend both. You knew she wasn't going to miss out on her Elena's birthday carousing, and this way she also got to come to the dinner, have a night out with her best friend and her Hermione, and Molly got to cuddle her grandbabies for two days straight!

I can't believe how huge Tristan and Misha have gotten! They're only a few weeks older than Seph, but they also weren't preemies. We laid the five babies out side by side and Tristan and Misha looked like they could eat Seph and Lissa. They're bigger than Caelum, but probably couldn't annihilate him Godzilla style! I love that even living as far away as we do that these sweet babies will grow up together.

It was really lovely having the whole group together. And I think Tiger was honestly flabbergasted that not only did we WANT them at the dinner, but that it was specifically FOR THEM. Drinks flowed (I mostly abstained, no one needs another fort incident) everyone caught up, people danced, it was perfect. Of course the dancing with you was my favorite part.

Or at least my favorite part of the dinner.

The private after-party with our doppelgangers was my favorite part!

When everyone had gone off to their homes and we dragged the newlyweds upstairs … Merlin the disturbing things I wanted done to me by everyone.

Shite! Cael just started wailing, I'll have to finish up later!

Love you!  
Harry

 

Sunday October 24th  
The beat of my heart,

Last night's private party with our other selves started with Viper tying you to the spanking table and getting you nice and red. I think as much as he loves his Tiger and might possibly still lust after me because I'm the next best thing, he *really* likes playing with you. I suppose most people wonder what it would be like to tie themselves up and do unspeakable things to them, but he actually gets to do so.

As he was reddening your arse, I was busy selecting which toys I wanted to play with. I handed a particular plug off to Tiger so that he could put it in you. He was oh so careful to work you open with his tongue and make you really squirm as he prepared you for the plug. Once it was in place, the Viper gave you another round of spankings before they removed you from the table and tied you to a chair so that they could give you a bit of a bollock spanking.

Then it was time for me to come in with our Sounds. With infinite patience and gentleness, I taught them the basics of Sounding. You whimpered and begged, but didn't squirm because you knew how badly that could turn out. Instead, you held still and took it like an absolute champ. When you orgasmed, I continued to milk your prostate with the Sound for a few seconds before pulling it free and letting your really shoot your load, kissing your sinfully erotic cries away.

After that, Viper insisted that I do the same thing to Tiger, and that might actually be my favorite part of the night, mmm...

So... what was your favorite part of the night?

You know there's always more than one way to say exactly what you mean to say,  
Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dearest beloved readers, we decided to warn you all this time rather than try to surprise you, but we have definitely brought this part of the series to its conclusion and are already writing the next part. There are still 10 or 11 chapters of this part left to post, and then we're doing a 5 year time jump so that we can fully resolve one of the story arcs. Plus, we just feel like we've done everything we can with this part of their lives :-)  
> That said, we are so NOT done with this story and are happy to continue it ^_^


	237. Chapter 237

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry talks about his favorite part of playtime.

Monday October 25, 2010

My favorite part of anything,

What was my favorite part of our playtime? You. Always you. Even when you were digging through our toys and it seemed as though Viper was taking care of me, I can always see you watching me in your peripheral vision. You're always aware of where I am and that I am alright. It's why you're perfect for me.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed my spanking from the Viper. He is good! It's such a weird feeling for me, because he is much harsher on me than you are. Don't take that as a complaint, I love what you do to me, but he is willing to step over the line from sexy-pain to pain-pain … that is also sexy. Over the years you have definitely toughened up because you know how much I truly crave it, but there is always just a hint of you holding back. I'm assuming it's because a part of you doesn't think I "deserve" it. Maybe you just love me too much. But Viper was NOT holding back!

I trust that he would have stopped if I had safe-worded, I trust that I am just enough more magically powerful than him that even if he hadn't stopped I could have stopped him, and I trust more than anything that you would have stopped him if he went too far. With those three trusts I was definitely able to just let myself go and enjoy the impact.

And Tiger rimming me to open me up for the plug you'd picked out? Delicious. I was still a bit floaty from my spanking and two blonde Dracos was just a bit confusing to my hazy brain. I'd look down and see that platinum hair and for a moment I'd think it was you, then he'd look up and the eyes were off. I was emotionally yo-yo-ing all over the place. It really lent a confusing dynamic to the whole experience that was really hot.

And Gods my Sounding was wonderful. I am falling more and more in love with being Sounded and you keep getting better and better at doing it. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite extra spices to our sex life. I'm so glad you noticed how still I was keeping; I was trying to be such a good boy for you. Was I good? I think Tiger did a good job for a rookie, but I was much better for you wasn't I?

My favorite part of the night wasn't even mentioned by you! After you finished up on Tiger, we swapped and I got to play with an extra Draco and you got to play with an extra Harry. It was good, it's actually really exciting to see which of your secret spots are truly part of you deep down because you share them and which spots are completely unique to my Draco. When I kiss the shell of your ear, especially if I am moaning at the same time, you shoot off almost every time you're not wearing a ring or a spell to keep from coming. Tiger didn't seem to dislike it, but it also barely registered to him. But scraping my blunt nails down his back like I do to you? He may have squealed even louder than you do. He must not be used to it being done to him! I should tell Viper about that.

But that wasn't my favorite part. Mine came just after that. We swapped again and I had my own "twin" to play with while you played with yours. Viper sat in the big cozy chair and made me ride him facing towards our husbands. The two of you seemed trapped in your own world. You kept swapping back and forth on who was topping. Sweaty pale skin rubbed against sweaty pale tattooed skin. Gorgeous hair, shining silver eyes, perfect cocks, it was an erotic vision dreams are made of.

The entire time Viper was whispering filth in my ear. "Look at my Draco's pretty hole clenching around that shaft." Then he'd slam up into me particularly hard. "You're taking it so well from me, and your husband seems to be taking it from mine, look at the two of you getting fucked so hard." Squeezing the base of my cock to keep me from coming. "You going to come all over yourself so our boys can see what a messy little thing you are?" Ungh, yes I sure was.

But even after I came and went limp in his lap, he just kept fucking up into me. When he finally finished inside of me, he and I laid back on the chair to watch the rest of the amazing show you were putting on. You are so beautiful my love, Tiger being a close second, I felt as though two perfect works of art were combining for my pleasure.

The last thing I remember Viper saying to me before the two of you finished was, "We really are the two luckiest men in any universe to be allowed to touch perfection like those two."

Yeah Viper, we sure as hell are.

The Lucky One,  
Harry

P.S. If Pippa hasn't woken you yet … WAKE UP! Rowe should be here within the hour to take a peek at Mahafsoun and I assume you'd like to join us.

 

Monday October 25th  
Mon Coeur,

Pippa woke me with a sharp order to get ready for Rowe to come check up on Mahafsoun, and because I don't particularly care how I look in my own home in front of someone I've known for years - someone who has seen me heavily pregnant more than once - I simply threw on a bathrobe.

Thus, I was in time to enter the entertainment room - where you were bonding with our older kids - just as River was standing up to leave for his training with Aya. He cast a highly concerned look at Mahafsoun because she still looks rather gray and mostly stares off at nothing. She was actually staring at the telly, but it was obvious to anyone who was actually paying attention to her that she wasn't watching it, and probably hadn't even noticed that it was on.

River took one of her hands and gave it a good squeeze to get her attention, which worked as she turned her vacant gaze on him.

"I'm leaving for Aya's now. I hope you'll feel better by the time I get home." He then leaned over to give her a rather chaste (for him) kiss - perhaps trying to cheer her up. To my extreme concern, she gave no response at all for a moment, then pulled back and shook her head.

"No... I don't want that," she murmured softly before returning her vacant gaze to the TV.

"Maha…" River murmured, looking like his enormous heart was breaking just a little. He wiped a single tear off his cheek, and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll check on you the moment I get home."

She shrugged, but otherwise gave no indication that she even heard him. Poor River looked utterly miserable as he trudged to the floo, tossed in some powder, called out Aya's address, and then left.

I ate some breakfast, drank some tea, and read the Daily Prophet as I waited for Rowe to arrive. I can only assume that you'd already dropped the babies off with my parents, and considering how Zaire and Jaz were nowhere to be seen either, they must have insisted on some quality time with their grandparents as well. You likely agreed because there's no need to have them underfoot when Rowe arrived, although I wasn't surprised that you'd asked Rowe to look them all over while she was here.

When Rowe arrived, she gave Mahafsoun a thorough examination and looked highly tempted to shrug in bafflement. She took us aside and had a private conversation, muffled from the rest of the kids.

"As far as I can tell, nothing is physically or medically wrong with Mahafsoun, but you said that she's on a potions regimen. The only thing I can guess is that she's either on much too strong a dose, or else the fact that she has no magic means that she might need muggle drugs rather than potions. Personally, I've never had a problem giving muggles or squibs potions, and so I would try adjusting the dose first and see if that helps. Call her Mind Healer at your earliest convenience and discuss her potion regimen. But from what I'm seeing, the potions aren't harming her, they just aren't working the way they should. I would think that the worst thing that might happen if she continued on the way she is, would be that she'd get fed up with feeling like an Inferius and stop taking her potions completely."

"I see," I murmured in understanding. "Thank you for coming to check on her."

"No problem luv," she assured me with a kiss to the cheek before following you to check out the five littlest.

Determined to cheer Mahafsoun up if possible, I Apparated to our closet for a few minutes and pulled on basic black bottoms suitable for working out in. Then I returned to Mahafsoun and invited her to dance with me. The rest of our kids had finished their break and were following Saoirse to some lesson she had planned for them.

Thus Mahafsoun had no telly to stare blankly at, so she sort of made a non committing noise and stood up to follow me. No wonder Elena isn't insisting that she go to class! While Mahafsoun physically can dance, by following my lead, it's almost as if she's one of those muggle robot thingies. Auto pilot seemed to be engaged, but there was nothing in her eyes. No emotion in her dancing. Nothing to indicate that she was anything other than a doll doing what I told her to.

I grew quite distressed after just a few short minutes. I wanted to put her back to bed and hope she'd take a nap and then feel better, but I'm inclined to think that she's spent most of the weekend just lying in bed, not quite awake and not quite asleep either.

The longer we danced, the more it felt just a little bit like my heart was breaking for her too. Harry, please don't take this the wrong way, but if River kissing her had produced ANY sort of result, I would have been tempted to kiss her too, just to get the light back in her eyes. Without her inner light, her black eyes look soulless and a bit demonic. For a long moment, I seriously wondered if demon possession would have shown up on any of Rowe's scans.

I nearly went to where the two of you were to ask. But no, what Rowe said has logic to it. Mahafsoun started acting this way after taking those potions, and the theory that they're affecting her badly makes enough sense that I figured that the only real solution to the problem would be to wait for the change to the potions to take effect.

So, to that end, I asked Muffy to try various makeup styles on Mahafsoun - in front of a large mirror - as I know makeup is something she likes and even if she's not quite all there at the moment, she might still enjoy it somewhere deep down inside. While they were occupied (side note, I've been having Muffy keep a close eye on Mahafsoun, in case you've noticed her around a bit less lately), I made that floo call to Portia and asked her to come to the Manor for an urgent consult.

She said she had two appointments scheduled today, but that she'd be more than happy to come over after - so in roughly two hours. I'm telling Pippa to come get me about a half hour before she arrives so that I can get proper dressed (but not fully dressed UP like I would if we were going somewhere), but until then, I'm going to be in the crystal room destroying things.

Also, keep in mind that even though I'm going to get dressed and be ready to talk to Portia, I more than likely will NOT be in the official consultation with her. I've already told you that I can't be the one to make any decisions in this matter, and legally, you're the one that needs to make them anyway. So I'll probably be waiting right outside the door.

Unless I just stay in the crystal room. We'll see how it goes.

Some say love, it is a hunger, and endless aching need - and I agree,  
Draco


	238. Chapter 238

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to get ready for the Halloween ritual.

Monday October 25th  
My Love,

You are still in the crystal room. Since I understand your need to smash and since I don't relish the idea of having shards of crystal flying at me, I will leave you be and just give you the recap of the consult with Portia.

The potions are definitely not at the right dose for Mahafsoun. However, as she is on two potions, we don't want to change both at the same time. If we were to taper them both off and then see positive change, we would have no idea which potion was the culprit. Also, going cold turkey with these types of meds is a recipe for disaster emotionally and physically.

We thought it would take a solid two weeks for the drive reduction potion to bring her to zero, but Elena brought her to us exactly a week after starting the regimen. We have to assume at this point that that one is the culprit. Particularly when I thought about her interactions with River and she made that comment as to not even wanting a kiss. So, the plan is to bring her down by 20% of the dose every three days until she is either out of this fog or she is completely off the potion. Whichever comes first.

At this point, the basic antidepressant potion will remain as-is. Its known side-effects aren't really matching up with what's happening to her anyway, so both Portia and I feel fairly confident that while it may or may not be doing good things for her, it's unlikely to be causing the current problem. However, if we hit zero with the drive potion and she's still this way, we will do the same 20% drop to get her off of the anti-depressant. At that point it will be a matter of trying to find a different plan to attack the original problem.

The bad news is there are so many different potions and muggle prescriptions that it can be hard to narrow it down to the right chemistry for an individual person. The good news is there are so many different potions and muggle prescriptions that we have a lot of options to choose from.

I'm just really hoping she feels well enough to enjoy the Samhain ritual coming up. Maybe she won't feel one hundred percent, but anything will be an improvement from her current state. Poor little lamb.

It's been a bit since I've heard a crash from the crystal room, I may peek my head in and see if you need a good snuggle.

Love you,  
Harry

 

Sunday October 31st  
Liebchen,

I'm beside myself with excitement! You know how much I love Halloween, and how much I look forward to the Halloween Ritual at Hogwarts each year. It's practically the highlight of my year.

It's been nearly a week since Mahafsoun's potion regimen was changed. That Monday night, she took 20% less of a dose than she had been, and honestly, those first three days, she was every bit as much a soulless demon as that Monday. On Wednesday, her dose was reduced again, and for the first time - the next day - she looked like she had a soul somewhere inside her. It was, erm… faint. She still looked rather grey, and walked around a bit like an Inferius most of the time, but could actually hold a conversation if spoken too.

On Friday, her dose was lessened again. I know it was supposed to be every three days, but since Portia has been coming to the Manor to observe her for about an hour each day, she's made the changes every other day. Thus, on Friday, she took a dose that was 40 percent less than the original. On Saturday, she was awake and alert. She still looked like an Inferius, with strangely gray skin, but she was able to dance and seem to take a little joy in it. She was mostly cheerful. Could hold conversations. If she didn't look like she was on the verge of death, I would have believed her more or less 'fixed.'

So, every year in the month leading up to Halloween, I tend to bring all the kids out to buy costumes at some point, and often go overboard and buy far too many over the course of the entire month. This year, Hazeris vowed to make all the kids' costumes, leaving me with only myself, you, and the babies to outfit.

And Mahafsoun. I felt rather at peace having the chance to take Mahafsoun out costume shopping yesterday. She actually was cheerful enough to joke - as she passed by a mirror in the store - that her coloring was perfect for a vampire, and that since she loves vampires, she was going to be one for Halloween. I happily took her to the makeup counter so that she and the sales clerk could come up with the perfect vampire color scheme for her costume.

Then we shopped around for a gorgeously gothic historical dress. It's this elaborate and ornate thing made out of layers of highly detailed fabric and lace. When you see the full effect, I'm dead certain you will wonder if she actually was bitten by a vampire, heh heh heh…

In the meantime, I actually really loved my blue demon costume from about a decade ago, so I decided to have it as a sort of base for my costume. Meaning, I was going to use the whole naked blue skin as the base, and then really go all out with fabulously large horns, a 'tattooed' pattern on my blue skin, literal spikes along my spine, a long spiky tail charmed to move like a cat's tail based on my emotions, and vicious looking black claws.

It's GLORIOUS!

The costume I prepared for you is a sort of match to mine in red, although I know that the girls made something for you too, so if you choose their costume over mine, I won't be offended. That said, I made Persephone and Lily's costumes Angels, complete with wings and halos. And Caelum is the most adorable little cherub you've ever seen.

Even though Hazeris planned to make something for Jaz and Zaire, I found perfect costumes for them too. For Jaz, she is the cutest stereotypical red devil ever, and Zaire is dressed up as a tall, proud, and fierce Zulu warrior in shades of green. I know that Eris will probably talk the both of them into wearing whatever she and Hazel made, but one can never have too many options when it comes to costumes.

So, I've been dictating this as I've carefully put my costume on - yes I know, it is baffling how long it can take to put on a costume that has no clothing, hahaha - but it's finally on and I'm ready to go. Thus I should probably sign off now and check to see how everyone else is doing. Help out with last minute changes or additions. Things like that.

These days you might feel a shaft of light, make its way across your face, and when you do, you'll know how it's meant to be,  
Draco  
P.S. Portia said she put Mahafsoun on a potion to help heal her mind in general, but you call it an anti-depressant. First you call practically every potion you take a pepper up, and now you're calling every mental health potion an anti-depressant? What am I going to do with you??? *shakes head in amusement*


	239. Chapter 239

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ritual is great, but Draco has a bit of an unpleasant revelation.

Monday November 1st  
My Heart,

Well, I think the ritual was a success. Didn't we raise such an amazing young woman? Able to learn the best things from you, and then turn around and make beautiful additions to what you started? It felt so much like the rituals you started and grew into something special, it felt like coming home. But coming home to someone having rearranged the furniture. Like you know it's your sofa and your tables, and the new arrangement is wonderful, but you mostly stand around trying to figure out what's different.

Did my metaphor make any sense? Or am a just being rambling babbling Harry again?

Anyway, when we were finally ready to go, I looked at our group and couldn't help but be in awe of our amazing family. Haz and Eri have outdone themselves with these costumes. They certainly take after Daddy Draco don't they? If they had to rely on Daddy Harry to give them their fashion sense or flair for the dramatic there would be a lot of ill-fitting jeans and plaid button downs!

I was a bit worried about costumes since both you and Hazeris made costumes for me as well as Jaz and Zaire. How do I choose? But it seemed to be perfect. You had me in this red-skinned, horned, demonic creature, but Haz and Eri had a set of robes similar to Death's own. Haha, very funny girls; The Chosen One, The Boy Who Lived, The Master of Death …. dressed as Death. But I had already gotten into your costume and the girls brought me the robes so I put them on top. It ended up being a really cool blend. The hood was pulled up over the horns, but they held the hood up so you could see the entire effect from the front. By leaving the robe open, it almost looked like I was either a demon trying to hide in plain sight. Or you could look at it as Death truly being a demon under his robes.

Then Zaire and Jaz were an even split. The rest of our girls each dressed up in a traditional dance costume of a different area of the world (I think their trip to the PWCC was inspiring!), and Jaz wanted to be just like her big sisters. However Zaire had been watching you put together his Warrior costume and he was adamant that he was going to wear his Daddy costume! So of the three costumes that were doubled, one of us used both, one of us used Hazeris' creation, and one of us used yours!

But oh my goodness, our three little angelic cherubs? So cute! My demonically beautiful husband? Breathtaking! For someone who is so terrible at creating costumes, they are certainly my favorite part of any of our events! And wow! You were right about Mahafsoun being a vampire was the perfect choice. Her hair - which I know you wouldn't have brought up, but I can bring it up, haha! - was so cool, absolutely amazing!

Merlin Harry, stop babbling already and get to the good stuff.

The descriptions of the actual ritual of Halloween or Samhain was lovely, even the children of Hogwarts that had heard it a million times over seemed captivated. Walking through the forests on the nature walk was as lovely as ever. Awfully chilly, but it's October in Scotland, what else would you expect? I lost you for a bit though. I assumed we'd walk together, but suddenly, I turned around and you were just gone!

But you were definitely back in time for the dancing. Gods, the way your body moves should be illegal. It was sin and sex wrapped up in blue paint. It's no wonder that I saw Padma and Parvati try to get you alone. I may have to murder them, but I understand where they were coming from.

As the ritual team was closing up the ritual, I lost you again. Where were you off to love? I missed you.

And at the risk of putting a dark cloud over what was really a fun day, where did your light go? I miss you. You've seemed withdrawn. Well, no, not withdrawn. Withdrawn would imply you'd pulled inside of yourself. But I'm missing that spark, that flame, the beautiful light in your eyes. I know you're private, I know you like to deal with your emotions yourself. But please let me in my love. I promised to always be your confidant, your shoulder to cry on, your safe place. Please let me be those things for you.

I miss you,  
Harry

 

Monday November 1st  
My adoration,

I'm currently in a session with Yesenia. I think progress is being made, but we've both decided to take a break for a bit. Yesenia is extremely glad that I didn't have urgent need for her last night as she was also at the ritual and having a blast. Me suddenly wanting a session would have ruined it for both of us.

In any case, my session is about yesterday. Everything started off great. I was happy and excited to be dressing up and doing one of the things I love most, but then we got there and...

I saw how wonderful Elena and her crew were, how they had - as you said in your email - taken everything that was great about our ritual and improved upon it. Suddenly I felt old and useless. I felt... adrift...

See, for years, no matter where we went in the world, I was part of the team that organized the rituals, and so, I had something to do, something to work on, something to look forward to. But then I handed the rituals over to Elena, and at the same time, we sort of made a decision to focus on other things for a while, and as a result, we unconsciously didn't even ATTEND any of the rituals.

So this was the first one that we've attended in a while, and it hit me that every part of it was brilliant. Without me. Yes, it proves I raised our daughter well, but it's also very depressing that I'm no longer needed at all for something that was such a big part of my life for so long.

So I slipped away to one of the bathrooms to take a mini mental health break - and have a bit of a chat with my friend Myrtle. Feeling better, I rejoined everyone else and spent some time talking to Viper and Tiger - who had wavered back and forth between staying for the ritual and returning to Tiger's world a day early, only to attend after all because Viper wanted to see his kids and Tiger wanted to see for himself this thing I had helped create and run for so long.

The best part about it was that while people guessed that the naked blue demon was me, Tiger was wearing a simpler costume of a member of the Wizengamot (I think he just couldn't be arsed to find a real costume as he is a law expert for the Ministry, and thus, more than likely sits on the Wizengamot in his world). So, as we stood together, people NOT in the know would come over to chat with me, then look me up and down before looking him up and down and being utterly confused as to which one was actually me, hahahahaha! Then they'd decide that it had to be him, and proceed to have long conversations about various things with him that he was remarkably able to keep up with.

I think part of that was his ability as a lawyer to take any bit of information received and build a case around it, and part of it was simply that he's been in our world enough to know what the major differences are, and so, wasn't truly thrown for a loop by any of it.

Anyway, I was feeling more or less normal. I was saddened by my uselessness, but determined to have fun anyway. I joined you for the dancing, and because I was trying to 'lose myself' or perhaps 'find myself,' I decided to just stop thinking and let my body move however it liked. It's probably a good thing that the main portion of the ritual was over and we weren't expected to be quite as 'good' anymore. So while I'm certain that none of the Professors liked me being a bad example by dancing like I was sex on legs, none of them took issue with it either since I wasn't being overt - such as pretending to shag you in front of everyone.

At one point in the dancing, Padma and Parvati came over to flirt outrageously with me, and I loved every moment of it. We were dancing and getting perilously close to losing a year's worth of points for Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw, hahaha. But then - in between quick kisses - they invited me to go back to theirs for the night. At first, I was like: "Mmm... let me go ask Harry." But then I was like: "No wait, we're not doing that at the moment. Sorry, but no. No playing for me tonight."

They got pouty faces but nodded in understanding before slinking away to find someone else interesting.

And... That sort of led to my second big and rather unpleasant discovery of the day.

You see, playing around has been a big part of my life from my very first kiss. So much so that even though I was planning to be 100 percent monogamous and faithful once married, I managed to get lucky enough to marry you - who was always willing to give things a try and play around WITH me. But now, we're not doing that anymore. I mean aside from with our other selves - who don't really count because they are us, from a different world.

Now PLEASE don't think this is me complaining about this. I am not. I am not trying to upset you or make you feel guilty. But... As I was standing there, a bit numb from shock after declining the Patil twins' offer, I really started to question my whole life. WHO IN THE BLOODY HELL AM I???

I'm NOT the one who plans the fun events. I'm not the one who plays with all my friends. I have apparently become the person who does nothing but stay home with my many kids, my perfect husband, and... has the occasional business meeting.

When I recently downsized a bit, you were worried that without my businesses, I would have nothing, but the truth is that I do so little for my businesses that even with them, at this moment, I feel like I have nothing to do. Think about it, only when I am buying or helping to start or fixing an emergency do I ever really need to do more for a business than attend a meeting once every three months.

So that leaves me with... being the bloke who loves babies... that is currently having trouble with the sound of baby crying in general and one vigorous and demanding baby in specific.

All of this hit me like a ton of brinks and prompted me to take off for a another mini mental health break. It was my second and final one of the night, but I took a double dose. Now don't get me wrong, even at double my usual dose, it's not going to get me high. Well, maybe very slightly high, but not the sort where I'm high as a kite and tripping balls.

I made it through the rest of the night, but I will agree that I probably looked a bit vacant the entire time. Then the first thing I did upon waking today was call Yesenia and ask her to come here for an urgent session. So far, she thinks that I have basically lost nearly all of the purpose in my life, and she doesn't think going out and helping to start up yet ANOTHER business is going to give me what I'm looking for.

So, when she returns from the loo, she's going to lead me through some mental exercises in which we explore some of the other things I could do to help me feel fulfilled and worthwhile as a person. When we're done, I'll come find you, snuggle you tight, and let you know what the results - if any - are.

How can you see into my eyes like open doors?  
Draco


	240. Chapter 240

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco talk about Draco's therapy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how Harry calls most potions Pepper up? He sort of groups things together like that. So what Draco might refer to as a minor mental crisis, Harry refers to as pain. It sort of threw me as an author because I was thinking literally: "Draco's not in any pain..." But then I realized that Harry was doing his thing again, so when you read, if you're wondering what pain Harry is referring to, it's Draco's current mental state :-)

Monday November 1st  
My Soul,

My perfect husband. I am so sorry you are in pain. I hate that you are feeling useless or worse, having no idea who you truly are. Like you are living without purpose. I am torn between wanting to just fix this for you and realizing you are the strongest person I know and have the strength to fix it yourself. I just wish I'd noticed before now how adrift you've been feeling.

I truly thought things were getting better for you. I knew things weren't back to one hundred percent, but it did seem like we were on the upswing back to normal. Your PPD wasn't as bad. It seemed as though you and I have been closer than ever, although since you've kept these feelings from me, I may have to revisit that thought. You finally had your 'thing' with Caelum and he's been less fussy as a result. The children you and I have raised together are thriving. How could I have been so blind as to not see you struggling through it all?

No. I need to not make your pain about me. I am sorry. This is about you and your needs. I am here for you. I love you with all my heart. Whenever you're done with Yesenia, I will hold you for as long as you need. The older kids are watching the littles with your parents' help. So I'm all yours. I'm always all yours, but I literally have nothing else to do for the rest of however long you need, and I will spend every second of it holding you. You can scream or cry, rage and throw things. You could sing if you REALLY wanted to, but it's certainly not necessary.

Sorry, that was selfish again, trying to get you to sing for me. Bad Harry.

I really do want to address a lot of what you've written. And if you happen to receive my email before the end of your session, feel free to share this with Yesenia as needed. I give you my express permission to share anything from any of our emails directly with her. It might be nice to have an outsider's perspective. Perhaps this all comes back to something I'm doing or saying that's triggering or hurting you. I'd offer to come sit in any part of the session, but you know that offer is always available.

First of all, at the risk of once again making this about myself, I NEED you. You may have been too good at creating businesses that can take care of themselves, or creating rituals that students were able to fall in love with and were able to carry on, just much too efficient at raising these brilliant and mostly independent children who don't need everything done for them. But you have failed miserably in marrying someone who could survive without you. You are necessary to my survival. I don't care if it makes me weak, overemotional, or a right prat, you are necessary for my very soul. You are priceless. You are irreplaceable.

Alright, as far as you feeling unneeded; you may have been so good at creating wonderful things that they are able to continue on without you, but that doesn't mean your influence isn't welcomed or wanted. Maybe the ritual team doesn't strictly NEED you. While I'm pretty sure they don't ever need me at Unity, you can bet your sweet arse I am going to spend time there helping out. And even though it may not be necessary, I am still contributing, my presence is still beneficial, even if it isn't crucial. That ritual may have gone on without you, it could have been good without you, but if you want to be included then your influence could only add more to the event.

Unnecessary does not equal unwanted which does not equal nothing of worth to contribute.

When it comes to our sweet little Caelum, I know how hard you're trying. I know it kills you every time you have to put him down because his shrieking is too much. You are torn in this constant cycle between not being able to handle the sounds and feeling a failure because you can't hold your son. But he has everything he needs. He is loved. He is fed and dressed and happy and content. YOU have given him that. I truly think he's feeding off your feelings of guilt and inadequacy. I really do think he's some sort of empath and the only thing he's doing is joining you in your sorrow.

I'm not just making this up to try and make you feel better. That boys lives and breathes for you. I could drop a million pensieve memories for you if you want proof. His eyes track you everywhere. When I am snuggled up with Seph or Lissa, they stare up into my eyes. If I'm nursing them both at the same time they will sometimes look at each other. When I have Caelum he does occasionally glance at me, probably making sure his lunch isn't going anywhere, but if you're in the room he watches your every move. And when you're not in the room? His eyes dart everywhere. I thought there was actually something wrong with him the first time I noticed that. Does he have vision issues? Was he having some sort of seizure? Until you walked into the room. His eyes found you, he calmed, and then he just followed your movement.

Until you can handle his cries, or until they taper off, I am here to take him when you need a break, as are his grandparents, and a small fleet of house elves, and a million other people who love and care for both of you. But if you really do want to be 'the baby guy' and want to care for him as one-on-one, or three-on-one as the current situation sits, there may be some other options.

-We could get you earplugs or noise canceling headphones. Not enough to silence his cries because that would be a little dangerous if you didn't have another caretaker nearby, but enough to muffle the sound.  
-I think we should actively start teaching the babes to sign. I know they see it any time we're talking to Jaz, and whenever we sign even when Jaz isn't in the room, but I've read so many studies and articles that teaching younger babies to sign can lead to more content children because they know they can communicate their needs with their caregivers.  
-Until you're completely back to one hundred percent I have no problem being the 'Caelum guy'

Speaking of me being a certain kind of 'guy' … I am most certainly not perfect. I am the big kid guy because I get bored playing with babies. I rush into danger, often without any sort of a plan, I would show up in public exposing my bits if I were allowed to dress myself, and I apparently don't know how to show my husband his true value. This is not me trying to beat myself up, but being aware of my flaws. You are my balance. My anchor and my wings. You're not perfect, neither am I, let's be imperfect together yeah?

Just like you didn't realize how our playtime months ago was hurting me, I didn't realize our completely cold turkey quitting of it was hurting you. I'm not completely sure I'm ready to get back into that. But I know I'm a million times closer than I was months ago. I may even be ready. Maybe we can have a long discussion to see where we are emotionally when it comes to that and see if it's time to dip our toes back in the water.

Because I know you'll worry this is the case, I am not just giving in for the sake of giving in, I miss it as well. It was a fun thing we shared that I really did like doing. I miss that part of us. Although, just using this as an example, I KNOW I am back to needing to be there to be comfortable with any of it. When I gave you the all clear to play with the Patil twins in the past? I know I am not there yet. Perhaps once we get you in a healthier mindset we can start small like we did just after we were married? Small scenes with just one other person? Definitely not ready to jump back into the deep end!

I don't need to boss you around, but I have some ideas that aren't just 'buy another business' that you would be good at and might be interested in.

-You could travel a bit (and I would of course come with you as your trophy eye candy!) and teach these rituals to more teams like Elena's.  
-You could do younger versions of the same rituals for Traditions and Unity.  
-I'd be willing to bet Elena would just about explode with happiness if you were willing to teach at her school. She's been whinging to me for ages that she doesn't have anyone who can teach the less traditional dance techniques like belly dancing.  
-I'd also bet my fortune that McGonagall would hire you in a hot minute to teach at Hogwarts. What would you teach? I'd say you'd have your pick. Potions (you know from Sebastian's bitching and moaning that their current professor is mediocre at best), flying/quidditch, wizarding studies.  
-I bet the Aurors would love to have you teaching their trainees.

And what about Hannah? It's been ages since we've seen her and I know it's not just because she's a newlywed busy shagging her brains out. Helping her with those cold cases brought you so much pride, why have you just given that up? It's not like you're pregnant anymore. I don't even know what ended up happening with the boy in the box situation you literally ran into. Does bringing closure to these people really not fulfill you anymore?

I'll stop rambling and get back to pacing with worry.

We all lose ourselves sometimes, let me help you find yourself.

Your biggest fan,  
Harry

 

Monday November 1st  
My everything,

First of all, I wasn't hiding my feelings from you. At least not consciously, because ***I*** didn't even know how I felt. I had no idea what was wrong. Sure, I realized that I felt off. There were times when I felt a bit numb and vague, but I didn't realize it was because I was feeling adrift and without purpose. So believe me when I say that I had no idea how I felt, and thus, was not hiding it from you.

Honestly, you shouldn't even consider blaming yourself for not noticing how I felt when I had no idea either.

That said, I suppose I *was* hiding something from you, and Yesenia has been telling me to tell you for ages now. See, after our big fight, I made a vow that I would NEVER again do anything you didn't want me to. So, say someone had asked me to help out on a raid, I would have immediately turned them down and warned them to never let you hear even a hint of the offer.

A more real example is the day I was planning to go to the Adventure Park and fly with their dragons. I thought about how they might react badly and get dangerous if suddenly confronted with a new dragon they'd never smelled/met before, and how much you would hate it if they hurt me while just trying to defend their territory from me, and decided not to do it because it was something you wouldn't want me to do. After all, every time I put myself in any sort of danger - no matter how mild or manageable - you get *so* mad at me.

So I decided to not do anything, I suppose. Obviously I've done stuff. I've gone to meetings and we've traveled a little, but those are things you don't have a problem with. I declined Pansy's invitation to go out drinking because I thought there might be a chance I'd get pissed out of my mind and do something stupid that would make you mad, and then I felt a little guilty when your response was that I should have done it because I haven't spent any time with my own friends in ages.

Basically, erm… If you were right here in front of me, I'd sing it to you:

I took my love, I took it down, climbed a mountain and I turned around, and I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills, 'til the landslide brought me down. Oh mirror in the sky, what is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life? Mmm...

Well I've been 'fraid of changing, 'cuz I've built my life around you...

See, Yesenia has a theory that from the first moment we got together - especially once we got married - I've been afraid that I will do something really fucked up and lose you, but that for the most part, I've been able to ignore that fear and do those things that interest me, despite what you might think about them.

But then a certain traumatic time in our lives happened, and after that, a few of the things I've done have nearly resulted in my suppressed fear coming true, and so, I've gone overboard in the opposite direction by deciding to never do anything if there was the slightest risk it would upset you.

I didn't want to admit for months that she might be right, but now I'm basically confronted with it. As I said, she led me through a series of mental exercises to help figure out what might fulfill me as a person, and things such as working with Hannah on cold cases came up. Yes, solving something - even the worst tragedy imaginable - made me feel like I was doing something worth while. Yesenia thinks I should call Hannah and invite her to tea to talk... about why I pushed her away.

Not necessarily jump right back into solving cases, but discuss doing so again in the near future.

Other things came up too, but Yesenia and I agreed that for the immediate future, I should take the time that I'm going to be on tour with you to just think things over and see what makes the most sense after I've given everything a lot of thought.

One last thing, the lack of playing wasn't hurting me, it was just one more thing I stopped doing because I didn't want to risk upsetting you - as obviously this is one aspect in which I would DEFINITELY need your full understanding and permission. It wasn't the fact that I wasn't playing that was part of my current mental crisis, it was the fact that it was once so much a part of me that now that it's not, I have to find out who I am again.

It would be like... well if someone - such as me - went back in time and took you away from Godric's Hallow before the Dark Lord showed up to murder you. If I did that and brought you and your parents to genuine safety and you grew up more or less happy - but YOU didn't, that Harry did, but suddenly I throw you into THAT Harry's life, the shock of not having this major thing in your life would leave you struggling to figure out who you are and what you are supposed to be doing. Right?

Not that I'm saying me playing around is such an important aspect of my life that it equates to the death of your parents - it doesn't - my point is that they're both big parts of who we are - and DAMN IT!!! Why is it that every time I try to explain things to you, I feel like I either overexplain and thus complicate things unnecessarily, or I start out logically enough and devolve into rambling nonsense!

Moving on!

Now that I've finished my session with Yesenia and have had a bit of time to process everything (by writing it down for you), I'm going to Apparate to wherever you are pacing and insist that you sit on a couch or the ground so that I can lay with my head in your lap and you can run your hands through my hair.

You and me got plenty of time, there's nobody in the future, so baby, let me hand you my love,  
Draco


	241. Chapter 241

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry responds to Draco's explanation, and then Draco apologizes to Hannah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, Draco has a vision for Hannah. That said, I don't think this one should trigger anyone for traumatic reasons. It's just sad.

Tuesday November 2nd  
My Painfully Hard-Headed Husband,

You drive me crazy. You infuriate me. You make me feel every emotion under the sun. You make me feel joy and sorrow. I was numb for a long time after I died and you made me feel again. I am brash and unapologetically emotional. I have a temper that may take a bit to coax out but when it comes out it's intense. What are the chances that you could ever keep me from ever getting upset again?

And even if you could keep me from ever being upset again, why would you want to do that? In theory, I'd love to have nothing but sunshine and rainbows for the rest of our lives. But without risk is no reward. And if I had to give up our highs to get rid of our lows? I never would. Every fight we've ever had is worth it to me when I can picture us as little old men doting on our grandchildren together.

If I wanted a life without upset, a calm life, why in Merlin's name would I have married the one person who has always incited passionate responses in me? From the moment I met you, everything I felt for you was intense. I love that about you. I love that about us. Ours is no sweet and fluffy romance. We are fire and heat. To me, our love is like a beautiful tropical storm; constant movement, beauty and power. Right in the eye of the storm, the center of us, is the safe place we call home within each other's arms. Sometimes the storm gets a bit too rough and damages something. But we repair and move on.

Even in our darkest moments, I have never been unsure of my unending love for you. It sounds like I will probably have to spend the next century telling you over and over again that you will never lose me. Never. I'm all in. We have weathered bigger problems than this, I believe in us. And if you don't believe in my love enough, that's fine I'll believe enough for both of us.

I want to be angry with you for making this ridiculous promise. And even angrier that you kept the promise a secret from me for so long. But I certainly kept my own deteriorating mental health from you for quite a while. Yesenia was insisting that you needed to talk to me about yours, Katja insisted that I should be talking with you about mine. I suppose we're even. And by even I mean you and I are equally idiotic.

So I'm either angry with both of us, or neither of us. So I'm going to choose the option that means less fighting and more shagging. Cool?

My heart just absolutely breaks knowing you feel as though you've forgotten who you are. I'm so upset with myself for not seeing this happening. Or I suppose I should congratulate you on your brilliant acting talents! Don't worry about not explaining yourself and trying to equate playing with my orphan status. I have plenty of experience where you go down a logical tangent and end up at the end trying to get the taste of loafer out of your mouth.

I want to explain myself a bit when it comes to anger when you put yourself in danger. I'm not going to lie, I don't like it. Never have, never will. But there are two parts of your dangerous escapades that are what pushes me over from "I don't like it" into "rage halo Harry."

Side note: if I ever become a superhero, I want my name to be Rage Halo Harry! Now with karate chop action!

Anyway. The part of your Auror work that makes me angry is that you have never gone through training. I know you're brilliant, strong, amazing, and very good at taking care of yourself. But you've not been trained and I would feel so much better knowing that you've been educated in every possible way to maximize your safety. Truly, even if you don't want to be an Auror, 90% of my fear would dissipate if you went through their training program. Not 100%, you know what a worrier I am. But I think 90% is pretty good!

The other thing was when you were stretching yourself too thin emotionally, magically, and safety-wise when you were pregnant. Just like I will never forgive myself for endangering Persephone because of my own temper, I know if something had happened to one of our babies you would never get over it. I was worried for our babies and I was worried for you.

And even when you were pregnant, I never had an issue with you working cases with Hannah. I just asked that you do them from the comfort of home, stopped if you felt your magic drop, and talk with Yesenia after your sessions. I really don't know why you quit working with Hannah, I've always supported that even when I was hormonal and emotional.

Oh, I do suppose there was a third part of your Auror business that upset me, and that's when you hid it from me. But that was really more about it feeling like lying than it actually being about the cases.

Speaking of Hannah, you're currently having tea with her. I know you said I was welcome to join you, but I think I know you well enough that it will be easier for you to talk with her if you're not worried about your mask falling in front of two people. So, I'm writing this and as soon as I'm done I think I am going to go double check schedules with my publishing house for the upcoming tour.

I feel a million times better already now that I know the problem and that we'll be growing from here. Holding you after your session with Yesenia, and seriously you did not have to bash me over the head with your "Hold Me" request you silly man. I will always hold you. And the memory of playing with your silky hair, holding you in my arms, while you sang "Landslide" to me? That's one that is etched into my heart.

I love you Draco,  
Harry

 

Tuesday November 2nd  
My other half,

Tea with Hannah went well. Despite me telling her that I was only inviting her over to talk, she was practically holding her breath with hope that I would take a look at a case she tried to bring me recently. After explaining everything to her in depth - about why I pushed her away - and then telling her that I would be open to working on cold cases with her again in the future, she pulled out the file and told me that the future is now.

So... I finished off my tea, took a breath, and then took the scrap of clothing that was part of what the poor little girl had been wearing when she died.

A woman appeared that looked a tiny bit like my Aunt Andromeda, but not, hmm... Not like if I showed you a picture of this woman, you'd automatically recognize her. More like the feeling she gave me. I think I initially was the little girl, but when the woman turned and smiled at me, beckoned to me, and said: "Come 'ere luv, let grandma dookie you," the little girl seemed to come out of me and toddle over to her grandmother.

I watched the grandmother pick up the girl and hum to her lovingly as she carried her to a beautifully carved wooden rocking chair. Then she rocked the girl as she sang what seemed to be religious songs - something along the lines of Jesus loves me? That's the name of their muggle God, right?

Anyway, the grandmother kept up the rocking as the girl sort of pet her face and smiled at her. Gradually, the rocking slowed, and the grandmother fell asleep. Or so I thought until I realized that her eyes were still open and that her mouth was hanging just slightly open. The girl stayed in her grandma's lap until she must have got hungry.

After slipping from her grandmother's lap, she toddled over to the task table next to the sofa - which had a large bowl of fruit on it. The girl took an apple and ate it and the vision seemed to speed up for a while. Despite being sped up, it took some time for the other apple, the two pears, the two peaches, and the three plums to disappear. From time to time, the girl would crawl into her grandmother's lap and try to wake her, but of course, nothing could wake her.

As the sped up vision passed, it seemed like several days must have passed, because cupboards were opened, boxes of cereal were suddenly empty and scattered on the floor. Things from the fridge that could be eaten relatively easily - such as open packets of sandwich meat - were consumed, and then suddenly, there seemed to be nothing left except tinned vegetables and a frozen turkey that was now laying on the floor thawing.

The girl seemed to get a little upset that her grandmother still wouldn't wake, and after trying for probably the thousandth time at this point, the girl finally walked over to the door and opened it. I followed her first to a garden where there were things like carrots she could pull up and eat, and that seemed to satisfy her for a while, but after sticking to the area around the house for a couple of days (?), continuing to put herself to bed at night and attempting to wake her grandmother each morning, she eventually ran out of things she could easily eat in the garden too.

So she walked along well-tended paths. It seemed obvious to me that her grandmother probably took her for nature walks. The house seemed to be surrounded by a thick forest, and there didn't really seem to be a road that led directly to the house.

She found things like edible mushrooms and berries along the paths, and seemed to actually have the intelligence (astonishing for a two year old) to stick to the paths and come back home when she was full, but then, what appears to be a feral dog - I'm not certain what breed. It sort of looked like a mix between a german shepherd and a terrier of some sort. It was brown and shaggy with a jagged and angry looking scar on it's face.

Anyway, it jumped out of the bushes at her and knocked her over, then proceeded to bark very scarily while nipping at her hard enough to probably pinch or sting without actually leaving wounds. She screamed and shrieked very shrilly, and I don't quite know if this actually scared him away or made his ears hurt or what, but he backed off and she had a moment to scramble to her feet and run away...

All the way to the top of a cliff that was mostly hidden by more bushes. It wasn't until she ran through a gap in the bushes, probably planning to hide behind them, that I even realized that it was a cliff. But then it was already too late. She was falling into a deep looking river and being swept away. There was one long scream as she fell, then a moment of silence before a short and shrill shriek, and then nothing.

I could see her body under the water rushing ever farther away until it was out of sight, and then the vision finally faded.

When I opened my eyes to look at Hannah, she was already pouring over a map, completely ignoring the tears streaming from her eyes. "She was found in the Thames, so we assumed that she was probably local to London. But in actuality, if the River carried her from a place that was secluded... She probably actually traveled along the River Lea. Which makes sense as it originates in the Chiltern Hills. I just can't quite figure out how her body would have bypassed or made it through all the locks along the canal without anyone noticing it at some point. But... if she came from a tributary... I suppose it could work. Or maybe she was caught on the bottom of a boat as it traveled along, thus going through all the locks unnoticed."

Hannah sighed and wiped the tears from her face. "In any case, now that I know to look for a secluded place - presumably in the hills - I can hopefully track down this little girl's grandmother. That would also explain why no one in London reported a missing girl or responded to her sketch on the news."

At this point, I could tell Hannah was talking to herself more than me. She was also gathering up her things in a bit of a rush, presumably to see if she could get a few people to help her narrow down the search. She barely remembered to thank me and give me a kiss on the cheek before she was using our floo to travel back to her house.

Interestingly enough, I felt at peace with this one. Yes this poor girl's death could have been avoided if a neighbor or someone had checked in on them from time to time - it did seem to take a few days after all - but at least it really was a case of this little girl being safe and loved before her (presumably) only caretaker died of natural causes.

I think I might have given a bit of thought to taking a dose of Laudanum to ward off a potential downward spiral from the case, but there is one thing I actually forgot to mention in my explanation of my session with Yesenia. See, Yesenia noted that I was using - as I've said all along - the Laudanum to basically cheer me up when I think I need a temporary boost in my mood. And as I've used it, it has worked.

But just like you and basically everyone I've admitted to using it to has expressed concern over the potential for addiction if I continue to use this substance for a long time (in which I would obviously have to escalate my use quite a bit, but that's beside the point), Yesenia hasn't really liked me using this muggle potion. She has supported my decision because she believes me when I say that I do NOT want anything to control my emotions, not even addiction, but she hasn't been happy about it.

Anyway, she noted that for what I am using it for, I could be using a simple, good old-fashioned Cheering Charm. A Cheering Charm is a bit like a magical hit of Opium or some other such drug, but it's NOT a drug and has no risk of addiction. Well, not physically. ANYTHING could become addictive if a person comes to depend on it too much, but Yesenia really doesn't think I'd have to worry about that as I clearly use the Laudanum only as needed and on a fairly rare occasion. Thus, a Cheering Charm would accomplish the same thing, but without giving me any sort of physical dependency on it.

So, I've decided to use that instead. And yes, I will admit that when I was first considering my options, I completely forgot about it as it's a spell we learned in Third Year and I truly doubt ANYONE remembered it longer than two weeks. It's just not one of those spells that people use as it seems silly or superfluous. Especially to a young Slytherin who was more interested in bullying that Potter git.

So yeah, that's where I stand now.

I'm going to think over all my options that arose during my session with Yesenia while on tour with you, and if I should happen to need a mini mental health break, I'm going to use a simple Cheering Charm instead of a low dose of Laudanum.

As far as I'm concerned, all we need now is for Pippa and Muffy to organize every aspect of your tour. I'm quite looking forward to it!

Intoxicate me now, with your loving now, I think I'm ready now,  
Draco  
P.S. Mahafsoun took another reduced dose of potion Sunday night after the Halloween ritual, which puts her at about 20 percent of the original high dose. So far, almost every part about her seems normal, pre-potion Mahafsoun, except for two notable differences. The first difference is probably exactly what you and Portia were hoping for; she seems less flirty in general and I will not ask nor think about the, erm, self, erm, pleasure problem she complained about, but I would assume based off her behavior that that's probably solved as well. The second notable difference is that she still looks grey and at this point, I'm actually wondering if there's just something in the potion that inadvertently turns the skin grey - sort of like how if a person ate too many carrots for too long a time, their skin could turn orange until their body has a chance to process out the excessive color. At least I hope it's that and not something far more serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you happen to know anything about the Rivers in and around London, you might wonder why Hannah jumped to the conclusion that this poor girl was from the River Lea if she was found in the Thames. Well, it's because she was found shortly downstream from where the River Lea empties into the Thames, thus there is logic to the guess. That said, there are actually a LOT of tributaries to both Rivers that this girl could have come from.


	242. Chapter 242

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's tour begins.

Sunday November 7th  
My Love,

I don't mean to be an overexcited puppy, but then again I am your silly mutt, but I can already see a difference in you and it's only been a few days. Your eyes are alive again. You're holding yourself differently. It feels like getting a massage. I know, I know, it sounds weird but just trust me. You might think you want a massage, you might feel a bit tense, but you don't realize quite how tense or sore you truly were until you feel better. That's you, I took much too long to realize there was an issue, but now that you're doing so much better I feel a relief of tension I didn't realize I'd been holding.

Does that make sense or am I just rambling nonsense again?

I'm honestly so relieved that you are done with the laudanum, and that you've found something helpful to replace it. I don't want you to have to white knuckle your way through the pain, but it scared me so much. I was so worried it would become an addiction. With the cheering charm, the only addiction we have to worry about is me casting it on you all the time because I love your smile.

I kind of want to say something along the lines of, "I'm glad you had such a good visit with Hannah." Since you were working a cold case that was about a tragic death, you'd think it wouldn't be a good visit. But your first case back and there was no abuse, it wasn't a grisly murder, you weren't channeling a suicidal teenager. A sad ending to a life cut short, but a clear answer and hopefully some closure for someone. And I'm just curious but before Hannah whipped out the case did she give you a hard time about being a stubborn arse who should have known better than to stop doing everything he loved? She's quite brilliant so I have to assume she did.

The part of the case that was hard for me to read about was hearing about everything she did to survive while with her loved one who'd passed away. It's probably selfish, but all I could think about was how it could have been our River. Wasting away, hungry and alone, clinging to his Mama. What if I hadn't gotten to him in time? He could have been hurt or injured. He could have been swept away and we wouldn't have him.

Wow. I am about to spiral into some seriously upsetting thoughts. Maybe I need a cheering charm!

Mahafsoun! She seems so much better! I'm so glad to see her back to her cheerful self. The grey is a bit concerning, maybe it's a side effect of the potions? Maybe she just needs to eat a lot of carrots and the two tones will offset each other. Or maybe she's not reacting to the English weather so well, she may just need a good couple of days in the sunshine to get back her golden tan! Or maybe it's a reaction to whatever cold she seems to have caught.

I hope you and I don't catch her cold, we leave tomorrow for my book tour! We've been so busy planning, preparing, and packing that I completely forgot to ask you how you wanted to handle it. When I went on my first tour, I started out alone and the hosts caught on that our children were interesting and fun to talk to, quickly asking to involve them in a lot of the segments. I would love for you to join me for any interview or segment you wanted to, but I also don't want to pressure you into anything you didn't want to do. So, it's your call, but if you think you'll be interested in doing any or all of them with me, let Pippa know because the hosts may add to or change some of the questions.

I've already had a few requests to have your mum and/or Molly to come along. Since this one's dedication is mostly to them, they thought it would be nice to have at least one segment with them.

Oh, I didn't ruin anything did I? Have you had a chance to read the book yet? If not, this is the dedication:

To my Mum Lily, who didn't get the chance to raise the life she saved,  
To my Mum Molly, whose arms were already so full and still made room for a boy without a family,  
To my Mum Narcissa, whose love for her son saved me, whose love for me helped to heal me, and who raised the greatest man I know … my boy with the quicksilver eyes.

I should really get some rest, we're going to have a crazily busy couple of days!

My Heart is yours,  
Harry

 

Monday November 8th  
Light of my life,

So, as I understand this, your first tour started with you doing an inaugural signing event in London for the release, with everything that entails, and then rushing right over to America to be there for THAT release the next day. Then you stayed in America, traveling all around for signings and interviews and other things. Before finally returning home.

This time around, you plan to mostly stay in Britain with maybe a hop or two across the pond. So, naturally, you're starting in London again, which is the single biggest market in all of Britain. Your book is going to be released at Midnight on the dot Wednesday, meaning that Today (Monday) had us settling into our Hotel, and then pre-recording an interview segment that could be played first thing Tuesday morning.

Tomorrow, you will apparently have a live lunch interview on a radio? You know, the muggle version of the Wizarding Wireless Network. Then an evening news interview on some popular muggle programme. You'll probably need to take a bit of a nap before your midnight signing event, but then we have all of Wednesday free before we have to travel to our next location.

So, as I said and as you already know, you were pre-recording an interview for some show or other. I wasn't paying attention, to be honest. I have already said that I'll be by your side every second if you want me to, or off in the guest lounge if required. So that's where I was, in the guest lounge inspecting the snack offerings, watching the interview on the monitor provided, when suddenly, I heard my name.

"So, the news is that this year, your husband, Draco, is traveling with you, rather than staying home to take care of your younger children. Do you think he would mind if I asked him a question?"

You chuckled: "He told me several times that he'd be delighted to support me in any way, even if that means answering silly questions."

"Lovely!" The female interviewer purred; I think her name was Siobhan. "Draco Malfoy, would you please come out here for a few minutes?"

Erm... how was I supposed to do that? As it turned out, the door from the lounge to the stage was pretty direct. So I made my way onto the stage, feeling a little embarrassed only because I'd basically been told to stay where I was, and then was caught off guard by being asked to join you after all.

The moment I reached you, you took my hand in yours and tugged me over for a quick kiss that I was already leaning into. The live audience seemed to really love that! Siobhan was purring happily at us again, looking rather like a cat who'd gotten into an entire quart of cream.

"Draco - may I call you Draco?"

"It's my name, innit?" I rebutted with a smirk. This also seemed to cause a bit of a reaction from the audience.

With a laugh, Siobhan continued. "Lovely! Draco, I heard something and was wondering if it was true."

"Such as?" I inquired curiously.

"Well, word is that you love to sing to Harry - that you do it all the time. Is that true?"

"Definitely!" I answered with a flirty grin before leaning over and kissing you again - to more catcalls and cheers.

"Brilliant! I don't suppose that you'd sing something to him now?" Siobhan asked, looking nearly ready to wet herself from glee.

"Love to!" I answered because as far as I'm concerned, any excuse to sing to you is an excellent excuse.

Siobhan now looked even more like she was about to wet herself, possibly with orgasm. She held out her hand and a minion handed her a microphone, which she then held out to me. It had a light on it that indicated that it was already on. I took it and got to my feet, pulling you to yours.

"I found a love for me, Darling just dive right in, And follow my lead, Well I found a man beautiful and sweet, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me, 'Cuz we were just kids when we fell in love, Not knowing what it was, I will not give you up this time, But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own, And in your eyes you're holding mine.

"Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms, Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song, When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath, But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight..."

At this point, you had not only started crying, but you'd wrapped your arms around me and we'd started to do one of those really slow dances that's really just swaying back and forth.

"Well I found a man, stronger than anyone I know, He shares my dreams, I hope that forever I'll share his home, I found a love to carry more than just my secrets, To carry love, to carry children of our own, We are still kids, but we're SO in love, Fighting against all odds, I know we'll be alright this time, Darling, just hold my hand, Be my life, I'll be your man, I see my future in your eyes.

"Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms, Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song, When I saw you in that shirt, looking so beautiful, I don't deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight -"

And I would have been perfectly content to finish off the last (and frankly best) verse, but you were practically sobbing at this point and stopped me with a kiss so that you could contradict me.

"You do! You SO deserve me! I love you so much!!!"

Which nearly had me in tears. NEARLY, but not quite, but I probably looked far too emotional as I held you in my arms and let you kiss me a whole lot more before Siobhan managed to regain our attention and finish off the interview by basically reminding her audience of who we were and why we were there - and an urge to buy your book. And then we were done and being escorted back to the lounge to chat with your publicist - or manager? Not certain as I was off in lala land, picturing what I was going to do to you the moment we returned to our hotel room.

All in all, I'd say that was the perfect start to your tour. I look forward to every step with you.

Love - oh wait!!! I nearly forgot!

So, I think I figured out who has the accidental magic. I know we've been rotating the Dursley kids through our Manor so that their parents can figure out which one has the magic, but Donna and Dudley haven't been able to figure it out. You thought the boys probably performed magic a while back by pulling the rug out from under Jaz, but that's not necessarily magic. It could have been coincidence. Actually, it could have been magic too, I'm not truly saying you were wrong, just that it might not have been what you thought it was, because...

Yesterday, I happened to sneak up on Daisy when she was otherwise alone in the garden. She looked a bit sad and was holding a wilting flower in her hand. Suddenly, it was vibrant and blooming again. It was a brilliant shade of pink that made her smile. She tucked the flower behind her ear and wore it until her parents came to get her. You probably even noticed her wearing it.

So... it's Daisy that has magic. It's a good thing that they'll find out about it now and be prepared, and not be blind-sided by it when she receives her Hogwarts letter next year.

The only other thing I was planning to mention, but I think I already told you in person - or was it you that told me. Actually, it was probably you. Anyway, Mahafsoun still looks grey and has a bit of a cough or cold that just won't respond to potions, but other than that, she's right where Portia wants her - not burdened by a high sex drive while she heals from her past. Elena even reports that she's doing well in classes. She's able to dance with flair again. It's just that, apparently - and this is ELENA saying this, not me - Mahafsoun had a sort of unique sensuality to her dancing that any idiot off the street could see meant that she was completely immersed in her dance. I may have mentioned this before.

In any case, that also seems to be missing at the moment. Elena has promised to keep an eye on Mahafsoun and make sure that she continues to see Portia as scheduled. Currently, we're all hoping that these are all symptoms of her body adjusting to the potions and the dramatic reduction in something that's been a big part of her life for years. Most likely, her color and full flair will return as she adjusts, heals, and moves on with her life.

Constant craving has always been,  
Draco


	243. Chapter 243

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry loves when his fans come to the signings in costume, and Draco has a bit of an epiphany.

Wednesday November 10, 2010

My fellow Adventurer,

I woke up late this morning due to being exhausted from the midnight release last night, although as always I still woke before you. So now I'm sitting propped in our bed, watching you sleep and writing to you. I cast a muffliato at the keyboard so hopefully my click-clacking doesn't wake you up before you're well rested and ready to start the day.

I think yesterday went well, it was a bit of a whirlwind but recording the morning show a day ahead really helped alleviate the schedule. I think you should be prepared to do a lot of singing in the coming days. They didn't ask you to sing during the radio interview (I wonder if they were worried about paying the fees if you sang a copyrighted song) but during the evening interview they pulled you on and asked for a bit of an encore for that morning's performance. You, of course, obliged. I'm glad I knew to expect it because I didn't go quite so extreme in my blubbering. I still shed some tears but they were a bit more controlled to where I could continue the interview.

I do think it's funny that the prerecorded interview is the one that got away from us and seemed more 'live' where the actual live interview is the one I managed to remain calmer through.

I made the mistake during my last tour of neglecting my voice until it was already sore. This time, I am prepped with some healing teas and lots of honey. If you're going to keep getting invitations to sing you may want to join me in my preemptive strike on sore throats. I actually have a nice steamy mug ready for you in stasis whenever you wake up. But you go ahead and sleep as long as you'd like. All we really have to do today is travel to the next location and be ready for an early morning interview tomorrow morning. It's certainly no hardship for me to sit here staring at your beautifully relaxed and flushed sleepy beauty.

The midnight release, besides your singing, has been my favorite part of the tour so far. We'll see how everything else goes, but I think it's going to stick pretty close to the top memories this time. It was packed with avid Harry Potter fans. I knew people were really into the stories, you'd have to live under an enormous rock to not know how muggles have reacted to them, but wow these people are obsessed!

Almost all of the attendees were in full costume. I saw a lot of Harry and Dracos. Quite a few Lunas and wouldn't she be so pleased by that? The Bellatrixes and Voldemorts were not exactly my favorite costumes but they were certainly well executed. However, my favorite costume was the guy dressed as a Howler. He pretty much just wore two pieces of red cardboard in front and in back. It was painted nicely and certainly looked like the Howler envelopes, but the fact that he went around the room screaming at people in character? Amazing. Do NOT tell Molly I said this, but when the Howler guy went up to someone dressed as Ron and started shrieking at him about stealing Arthur's flying car? I could have just keeled over with laughter, his Molly impression was spot on!

I'm really excited about tomorrow, the morning interview will be fine I'm sure but the event after the interview is one I'm really looking forward to. I'm going to a school in a lower income area, I think it's actually close to the community center and park you created, and reading them some of the book. They don't know this yet but I'm going to be bringing a full set of Skeeter's books and the two I've published so far for each child in the school and a few sets for their library. I'm hoping after reading I have enough time to spend recess hanging out with the kids before I have to head off to our next item on the agenda.

Okay, I was going to let you sleep but you're just too damn pretty. I'm going to wake you up in that way you like.

Incoming!  
Harry

 

Thursday December 2nd  
Beloved,

Today was a first for me! I've said it many times that all of my businesses and all of yours only really take up a small amount of my time for meetings and the occasional emergency. Well this was one of those.

See, due to an unexpected and rather freak snowstorm in England - which usually doesn't get overly much snow most days - there's so much snow around the country and in London that your hybrid post office was a bit lost as how to handle the situation. So they decided that it was an all hands on deck situation and called me in to oversee the running of the actual office while everyone else was out handling the influx of mail that comes with the beginning of the Christmas season.

And that was the first, lol. I was using skills that I've cultivated during OTHER situations by managing a post office. I was talking with customers, explaining the situation and helping them with their immediate needs, all while coordinating a massive operation on the scale of any raid I've ever been on. Probably bigger, if I'm honest.

You know how I've lain my head on your lap and talked about my various options as you've ran your hands through my hair - during those times when you're not busy signing things and giving interviews, that is. My main three out of all the many I have to choose from are:

1 - Teach something. Whether it be potions, dance, or traveling rituals/wizarding studies, I have a lot of options on things I could teach that would make me fulfilled and happy.

2 - Open up an office where I solve cold cases - but not like I do with Hannah (although that would still happen), more like letting anyone who has any sort of mystery they can't solve come to me and see if I can get a vision of it. I know I was torn between these first two options and probably leaning towards this one a bit more than the first, but...

3 - Continue consulting for the Aurors. The option you argue against the most.

See, today, I realized that I truly enjoyed being in the midst of a messy and delicate situation. That those times when I go on raids with the Aurors are some of the times I feel most alive - or at least the times when I'm not directly doing something with you, as you always make me feel more than anything else. But even on raids where everyone is certain not much is going to happen, that extremely tiny possibility that there could be danger thrills me.

BUT knowing that I have skills and am actually GOOD at something that not many people can handle doing?

Yeah...

So, I had a bit of an epiphany today. I think I'm going to do what you suggested and go through full Auror training. NOT because I want to be any sort of Auror. NOPE! I cannot even imagine being bound to such a thankless job with such terrible hours!

No no, what I want is to have all the training so that you will be reassured that I know every possible thing that I might need to know, and then do what I have been doing in the past. Use the unique skills I have to help out or consult with the Aurors as they need. So, for example, if they ever need me to go undercover again, I could without feeling like I need to keep it a secret from you to keep you from worrying about me. I mean I'd probably be tempted to keep you from worrying, but I recognize your need to be ABLE to worry about me if I'm doing something like that.

Or in other words, I want the occasional thrill of being tossed into the middle of a minor or major emergency. I want the thrill of doing things that very few people can do (such as legilimency), and I can't help but admit - if I'm being honest - that I really like those times when I'm basically thrown in charge of something because I'm good at seeing things from a strategic point of view and then giving orders to all my minions.

Heh heh heh heh heh…

So yeah... that's the decision I came to today. But as always, I am open to your concerns before I make any life changing final decisions.

And in my spare time, I think I'm going to fly my broom a lot more. I may never be back to the level I was at when I played in Hogwarts, but I think I might like to play on a non professional team as Quidditch is still one of my favorite things to do. And you know, it's probably something we could do together, haha.

I found a reason for me, to change who I used to be, a reason to start over new, and the reason is you,  
Draco  
P.S. Donna Insta-owled and said that she is pretty certain that Dustin was levitating one of his toys last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that want to know, there are four chapters left before the next part :-)


	244. Chapter 244

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has a snow day with the kids, and then there's more singing at a signing event ^_^

Friday December 3, 2010

My Best Friend,

It sounds like you had an absolutely lovely day yesterday. All those people, all that stress, all that panic and I would have been a basketcase. You were in your element. Don't worry though I was also in my element, the kids and I spent the entire day frolicking in the snow.

It worked out perfectly that this happened to be one of my longer breaks from touring because I got to spend the entire day making snow-sorcerers, snow angels, and snow-forts. I cleared the MMM's out last night and wow did we get some awesome shots of our day. Definitely some wall worthy pictures. I think my favorite was when our first set of almost triplets took our tiny set of almost triplets on the sleds. Three sleds, three big kids, and three babies careening down the hill with rosy faces and bright eyes.

Seph and Lissa were a little scared their first trip down the hill, although they did eventually warm up to it. Ha, sledding on the snow and they "warmed" up. Hahaha, sorry I couldn't resist. Anyway, the ladies were a bit cautious not being used to that wind-rushing-past-their-faces feeling. Cael, on the other hand, is used to riding bikes with you and seemed to love this just as much.

Well, I am guessing he loved it as much since I haven't actually had a chance to see you two riding together. He was letting out the sweetest belly laughs. I'm glad you had such a fulfilling day at the post office but we definitely missed you. Hopefully the snow stays for a little while because I'd really enjoy some winter play with you.

No, not that kind of playing! Get your mind out of the gutter ya perv!

Oooh, we should sneak out to the cabin tonight! We could shag in front of the fireplace while the world outside is a veritable winter wonderland. I know it's not Christmas or Yule yet but I may have purchased some wintery knicker and lingerie sets that I think you may enjoy seeing me wear while spread out on the rug in front of the hearth.

It sounds like you've had some time to really think about your future and where you want to take yourself. Looks like all that cuddling and lying in my lap did more good than just me getting to see your pretty face all the time. It would have been worth it even if that's all we got out of it, but this is a nice bonus.

Of your three options, you might be surprised to hear that the one I liked the least was you having your own private consulting business. I just think it would make you such a big target if you literally opened a business where you told people to bring in things that you would touch while opening yourself up to feel the magic within the item. When Hannah or Kings, Robards, or Bletchley bring you items I feel safe in knowing they wouldn't bring you anything they thought had malicious magic within and that none of them would specifically bring you something that could damage you.

However, despite the amazing things you've done in the wizarding world, there is always some crazy who thinks your actions when you were sixteen or seventeen should define the rest of your life. I'd be constantly fearful that someone would bring you something laced with ill intent and hurt you.

I'm not going to pretend I love the idea of you going into the Auror consulting business. You and I both know I would be lying and I refuse to do that. But I will support you one hundred percent if you're promising to take the full training. The untrained part has always been my biggest fear. The second most issue was the lying or lying by omission. If you promise to always be as up front as you're allowed (I get clearance issues where I may not be allowed some information) and you finish training, I will be the first to throw you a "Congratulations on this next step in your life" party.

Probably the second in reality, we all know your mum is in charge of party planning. But I will help her as much as she allows!

So when would you start training? Would you have to go away and live on site during training? Have you spoken with your Ministry Trio about this at all or am I the first one to hear about it? I'm so proud that you're making this decision. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that you're choosing something for yourself. You are amazing and deserve to feel fulfilled. I love you and only want the best for you.

So wait up, Donna thinks Dustin was levitating his toys? But I thought you said you are certain Daisy was performing magic a few weeks ago? Do you think there's a chance they both have magic? That would be insane, Donna says it's almost completely unheard of for a squib to have a magical child and now two thirds of their children have magic?

Speaking of magical children, when you start flying again do you think it's time to start taking Siri, Zwei, and Zaire for some tandem rides? I suppose we should probably wait until the snow's melted. It's a bit chilly to fly in the winter if you're not used to it. I know, I know, I'm a wizard and warming charms exist, but you know those don't hold very well while flying either. But they held up pretty darn well when we were playing in the snow yesterday so they're not completely useless!

Even with the warming charms, the hot cocoa was a very welcome way to warm ourselves after our winter fun.

The safest place I've ever known was the space between your arms,  
Harry

 

Tuesday December 7th  
Silly puppy!

Of course you're the first one I told. Not only are you the first one I tell (almost) everything, but I needed to be certain you were on board with this plan before I look into it. No need to have an awkward conversation along the lines of: "Sorry Kingsley, I asked my husband and he said no."

But now that I know you are on board, I firecalled Kingsley and talked to him about it, and he is thrilled! He said that he's going to talk to Robards about putting me through a bit of an accelerated training, so rather than sitting through nearly a year of classes with other trainees, I'm going to have private lessons with a senior Auror - probably Bletchley - in which I review the things they know I know, and go over everything I don't.

Keep in mind that prior to working undercover and while going on raids, I had actually learned quite a bit of what is taught in the classes. Now I'll be filling in those things I didn't learn.

Then once my official training is complete, I'll be certified to work with the Aurors in any capacity they need me to so long as I agree. So, for example, I will not be an active Auror working cases everyday. I made that very clear that I don't want that. And Kingsley agrees with me that I don't have the patience for the mundane cases; that my skills really shine when it comes to crises.

So that's that.

As for today, you were doing an afternoon signing in Leeds, and just before that, a radio interview. Well, their local station had a brilliant idea. They knew that I could be persuaded to sing to you rather easily, so they invited one of their more famous local bands to come in and play music for me. Therefore, I was given the opportunity to perform a cover live on the radio of:

"Look into my eyes, You will see, What you mean to me, Search your heart, Search your soul, And when you find me there, you'll search no more. Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for, You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for, You know it's true, Everything I do, I do it for you."

Of course, I didn't stop the song there. You know, if I ever get tired of managing crises for the Ministry, I could legitimately become a Rockstar, hahaha!

But my favorite part was when the radio station was asking our kids questions about how they felt having us as dads - were we embarrassing and things like that - when it came out that we often sing as a family. So, since the band was still there, they asked them to do another song - just the kids.

So Eris, the little stinker, suggested a song I'm quite sure the station was dead certain we'd refuse. Bat Out of Hell. Well we've never really censored our kids, and we've sang just about everything in existence at some point, so I shrugged and you laughed before nodding.

Yeah sure, it's literally about spending a night with a lover before leaving (at least partially), but the way our kids sang it, it seemed more like an: us against the world song.

"Well I know that I'm damned if I never get out, And maybe I'm damned if I do, But with every other beat I've got left in my heart, You know I want to be damned with you, If I gotta be damned, you know I want to be damned, Dancing through the night with you!"

I'd say that when they were done - alternating who sang solos of a couple of the lyrics with practically no prior discussion (just a little signing) - they'd rather impressed everyone.

My favorite part - which I whispered into your ear so as not to disturb the actual recording - is:

"Oh, baby you're the only thing in this whole world, That's pure and good and right, And wherever you are and wherever you go, There's always gonna be some light," to which you gave me the proudest look (of our kids, I'm assuming), and kissed me as passionately as you wanted because no one was going to stop us in the studio and no one outside the studio even knew what we were doing.

But then, after the DJ applauded our brilliant children, and even the band was applauding them vigorously, the DJ laughed and broke us apart, letting the radio audience know that we'd been snogging practically the entire time. To which our kids snorted and replied that that was business as usual for us. Hahaha!

This touring thing is so much fun! Why didn't we do this years ago?

I'd do anything for love, but I won't do that,  
Draco


	245. Chapter 245

Wednesday December 8th  
My Own,

Why didn't we go touring years ago? I did. Well, YEAR ago. And I really did have a good time. But now? With you along for the trip? This tour has been a million times better. No longer being uncomfortably pregnant and having to hide my pregnancy for the muggle stops has been a definite improvement as well.

Maybe you should give up the idea of working with the Aurors and just become my publicist! Ha, I can just see it now, no need to deal with criminal crises, you'll have to deal with the anxious antics of your neurotic husband. Can't get more chaotic than that!

I'm glad you told me about the Auror idea first, although I certainly wouldn't have been upset if you had discussed it with Kings, Robards, or Bletchley first. I would have understood you making sure it was an option before you brought the idea to me. I'm thinking if you hadn't checked with me first it would be very likely that Kingsley would have made sure you got permission from me first. I know, you are an adult and you do not need my permission to do anything. But Kingsley knows that HE needs my permission. I uh, may have made it very clear in no uncertain terms that he wasn't to discuss Auror-ing with you anymore. There may have been threats.

There were definitely threats.

So, did you like our evening festivities in the winter cabin the other night? I can't believe you were so surprised, I literally spelled it out for you exactly what you were going to see when you came into the cabin. I said it would be me spread out in lingerie in front of the fire. But for some reason your mouth practically hit the floor when you saw me. I was on the soft, fluffy white rug, fireplace going and the candles in the room being the only light. Barely there Slytherin green silk panties with a green and black corset. Spelled smooth skin so nothing would catch on the sheer stockings held up by little black bows on the green garter belt.

Since you stood there in silence I had to do something. I could have called you over to me, but then I would have missed your reaction when I started crawling on my hands and knees towards you. Your normally articulate way of speaking had already regressed to babbling my name in a hushed tone. Well, that wouldn't do; it might have just been the one word, but I wanted you so turned on you were unable to speak.

I spelled your clothes intangible and sent them away, swallowing you down in one go before you were fully aware of being nude. And yep, that was the end of your speaking abilities.

How can I still want you this badly after all these years? I would have thought nothing could match my teenaged virgin libido, but I think I want you more now than I did then.

I love you so much.

Yours,  
Harry

 

Friday December 10th  
My breath,

Yes, you are my breath because you definitely took my breath away; first the other night in the winter cabin, and then again when you reminded me of it in your email. The sight of you crawling toward me in gorgeous lingerie had all the blood rushing away from the parts of my brain responsible for speech. I couldn't talk; I couldn't even close my gaping mouth!

One day, you will be the death of me, and it will be *the* most pleasant death possible!

As I understand it, you have an afternoon signing event in Edinburgh tomorrow (hence why we're staying in a hotel in Edinburgh tonight, and why you did a prerecorded interview for their radio station today), and then another over in Dublin on Sunday. The one in Dublin is going to be joined at some point by their local telly crew to do a news bit/interview with you. But then we're free for a couple of days.

So, taking advantage of that, I've had Pippa schedule a check up on Mahafsoun from both Rowe and Portia on Monday afternoon at 4. See, Elena is concerned that the persistent cough and cold-like symptoms are getting worse. They still aren't responding to any sort of pepper up or other healing potion. Nor are general cold preventative/combative measures - such as boosting her vitamin intake - helping. Mahafsoun is simply suffering from a low level cold that utterly refuses to go away.

But now that it's getting worse, it's starting to interfere with her studies, so it's definitely something to have checked out yet again.

But on the flip side, the greyness that has also been persistent seems to be working in Mahafsoun's favor. She's been dressing up every single day as a vampire, and has gotten so good at her makeup and whatnot that other students of the school are convinced that she really is one, which amuses her to no end, hahaha.

As for right now, Aya and Angella just arrived to work on the entire family (with River too, he still needs to practice his deep tissue techniques, and I have no problem letting him use me as a practice dummy, haha). I have plans to thoroughly ravish you when they're done with me.

See you then!

I adore, me amor,  
Draco


	246. Chapter 246

Monday December 13th  
My Best Friend,

You know, I think the very best part of these book signings has been seeing in person what "my" story has made people feel. It's my life, my past, the events that changed me, but it seems so personal to the readers as well. The amount of fans who come up and want to tell me just what these books have meant to them is astounding. They're seeing themselves in me, or in my friends. I think it somehow is making these individuals have a voice or feel a part of something bigger.

I've seen strangers walk into the stores where I'm signing, and by the time they get through the line they are handing out contact information so they can keep in touch. I see shy kids walk in the door and by the time they get to me they are all smiles and ready to tell me a story.

During my first tour there was a bit of a push on me to get people through the line as quickly as possible. No. If I have to stay here all night I'm going to make sure every person is heard. If I have to pay the employees of the stores overtime so they will stay open until these unheard children get to speak, then so be it. Now that I've a bit of a notoriety as a literary Diva, the shops that are choosing to have me come in for a signing are well aware of my stance.

Surprisingly, it seems I have more bookstore requests for signings than I did the first time around. Weird, it's almost as though someone who loves books enough to own a shop devoted to them might feel as though an author who loves his readers is a good thing!

My most and least favorite reader interaction is when someone tells me they identified with "Harry" because of their childhood. Those break my heart. But I feel so good knowing I made even one of them feel less alone. Or less like a "freak." There have actually been a few that looked as though they were still young enough to be in that situation. I don't know if you've noticed, but I have a signal I give when I've heard these stories and my publicist is quick to get the resource information for the NSPCC to them. If that signal has managed to help even one child I'd feel immensely satisfied.

I get a lot of people thanking me for not hiding my sexuality and for being open about the people in our lives who are not straight. My being gay isn't a plot point in my story, it just is. I just exist as a person who's valued for who I am, not just as a throw-away box being checked so I can say I'm diverse. Me being gay doesn't make my story a "Gay Story" just a regular story about a regular person. Because being gay doesn't have to be THE story, I just exist as I am. I'm not a niche market, I'm just a guy with a wand … who happens to like guys with "wands"

I've also gotten quite a few people who appreciate the fact that our "cast of characters" and our real family (hehe, they're the same thing, silly muggles!) are so culturally diverse. Little girls who love knowing Hermione is black like they are. Kids excited to see our daughter is Iranian, and the fact that Jaz is also deaf has made her doubly wonderful for some of these kids. I've had a few people show up hoping their family member will interpret their story for me in BSL and they're so excited when I don't have to wait to respond and I just fly along talking to them in the way they know best. I'm much slower than most of them, but I am a newbie so I'm usually forgiven.

And I've had so many people ask me questions about whether or not a "character" was like them. Fans with Autism seeing themselves in Luna. People with Anxiety asking if Neville is like them. ADHD, Dyslexia, Giftedness, you name it, people want to know if someone has it. My answer is always, "Do YOU think they do?" and when they end up nodding, "Then that's all that matters, maybe they do and maybe they don't. The words are mine but what you do with them is yours."

I just have too many feels about people feeling represented. I might go cry in the loo now. Come find me and cheer me up with smooches!

Say no more mon amour,  
Harry

 

Tuesday December 14th  
My spark,

Since you have a few days off from your tour, and since my mother insisted that we have their elves Apparate the babies to her for the afternoon, we decided to bring the rest of the kids on an adventure hike. I had Jaz in a carrier on my back while you very patiently helped Zaire.

The hike wasn't the hardest one we've ever been on, but it was definitely a bit of a challenge. Enough that I expected our once so very fragile Zaire to get tired out easily. But to my surprise, he is so much healthier than he was only/nearly a year ago, that he was able to keep up with us for the most part. Yes we had to take breaks to make sure that he had plenty to drink, and to give everyone snacks - honestly, ALL the kids probably benefitted from the drink/snack breaks - but all in all, Zaire was determined to prove that he wasn't a baby anymore; that he COULD do the thing his big brothers can do.

And Siri and Zwei were sweet, also helping him out if he needed a bit of a hand getting up a small hill or climbing over a downed tree.

The best part in my opinion, just might be that Zaire has been so in love with his Zulu Warrior costume, that's he's been wearing it almost non stop since Halloween. Of course we've made certain that he's covered in warming charms as necessary (his elf has actually been on top of that way more than I have, heh heh). But just seeing him on a nature hike - even in winter - wearing his cultural heritage... It makes me so proud of him!

Anyway, when we head off to your next stop on Thursday, I think that'll be a good day to take the kids off for a bit of Christmas shopping while you're doing your thing. We've been having so much fun on the tour in general that we've rather neglected our Christmas shopping! It's coming up in less than two weeks! I think I might panic...

No... Actually, I think I might thoroughly enjoy the challenge of bringing everyone shopping. I'm not pregnant this year, so even a marathon session should be pleasant. I sort of can't wait now!

I should sign off now and pay attention to the breathtaking view, but before I do, what was it you were going to say about Donnie? You said: "Draco, you won't believe what I saw Donnie doing!" And then you were interrupted and forgot all about telling me the rest of the story, so now I'm mildly dying to know.

Love you with every beat of my heart,  
Draco


	247. Chapter 247

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter of this part of the Series. The next part starts tomorrow ^_^

Thursday December 16, 2010

My Exhausted Love,

I suppose I don't know for sure that you are exhausted but seeing as you left with our entire crew to go shopping the same time I left for my interview this morning and you're not back yet I'm going to assume you're exhausted. Or you will be. Would you like me to call up Aya and see if she can squeeze you in tonight? Or at the very least schedule her for tomorrow morning. It's after dinner time so I don't really know what time I would tell her to get here if I asked her to come tonight. Oooh, or I will have her come tonight and she can just massage me until you get here.

Take your time, stay out all night, you do you baby.

I'm sure that by splitting up a bit and having an actual list this year you've gotten a ton of your shopping done, but you and I have to get our shopping out of the way ourselves. I already spoke with Molly and she would really like as many kids as possible for a sleepover this weekend. Definitely the babies and the littles, but she wants me to remind all of the kids that no matter their ages they are always welcome for a Grandma Molly sleepover.

You can help me pick out the matching pajamas and the big gift for the Unity Kids. And depending on how much time we have, maybe we can pick out the big gifts for our kids from us. And maybe we can find a dark alleyway and neck a little bit.

I cannot wait for Lainie's alternative Christmas … play? … recital? … concert? I don't know exactly what she's calling it. Besides the little class demonstrations during her open house, this will be her school's first real production. I obviously know it will be a massive success, but I'm so nervous for Lainie. She's a lot like you in many ways, but she gets such event anxiety like I do. Once it's all over she will be so proud of herself and all of her students, as far as I'm concerned Christmas Eve cannot come fast enough!

You know, besides the fact that I haven't purchased a thing.

Oh! Donnie! I swear, these magical kids of Dudley's are just as clueless as their Uncle Harry was as a child. They are using casual accidental magic and completely unaware of it! Siri, Zwei, Zaire, and Donnie were sitting at the playroom table coloring. Each of them had their own set of crayons, I learned the hard way that four children were not meant to share one set of colors no matter how many variations of blue each set contains. So I see their four little heads bent over their pictures, it was a perfect moment. And if I hadn't been so emotional at seeing these boys playing so nicely together I probably wouldn't have noticed Donnie doing anything out of the ordinary.

Donnie had his set of colors spread around him, seemingly in a jumbled mess. Then I noticed he would drop whatever color he was using and just open his hand and the next color would slap into the palm of his hand. He never took his eyes off the paper. He was essentially casting a wandless, wordless accio to get the next color he needed for his drawing.

So, if our guesses are correct it seems that we can stop trying to figure out WHICH of their kids is magical. It seems to be all three!

Oh, Aya is here!

Blissfully Yours,  
Harry

 

Friday December 24th  
My sanity,

Oi! When I said that I wouldn't mind a little marathon shopping session, I had no idea that I was basically condemning myself to shopping for a week straight! But if I'm honest, I had so much fun that despite being exhausted, I don't even care that I've been dragged all over creation by our brood.

There was the initial shopping with all but the babies, which thankfully ended with a visit from Aya. And then there was the shopping that weekend with you for every child currently in Unity House, plus all the staff, not to mention each Unity House from around the word sent basic numbers of gender and size for their kids so that you could order things to be sent to all of them. Phew!

But then I managed to slip away to do my own shopping for you (while you presumably shopped for me), before we came back together and shopped for all OUR kids. Then I took the Viper's kids out shopping for him and Tiger - which was a bit of a challenge to pull off since Viper was home and a little miffed that none of his kids (who were home for the Hols) wanted to spend the day with him while he had nothing better to do. I finally had to have Padfoot brag to him all about his cruise and the conquests he made - which I knew from experience would take long enough that we could have a rather long shopping trip if necessary.

THEN I managed to help Elena bring some of her students shopping. Despite Elena having the majority of her talent showcase planned out and costumed already, there's ALWAYS a few last minute details that need to be seen to.

But her idea (as always) was BRILLIANT!!! Rather than just put on the usual Christmas play, she wanted to go in an alternative direction. So, she encouraged her students (most of whom are muggles NOT in the know) to come up with bits that explored other cultural interpretations of this time of year. For example, one group put on a song and dance to explain Hanukkah, while another sang and danced about Kwanzaa. Those who insisted on doing a performance about traditional Christmas reimagined it by picking a few of their more favorite carols and jazzing them up.

But my favorite part - and you probably could have guessed this even if you hadn't been by my side the entire night - was Mahafsoun's performance. See, Elena was serious when she told them to do whatever they wanted, so long as it was different than what is normally expected. So Mahafsoun posed the question: How does a Vampire celebrate Christmas? And then answered it in a song/dance/performance that was breathtaking!

She was naturally the Vampire, haha. She had a few students of all ages/backgrounds doing parts of their own performances as she walked through them, sort of unseen as she watched them all celebrate. As she did this, she sang to herself a song about how lonely it is to be a Vampire during such a happy time of year. Then she chose a victim to eat.

Except the victim was a cute boy - ugh! That part I could have done without! - and when he realized that he was in immediate danger of dying, he begged her to have mercy because it's Christmas. So... she spared his life and asked him to dance with her - thereby implying a sort of romance between the immortal creature and the human boy. Or at the very least, a peaceful truce for the holiday.

It was beautifully well done. I had to bite my lip (to stop from laughing) and keep an arm around River as he positively SEETHED with jealousy, but at least he had the grace to NOT ruin her performance. I think if she hadn't slipped away and snuck up on him after her final bow to come over and give him a 'friendly Christmas kiss,' there might have been a tussle.

The hands down STRANGEST part of the night had to have been when - after the show was over - a bevy of important guests (who were invited by Ekaterina, as I understand it, who used her fame to help the students she believes in) came over to chat with Elena, who we happened to be standing next to.

There was a bit of the usual, the guests schmoozing with Ekaterina, and also you because of course, but then they were genuinely praising Elena and her students. Suddenly, two of the important guests started asking about Mahafsoun. See, as it turns out, they're involved in creating a TV show about Vampires... in America...

Much to my extreme dismay, they wanted to cast Mahafsoun in the lead role!

I had to hold my breath and keep my mouth shut as they pitched their idea to Elena. As I understand it, the show is going to revolve around an 'ageless' female vampire who is in actuality hundreds of years old. She's going to have a strange desire: she wants to be a 'normal' human girl for a while, and so, decides to try to fit in by going to high school. It's supposed to be a bit of a teen comedy/drama.

After hearing out the entire pitch, Elena very slowly and very overtly turned to look at me, and I was struggling against an urge to murder those who had noticed one of my kids. Before I could form a word or even so much as nod, you slipped your hand in mine and brought it to your lips for a kiss.

"If legitimate, it's a really good offer," you pointed out.

Which, of course, it is. I knew that, but I also HATED the idea that she would be required to go live in another country. But the thing is that *I* couldn't be the one to make the decision because the ONLY one who mattered was Mahafsoun herself.

So, choking a bit, I said: "Ask her."

Elena smiled at me, turned, and called out across the room: "Oi! Maha! Get your gorgeous creepy arse over here!"

Mahafsoun danced over and gave us all a brilliant smile. "You bellowed for me, oh beloved Dictator?"

The offer was presented to her and I insisted that Pippa do some quick research and verification, and also being brilliant, she managed to verify that it was a legitimate opportunity within about a half an hour. So, when Mahafsoun came back after a few moments to think it over, practically crying from joy that dreams she never even dared dream were coming true, I sort of sighed and gave in. Meanwhile, you promised to handle it so that she could go off and be an American telly star.

The easiest way is to simply hire a 'nanny' to care for her while she's working and living over there. But also, she'll need to have a passport and a work permit, which you claim Kingsley can help with.

Anyway, my plans for the immediate future are to celebrate Christmas tomorrow with you and our ENTIRE extended family - including the Viper, who is bringing the Tiger and his Crew over for the first half of the day before returning for his week there. Then I guess they plan to come back here earlier than usual so that the Tiger, his River and Viona, and Rosalie will all be here for New Years.

On Monday January 3rd, my training starts. As I will naturally be very busy once it does, I plan to interview and hire a nanny for Mahafsoun before the 31st. Thus, I can go into the New Year assured that she is well taken care of and happy - just as I want ALL of our children to be happy.

Except for River, unfortunately, who is utterly heartbroken that she'll be leaving the country, regardless of the fact that he'd quite like her to stay. But I suppose that they can't ALL be happy all the time. Hopefully we can help our son get through this hard time.

In any case, with me training and you still finishing up your tour, I completely understand leaving the majority of our kids with my parents for the upcoming stops, only taking a couple of them with you to each new place. All in all, this might be good for our entire family.

Well, I suppose I should get some sleep before our babies decide to wake up and demand a feed, of which, I personally will have to wean them from rather soon - as I will NOT start leaking during my training! Better yet, I'll gently give them a preemptive feed, and then go to sleep so that you can take the next one.

I look forward to snuggling with you on a sofa tomorrow as we watch all our loved ones (well, not quite all, just the 'immediate extended family') open presents and squeal with happiness.

Ev'ryday I love you just a little bit more, Just a little bit more, just a little bit more', Ev'ryday I want you just a little bit more, Than I did the day before,  
Draco  
P.S. I know it's not a good solution at all, to basically take Mahafsoun off all potions and let her continue to have just therapy (hmm, I wonder if Portia would be willing to be Mahafsoun's nanny?), but since the potions were causing her persistent cold symptoms that just kept getting worse, not to mention making her grey and alarming looking, I think perhaps she's just one of those that cannot tolerate potions. She looked luminous tonight, didn't she? So while not a good decision, perhaps the right one?

 

December 31, 2010

Oi My Life,

I know dates can be meaningless. Like birthdays, I'm not really any younger at twenty-nine and three-hundred sixty-four days than I am at thirty. The only reason the first of September means anything differently than the thirty-first of August is because we've given importance to that date as the one where our children head off to Hogwarts. So logically, I know thirty-first December in the made up year of 2010 is not much different than tomorrow will be on the first of January in the year 2011. But where we are in our lives right now feels a bit like the dawning of a new day.

There have been so many amazing highlights of this year; we have our beautiful children that came into our lives, we sent a daughter to a school where she can grow and change for the better, and our oldest created an entire school out of nothing but her dreams and an intense work ethic.

We've unfortunately also suffered some deep lows; both of us continued to struggle to heal mentally from our time in Iraq, I got myself hospitalized and our daughter was born premature, you suffered from post-partum depression, and our marriage was shaken down to its foundation when we let all of these traumatic experiences take the lead in our relationship.

But we've taken these trials and I think we've come back stronger. Knowing we've gone through these things together and managed to hold on to *us* makes me believe there's nothing the two of us can't weather together. We took the debris from the storm and we're using it to build something even stronger. I think over the last year we've both had the chance to see the worst of each other. You've seen me hide behind a mask of fake happiness, I've seen you struggle to find your worth outside of the parts of yourself you've always placed the most value.

If these last months were your worst then I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that I am still madly in love with you for better or for worse. Because I would spend a lifetime with the man I've been married to this last year. Since you're still here, I have to assume that even during the deepest of my depression, you still want to be married to me. For as hard as the time was, how can you not be filled with hope knowing we hit rock bottom and we would rather live at rock bottom together than live anywhere else without each other?

I hope you loved your Christmas present from me. You seemed to, I can never go wrong with my posh husband than to get him jewelry! But I hope you understood the relevance of the gift. The cufflinks were beautiful in my opinion; gold edging surrounding beautiful black pearls. But I chose pearls for a very specific reason. Pearls are natures way of taking something wrong, some irritant, some debris that doesn't belong, and turning it into something beautiful.

By all logical factors, our marriage shouldn't be beautiful. We spar and fight. We were on opposite sides of a war. We were childhood rivals. I'm a brash Gryffindor, jumping into danger and rarely thinking things through before lashing out in a temper. You are a cunning Slytherin, trying to see every angle before making a single decision. We should clash, but instead we are something beautiful. And when an irritant came into our marriage, we didn't throw it away, we turned it into something even more amazing.

So, when you go to training in a few days I wanted you to have a physical reminder of us. Of our strength. I know you always have your wedding band, but I gave that to you when our love was new and untried. I wanted you to have both reminders, that I loved you then and that through anything I will love you always. Just like you can look at your arms and have a physical reminder of our children, of the reason you want to continue to fight to keep our world safe, you can look at those pearls and remember that the two of us can get through anything and come out better than before.

I'm about to finish up this message, I have to come find you and make sure I get in my midnight New Year's kiss. I intend to start as I mean to go on. End my year the same way I started it. The same way I've started my year the last eleven of them. Wrapped in your arms, staring into your eyes, seeing my past and my future in your face. Sealing the old year with a kiss and starting the new one connected to you.

I will love you for the rest of my days Draco Malfoy,  
Harry James Malfoy

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Shtara. Without her, this fic wouldn't exist.


End file.
